'The World Is Not a Rectangle'
John Hill
11. August 2017
Spread from "The World Is Not a Rectangle A Portrait of Architect Zaha Hadid" (Image: Simon & Shuster)
The latest children's book by author and illustrator Jeanette Winter is about the life of Zaha Hadid and the famed architect's "triumph over adversity."
Published by Simon & Shuster for kids five to ten years old, The World Is Not a Rectangle: A Portrait of Architect Zaha Hadid traces Hadid's life from a child in Iraq to a superstar architect in London with projects all over the world and her unexpected death in 2016. Winter combines her simple, one- and two-page illustrations with flowing text that emphasize the architect's ability to synthesize nature's curves into her buildings.
More than a depiction of her architecture, Winter's book portrays the criticism and setbacks she had to overcome on her way to becoming one of the world's most famous architects. As a review at Booklist attests, "Readers will ... come away with a firm sense of Zaha’s tenacity and determination as she refuses to be held back by her ethnicity, gender, or unconventional ideas." In Winter's capable hands, Hadid is an excellent role model for grade schoolers, not just other architects.
The World Is Not a Rectangle is being published on 22 August 2017.
(h/t: Architect Magazine)
Spread from "The World Is Not a Rectangle A Portrait of Architect Zaha Hadid" (Image: Simon & Shuster)
Spread from "The World Is Not a Rectangle A Portrait of Architect Zaha Hadid" (Image: Simon & Shuster)
Spread from "The World Is Not a Rectangle A Portrait of Architect Zaha Hadid" (Image: Simon & Shuster)
