We at record were deep into preparing this month's issue when the startling, sad news broke of Zaha Hadid's death at age 65. The outpouring of mourning, on the Internet, in various publications, and on social media, was amazing-much of it from women in architecture for whom she was a trailblazer. Of course, no woman wants to be known as a "woman architect," least of all Zaha herself. Early in her career, she fiercely deflected the label: she was, in her way, a woman who was one of the guys, whether dining with the "boys' club" of architects that the late Philip Johnson used to bring together in New York or as the first female to join the elite Pritzker laureates. But she later admitted to experiencing sexism, calling out "misogynist behavior" in the U.K., where she had established her office. When the Architects Journal in London honored her for her "outstanding contribution to the status of women in architecture" in 2012, she was no longer a reluctant role model, "I see this incredible amount of need from other women for reassurance that it could be done," she said, "so I don't mind that at all."
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