When legendary architect Zaha Hadid was named to TIME’s annual list of the world’s 100 most influential people in 2010, designer Donna Karan wrote a tribute to her work, comparing her buildings to “a gust of wind—organic, forceful and utterly natural.”
The art and design world lost that force of nature on Thursday, when Hadid died at 65. As admirers around the world took to the Internet to share what the architect meant to them, Karan shared her thoughts on Hadid’s life and influence with TIME:
I’m filled with such sadness at the shock of Zaha’s passing. I admired her enormously—as a foremost leader in architecture, a creative visionary and as a woman I called my friend. Her spirit, passion and brilliance were evident in everything she did. Her uncompromising devotion to her art, the lessons she taught us all, and the extraordinary vision she brought to all that she did. She was unique inside and outside. Whether it was how she dressed or the remarkable buildings she created and put out there to the world, Zaha left a lasting impression that will not be forgotten. To me, Zaha was a woman and an artist of her time—and yet she was very much ahead of it too.
Hadid and Karan collaborated on a women’s perfume in 2012
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