The World Is Not a Rectangle: A Portrait of Architect Zaha Hadid

by Jeanette Winter

A Washington Post Best Children’s Book of 2017
Parents’ Choice Recommended

Get to know Zaha Hadid in this nonfiction picture book about the famed architect’s life and her triumph over adversity from celebrated author-illustrator Jeanette Winter.

Zaha Hadid grew up in Baghdad, Iraq, and dreamed of designing her own cities. After studying architecture in London, she opened her own studio and started designing buildings. But as a Muslim woman, Hadid faced many obstacles. Determined to succeed, she worked hard for many years, and achieved her goals—and now you can see the buildings Hadid has designed all over the world.

Genres: Picture Books, Biography, Nonfiction, Art, Architecture, Childrens, Stem

56 pages, Hardcover

First published August 22, 2017

Reviews

[Manybooks · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although Jeannette Winter does indeed with The World is not a Rectangle: A Portrait of Architect Zaha Hadid glowingly and with often colourfully metaphoric words of praise and celebration (accompanied by her brightly hued illustrations which expressively and aesthetically mirror and complement those same linguistic musings) feature and depict Zaha Hadid's passion and determination and how she finally does manage to convince the traditional and still rather male-oriented establishment to not only admire and laud but to also actually build her architectural projects and designs (and thus of course, to also accept Hadid's vision and philosophy that the world is rounded and not simply rectangular), after having now read The World is not a Rectangle: A Portrait of Architect Zaha Hadid in its entirety, as well as doing a bit of supplemental online research on Zaha Hadid's life and work as an architect, I do have to say that I for one do not consider The World is not a Rectangle: A Portrait of Architect Zaha Hadid as in any manner doing sufficient justice and homage to either Ms. Hadid's life or her career as an architect.

For there is, in my humble opinion, simply not enough information presented on Zaha Hadid's life and background in either the text proper of The World is not a Rectangle: A Portrait of Architect Zaha Hadid or in the rather sparse and very basic author's note at the back (that her father was a prominent Iraqi politician, that her mother was an artist, that Zaha was educated in both England and Switzerland and finally became a naturalised citizen of the United Kingdom and oh so so much more). And really, considering how many detailed secondary sources Jeannette Winter lists in her extensive bibliography, I really have very much found the lack of solid and factual information on Zaha Hadid the person and equally on her many architectural projects both frustrating and rather infuriatingly grating (not to mention that I am also very much lamenting that there are no actual photographs of Zaha Hadid's designed buildings, bridges etc. included in The World is not a Rectangle: A Portrait of Architect Zaha Hadid, which I for one do very much consider quite a major and problematic shortcoming, as while Jennette Winter's illustrations are certainly colourful, aesthetically pleasant and do I guess well enough showcase and feature Zaha Hadid's architectural vision, they are not and never can and will be the same as and on par with bona fide photographs of her work and her many awe-inspiring architectural desings, the buildings etc. that are Ms Hadid's true legacy).

[Kathryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had not heard of Zaha Hadid before reading this book, which is a shame as she sounds like a fascinating individual and the buildings she designed are beautiful and unique. I love the way she incorporated the designs of nature into her architecture and that certainly comes through in these illustrations. It also seems that she was a tenacious and courageous individual, persevering and ultimately succeeding when initially no one wanted to use the work of an Arab and a female. So, the book succeeded in instilling admiration in me. But, I think it is ultimately lacking as a biography as there is very little on HOW Hadid succeeded, what made her such a unique and talented individual, and it includes no photos of her actual buildings. (For a more detailed review that echoes my own thoughts, see Manybook's excellent review.)

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the sketch of Hadid's life and work in this, but that's really all it is. Maybe it's a good book to introduce very young children to the joy and inspiration that can be found in biographies, but if I were to try to use this book to teach anything I would definitely find supplemental material. The book is successful in motivating me to do more research, and to find some actual photos of her buildings.

[Michael Fitzgerald · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not enough information to be very useful for someone interested in architecture or Hadid. Too much irrelevant touchy feely stuff. The bibliography provides a goodly number of sources, and I suspect that they would be of far more value. It's not clear from the illustrations how radical Hadid's concepts were, and photographs would likely show this better.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had never heard of this architect from Iraq so I was delighted to find this picture book celebrating a woman from a country not often mentioned positively in the United States. The fact that she seemed to have been something of a feminist and a resilient, determined woman who drew inspiration from the natural landscape around her sealed the deal for me as I tried to decide whether to include this book in my classroom library. Jeanette Winter ably captures a dreamy young girl imagining what the land and cities looked like long ago, and then starts drawing what she imagines after completing her training as an architect. After opening her own firm, she creates several fascinating structures that attest to her belief in circles, swirls, and spiral shapes for buildings. Ten of them are represented here, described in the back matter alongside thumbnail sketches. Although I found myself intrigued by all of them, I was particularly struck by Al Wakrah Stadium in Qatar and Guangzhou Opera House in China, partly because of their unique beauty and design but primarily because the designs make so much sense. The illustrations use soft colors and swooping lines and shapes to tell the story of a woman who didn't let the naysayers keep her from realizing her own vision of how the world could look. Although the text is minimal, I felt as though I knew Zaha Hadid by the time I finished this book.

[Nyapot Hogan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Content area crossover: Social Studies
Twin Text: The Iridescence of Birds: A Book About Henri Matisse by Patricia MacLachlan
This book is about a young boy who lives in a dreary town in Northern France. Bored, because it's grey outside his mother brightens his days by painting their house with bright colors, arranging fruits, and added different textures and colors in their home. She added rugs on the walls and made their home bright and full of life. This inspired Henri to become an amazing painter. Just like his mom, he made something dull come alive.

In "The World Is Not a Rectangle" Zaha grows up to be an architect. When she was little, her father would take her to see "rivers, marshes, dunes, and ruins." This inspired her at a young age to design cities in unique and different ways.

The Twin Text I would use is the ven diagram. I would have students list out Zaha's and Henri's similarities and differences. I feel like there are great examples of similarities and differences between the two. Both were inspired as children. Parents had an influence. Became artist. Inspired other people. Zaha was influenced by her father and Henri by his mom. Different fields in art. Painter and architect. One male, the other female.

[Cindy Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chosen as one of the honor books for the Orbis Pictus Award in 2018, this informational biography about Zaha Hadid brings curiosity and imagery to life. While Jeanette Winter does a wonderful job of using metaphors and similes to help the reader understand Zaha Hadid's vision for the world, it felt more fiction than biography. I understand that sometimes a narrative style is incorporated into a non-fiction writing, but it felt me with more questions about Zaha Hadid than answers. After reading this book, I researched the famous architect, and quickly became fascinated by her work. I felt that Jeanette Winter did not do justice in portraying Zaha Hadid as this amazing architect and who she is in the world. Using real photos of her buildings would have made more impact to the reader in seeing how her inspirations of the world helped create these buildings. Overall, Wikipedia was more informational and google images did a better job in helping me know who Zaha Hadid did for the world. I think this book is a great way to bring attention and introduce Zaha Hadid to younger readers and can be used to teach metaphors and similes, but not to represent who she was as an architect.

[Raina]

Great picture-book-style biography of Zaha Hadid, a pretty amazing architect I'd never heard of.

Considered taking this out to the schools with From Mud Huts to Skyscrapers, but they got edged out by other titles (I know I love architecture, but maybe not everyone finds it as inherently exciting as I do?). Would have used the hook of being inspired by nature/natural/organic shapes.

[Viviane Elbee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating picture book biography about an innovative woman architect from Iraq who studied architecture in the UK (Zaha Hadid).

The kids and I loved looking at all the buildings she designed that are illustrated in this picture book. (The picture book shows 10 of her designs).

We also loved seeing how nature inspired her designs.

The illustrations were perfect for this story.

Great book - kids voted to give it 5 stars.

[Elaine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Blown away! Amazing biography for children and adults to read, understand, and appreciate. Gorgeous illustrations among important information! Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful!

[Sim ✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

✔️ 38. A book about art or an artist

A lyrical book about the incredible Muslim Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid and her exploration of shape and form.

[Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Winter's exhilarating illustrations swoop and flow perfectly depicting the designs of Iraqi-born architect Zaha Hadid. Readers discover Hadid's persistence, determined spirit and the unique way that she saw building design both through the text and the illustrations. A visual treat and a welcome introduction to an inspiring woman.

I am sad to say that I knew nothing about this gifted woman! An excellent choice for classrooms and libraries. Discussion opportunities are plentiful. Back matter includes a picture listing of Hadid's designed buildings and their locations, additional biographical information, quotes and an extensive source list.

[Jillian · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it - and I learned a lot!

Even though her style and my style don't always agree, I still appreciate the daringness of her designs, and I love that she drew her inspiration from nature.
I *really* like that the book doesn't fall into the trap of making her accomplishments seem great BECAUSE she was female - nor in spite of it, or anything else. She was a woman, an Arab, and a terrific architect. Boom.

[Wsclai · Rating 4 out of 5]

A tribute to the great famous Arab architect. There are a lot more magnificent architectures of hers than shown in this picture book but certainly a good start for children to get to know her and her imaginative and futuristic masterpieces.

[KC · Rating 4 out of 5]

Zags Hadid, architect extraordinaire. Girl power!

[Shiloah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly inspirational

[Phoebe · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book immediately inspired me and my children to learn more about this amazing personality. We went online to look at photos of her architecture and found videos on YouTube about her (including interviews).

[Ben Truong · Rating 4 out of 5]

The World Is Not a Rectangle: A Portrait of Architect Zaha Hadid is a children's picture book written and illustrated by Jeanette Winter. It chronicles the early life of Zaha Hadid and she strives to make her dreams of becoming an architect a reality.

May, at least in my part of the world is Asian Heritage Month, which I plan to read one children's book, particularly a biography, which pertains to the subject everyday this month. Therefore, I thought that this book would be apropos for today.

Zaha Mohammad Hadid was an Iraqi-British architect. She was the first woman to receive the Pritzker Architecture Prize, in 2004 and received the United Kingdom's most prestigious architectural award, the Stirling Prize, in 2010 and 2011. Finally in 2015 she became the first and only woman to be awarded the Royal Gold Medal from the Royal Institute of British Architects.

The text is rather simplistic, straightforward, and informative. The narrative, sparse with quotations from Hadid, moves quickly through her childhood, which highlights her fascination through with local environmental, which would eventually inspired her remarkable designs in architecture. The undulating shapes and milky colors of the illustrations emphasize the connections between structures and their natural inspirations.

The premise of the book is rather straightforward. After moving quickly through Hadid's childhood, highlighting her fascination with local landmarks, it then devotes several pages to her remarkable designs: "tall buildings dancing like grass" (the Signature Towers of Dubai), "an opera house like the pebbles in the water" (China's Guangzhou Opera House), and many others.

All in all, The World Is Not a Rectangle: A Portrait of Architect Zaha Hadid is a wonderful and inspirational book celebrating non-conventional thinking and hard work.

[Alexa Marshall]

-Content Area Crossover: Art

-Fictional Twin Text: If I Built a House by Chris Van Dusen, published in 2012

-Rationale:
I chose The World Is Not a Rectangle: A Portrait of Architect Zaha Hadid and If I Built a House as my twin texts because they both revolve around the main character's view of art within architecture. In The World Is Not a Rectangle, Zaha Hadid likes to implement artistic aspects of the landscapes back in her home country, Iraq. To her, everything flowed and blended together smoothly, almost as if it had rhythm. She included that unique artistic aspect within her building designs--even when people did not want her to. Although she was rejected many times for her artistic flare within her designs, she persevered and eventually was able to turn her art into architecture.

In If I Built a House, the main character, Jack, also has his own artistic ideas and ways of thinking when it came to his dream house. His ideas were much more fictional than Zaha's though. In his house he imagined things such as a shower on a conveyor belt that would wash your whole body for you and a bedroom 200 feet high made entirely of glass.

Both novels share the aspect of how different artistic views can impact architecture, one in a serious realistic way, and one in a more funny, imaginary way. Both texts also showed brightly colored, detailed illustrations for the readers. For a twin texts activity, I think that I would have the students set up a Vinn Diagram. I would have them put Zara's architectural ideas on one side and Jack's on the other.

[Dolly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was featured as one of the selections for the March 2019 - Outstanding Women-themed reads for the Picture-Book Club in the Children's Books Group here at Goodreads.

I'm glad that it was selected, as I'm not sure if we would have discovered it otherwise. The story introduces readers to Zaha Hadid, a woman who was inspired by nature to create award-winning modern architectural designs.

Ms. Hadid was recognized for her daring, original designs and was the first woman to receive "the Pritzker Prize - the most prestigious architecture award in the world - and the Royal Institute of British Architects Royal Gold Medal, the top architecture award in Britain."

The story is interesting, and entices the reader to want to learn more about this fascinating woman. Sources included at the end of the book provide opportunities for further research beyond the very basic biographical information contained within the picture-book pages.

Overall, it's a fast read and highlights the accomplishments of an Arab woman who I admittedly had never heard of and whose work should be much more well known internationally.

[Pam · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not one photograph of Zaha Hadid's buildings or other artistic creations are included in this book. How can you have a biography of an artist and not show their work? I don't understand. Unfortunately Jeanette Winter is not the first and sadly won't be the last to write/illustrate a biography on an artist and fail to include any of their work. This omission sadly taints what would otherwise be a good book, maybe a great book. I absolutely loved how Winter's text and illustrations showed how Hadid was inspired to create and the things that most effected her vision. Winter's illustrations are superb! The only other failing is the lack of hard facts on Hadid. While there is a very short factual biography section in the rear of the book, a timeline and more information would have been better.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This beautiful book is one of my new favorite picture book biographies. I remember when Zaha Hadid designed the World Cup Stadium in Qatar and at the time, had no idea that it was designed by a woman.

As an adult I learned so much from this text, and as a teacher I appreciate the simple sentence structures that make it accessible for my emerging bilinguals. I use this text to teach biographies, third-person voice, and subject verb agreement. I’ve also used it to demonstrate how using active verbs can add more excitement to writing.

The text is explicit, making it easy for my students to extract the information they need, with the exception of the ending when it explains that Zaha died. It describes it as a light going dark in her studio... what a great way to teach inferences to young readers.

[Juanita Foreman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Zaha believed in her dreams of unique buildings. I think this book is great for diverse readers, as well as for women. She thought outside the box with her designs and was persistent and was able to achieve her goal. The pictures were amazing

[LauraW · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an interesting book for young people about a female, Iraqi architect, who had unconventional ideas of how to design buildings. Her works embraced many forms, but took inspiration fromQ nature and natural surroundings. Like other reviewers, I would have liked to have seen photographs of the works along with the drawings, but similarly, their absence led me to look them up on the internet. I like that the book includes some of the obstacles she had to face and some disappointments, but also mentions her determination to keep on doing her work, anyway. Interesting and worthwhile.

[Beverly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Comparing the illustrations with photos of the buildings on the internet, I thought Winter did a great job with her illustrations of the buildings and bridge. My favorite is the Sleuk Rith Institute. The information about Hadid's life is pretty sketchy, but since the book is aimed at pre-school and early elementary children, I can understand why it doesn't go into more detail. Older children would have to look elsewhere for more information.

[Tracie · Rating 4 out of 5]

An introduction to the life of Zaha Hadid, an innovative Muslim architect who pushed the boundaries of convention by designing buildings, bridges, and ski jumps inspired by the natural world. Absolutely lovely and clearly well-researched.

"The beauty of the landscape--where sand, reeds, birds, buildings, and people all somehow flow together--has never left me."

[Teresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautifully written, and empowering, story about a visionary architect I’d not heard of before. In language that is both lyrical and yet accessible to younger kids, this book gives an overview of Zaha Hadid’s life, her ingenious buildings, and her struggles with being an immigrant and woman. It’s a must-read.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this, and thought it was beautiful and interesting. However, it really lacked actual biographical content, even for a picture book biography. Usually the author's note makes up for some of this, but there was very little other information about her.

[Vernon Area Public Library KIDS · Rating 4 out of 5]

With simple text and beautiful pictures, this book maps a journey of how a small girl from Iraq became one of the most celebrated architects in the world.

Recommended for grades K-2. Lexile Level: 760
Reviewed by Christine Hwang, Youth and School Services, Vernon Area Public Library

[Edward Sullivan · Rating 5 out of 5]

An exceptional picture biography of the visionary Iraqi-born architect Zaha Hadid.