The Completely Exhausting Inexhaustibility of Zaha Hadid by Mona Chalabi

Drawing on research-in-progress produced by the Foundation, text and illustrations bring selected data points to life as they emerge from a rapidly proliferating field of markers that chart the growing output and impact of Zaha and her studio. Animations spotlight key moments and the many hands that collaborated with Hadid throughout her career.

Reflecting fashion’s importance to Zaha, the timeline’s textile background and colour palette take cues from an Issey Miyake sheer appliqué coat once worn by Zaha, now in the Foundation’s collection. They also draw on the abstract paintings and models produced by her studio, echoing the layering, transparency and dynamism that were so central to her work.

The artwork forms part of the permanent display in the Entrance Hall of the newly refurbished 10 Bowling Green Lane, the Zaha Hadid Foundation’s home.

About the Artist

Mona Chalabi is an award-winning writer and illustrator who uses data as the foundation for her work.

By translating complex statistics, Mona has earned a Pulitzer Prize, fellowships at the British Science Association and Royal Society for the Arts as well as an Emmy nomination. In 2025, she was named a Royal Designer for Industry. She is a lecturer in Graphic Design at Al-Quds Bard College in Palestine.

In recent years, her art has been exhibited at the Smithsonian Design Museum, the Tate, the Brooklyn Museum, and the Design Museum. Her work can also be found at The New Yorker, The Guardian, Netflix, NPR, the BBC and National Geographic. She is also the executive producer and creative director of an animated TV show with Ramy Youssef and A24. She studied international relations in Paris and Arabic in Jordan.

Mona’s first book Ten Lives will be published in November 2026.