In what year did Zaha Hadid become the first woman to receive the RIBA Royal Gold Medal? The answer is 2016.
The Royal Institute of British Architects awarded Hadid its Royal Gold Medal in 2016 for her significant contribution to architecture. She was the first woman to receive the medal in her own right, rather than sharing the honour or receiving it through an association with another recipient. The award recognized her body of work and influence on architectural thinking.
The medal is one of the profession’s highest honours and is awarded annually by RIBA with the approval of the reigning British monarch. Earlier recipients included Frank Lloyd Wright, Le Corbusier, Frank Gehry, I. M. Pei, and Norman Foster, placing Hadid among a long line of internationally influential architects.
Hadid’s medal came shortly before her death on 31 March 2016. It followed other landmark achievements, including becoming the first woman to win the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2004. Paulo Mendes da Rocha received the Royal Gold Medal in 2017, which explains the nearby distractor year.