1. Watch the following video on Dame Zaha Hadid’s lifetime
achievements and take notes on the adjectives used by
the presenter to describe her and her work
Historicism: It comprises artistic styles that draw their
inspiration from recreating historic styles or imitating the
work of historic artisans. This is especially prevalent in
architecture, such as revival architecture.
Vernacular: Vernacular architecture is an architectural
style that is designed based on local needs, availability of
construction materials and reflecting local traditions. At
least originally, vernacular architecture did not use
formally-schooled architects, but relied on the design,
skills and tradition of local builders.
HER HER WORK
Brilliant, short-tempered,
visionary, difficult,
uncompromising, trail-
blazing
Controversial, strange,
impractical, fluid,
overblown, eye-catching,
post-modern, remarkable,
light, avant-garde, striking,
sensuous, jaw-dropping,
Innovative, revolutionary.
Trail-blazing: you are leading the way, exploring
unchartered territory, spearheading a new revolution
Speaking:
1. Do you like this type of architecture?
2. 2. Zaha Hadid was called the Queen of Curve, can
you think of any other star architect? How similar /
dissimilar is their work?
3. She says in the video “I was a woman, I did
strange stuff, I think it was all together
intertwined” and “there was definitely a stigma
about the woman thing”… What difficulties is she
likely to have encountered as a woman in a
predominantly male profession?
4. How do you think she coped?
5. Do you think the fact that she didn’t have children
might have helped? How so?
Vocabulary from the obituary by The Economist:
Pleated: plisado
Swooping: vertiginoso
Spiky: puntiagudo, anguloso
Sheltering: protective
Bleak: dark, sombre, gloomy
To torpedo: to sabotage, torpedear
To level at: to aim at, dirigir
A peer: an equal,
To rebut: to reject, to oppose (noun: rebuttal)
To cut something short: to end suddenly
The banks of a river: la orilla de un río
A cluster: a group of people/things assembled together
3. Hollowed out: ahuecado
Vortex: torbellino / remolino
To presage: to forecast, presagiar
Sheer: pure, absolute…
Give or take…: Bar, except, apart from
Mainstream (adjective): normal, common
To tackle: to deal with, enfrentarse a,
A constituency: (in this case) area of influence
An obituary: un obituario
Listening p109:
A barrage of criticism
Out of keeping with the Chinese tradition
The Chinese skyscraper is sprouting fast
Outlandish over the top
