"It took almost 15 years and a complete technological revolution in the field..."

Recently, I read an interesting look back at a leader in the architectural world, Zaha Hadid. Hadid is best known for her “neo-futuristic” buildings, and became a decorated architect over the last 15 years. She was the first woman to win the Pritzker Architecture Prize, similar to the Nobel prize for architects, she received the Stirling Prize in both 2010 and 2011, and she became the first woman to be awarded the RIBA Gold Medal on her own. She passed away just five years ago in Miami.

What struck me most as I read about Hadid’s work was the following statement I read: “It took almost 15 years and a complete technological revolution in the field before one of her accomplished, almost bewildering sketches became a reality.” Can you imagine?  During most of the 1980s, Hadid drew grand, but unrealized, plans using futuristic details, gravity-defying angles, and exceptional modernity. She tested the bounds of architecture by creating designs that would need computer algorithms not yet developed to come to fruition. And she gained increasing popularity in recognition of this incredible vision. But she had not yet built a physical structure.

It took until 1994 to get her first design actually built – a German fire station that looks – well, nothing like a fire station. From there, commissions came more easily, including the Aquatics Center for the 2012 Olympics, the Louise and Richard Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art in Cincinnati, the Guangzhou Opera House, the Messner Mountain Museum Corones and more.

What Hadid showed us was that the legwork you do in creating your vision creates a foundation. That you can create a model set in the future, and wait for the world to catch up to you. And that dreams are fulfilled at the utmost obstacles. Hadid encountered countless naysayers, racism, sexism, and constant stereotyping at every turn. But she stayed true to herself, and eventually persevered. At Impact Network, we have been thinking a lot about expansion, scale, and sustainability these days. And hearing about Hadid’s life gave me some comfort – it may take some time, a period of catching up, and a mountain of legwork, but eventually we will see our programs span across the country, creating change for thousands of rural Zambian youth.  And like Hadid, it may even take a technological revolution (or perhaps it already has).

-Reshma