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Zaha Hadid’s former partner locked in legal battle over her estate
He claims he was forced to drop her name
Zaha Hadid’s business partner Patrik Schumacher claims he was forced to drop the famous architect’s name from the firm he now runs.
Schumacher, who took over Zaha Hadid Architects in 2016, is locked in a legal dispute with fellow executor’s of the late architect’s estate, including friend and client Lord Palumbo, her friend Brian Clarke and her niece Rana Hadid. In a complaint filed in a London court, Schumacher alleges that the three forced him to agree to drop Zaha Hadid’s name from the firm’s title and threatened to have him fired if he failed to meet that and other demands. As a result, he says, he had no choice but to try to remove the three as executors of her estate.
“The attempt to remove these three executors is totally unjustified and misconceived,” the three said in a statement. “They were appointed personally by Zaha Hadid because she trusted them to act in her best interests. All three were known to Zaha for decades; one was a close family member, and the other two were very good friends.”
Hadid, the first female recipient of the Pritzker Prize, died suddenly of a heart attack in March 2016. Her notable projects include the London Aquatics Center and the Al Wakrah Stadium in Qatar. In the U.S., she designed 520 West 28th Street in New York and One Thousand Museum in Miami. Hadid’s estate sold her South Beach condo in September for $5.75 million. [Building] — Kathryn Brenzel