Research
Part of the mission of the Zaha Hadid Foundation (ZHF) is to advance research into Zaha Hadid, her legacy and into Modern architecture and design more generally. We work with other research organisations, including academic, museum and research funding partners, to support our mission and to promote the understanding and enjoyment of her work and its contexts.
In 2023, we collaborated with the Manchester School of Architecture (MMU) on Rethinking Architectural Legacies, an ongoing series of workshops that invites experts from across architectural practice, academia and the museum and heritage sector to discuss the recent rise in legacy planning for architectural archives and collections. We also host talks and events in collaboration with academic partners, including the The Centre for Research in Modern European Philosophy (CRMEP), Kingston University.
We are committed to supporting our research mission through the expansion of grants, bursaries and fellowships for research and learning as our organisation grows.
Grants
ZHF provides grants to individuals and organisations that require financial support to advance the study of architecture and its related creative disciplines. Our primary focus at present is to increase equity and diversity in architectural education through support for programmes with this aim.
In 2023, we funded places for promising A-Level students from diverse backgrounds to access Drawing Matter’s 2023 Architectural Summer School in Somerset, UK. We also expanded Open City’s 2023/4 Accelerate Programme in London and Birmingham, UK, with a grant that supports its free design, education and mentoring schemes for young people from underrepresented groups.
In addition, we support research projects that advance knowledge of Zaha Hadid and her work, including practice-research. In 2023, for example, we awarded a grant to the Artists’ Commissions Programme at the Contemporary Arts Centre (CAC) in Cincinnati, USA, as part of its major exhibition on Zaha’s legacy. The grant was allocated to Iraqi artist Rand Abdul Jabbar (b. Baghdad, 1990) to support her series of on-site installations inspired by Zaha, Tektōn (after Zaha, after Malevich).
Bursaries
ZHF collaborates with academic institutions to award bursaries to students who require funding to focus on their studies without financial burden. For 2022 to 2024, the Zaha Hadid Foundation Bursary programme for London School of Architecture (LSA) students provided fully-funded bursaries to three students to pursue their Part 2 studies.
Fellowships
ZHF partners with higher education partners to provide fellowships to students to extend or complement their area of research.
In 2024, we have offered three 6-month placements to PhD students, through the Techne AHRC Doctoral Training Programme, to develop their skills and experience working with archives and collections, and to contribute to our early development as a new research organisation.
Also in 2023, we secured an AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Award in partnership with the University of Westminster, for a full-time PhD student to investigate the question of the digital in architectural practice and archiving, through exploration of our collections.
