She was awarded the Royal Institute of British Architect's Royal Gold Medal for her lifetime's work in September - an award, approved by the Queen, she said meant a lot to her.

She was born in Baghdad in 1950 and moved to the UK in the early 1970s where she trained at the Architectural Association in London.

BBC News looks back at some of Dame Zaha's award-winning designs.

The Peak Leisure Club, Hong Kong

Dame Zaha first gained public recognition by winning a competition to design The Peak Leisure Club in Hong Kong in 1983. Despite it winning, it was never built.

Vitra Fire Station, Weil am Rhein

Her first major design to be constructed was made from reinforced concrete and set within a factory complex in Germany in 1993.

She described it as an abstract design and an extension of the lines in the adjacent farmland and vineyards.

MAXXI: Museum of XXI Century Arts, Rome

Dame Zaha said the national museum built in 2009 was inspired by the movement of rivers and streams, as it is located by the River Tiber.

The interconnecting shapes of the concrete walls also serve to stabilise the building, which is built on land susceptible to earthquakes.

Aquatics Centre, London

"I love the London Aquatics Centre because it's near where I live," Dame Zaha said. It was designed for the London 2012 Olympic Games and the roof resembles a wave, dipping higher and lower above the racing pool and diving pit.

During the Olympics it contained 17,500 seats, but most of these have been removed to make it cheaper to heat for everyday use.

Heydar Aliyev Centre, Baku

The 2012 centre in Azerbaijan connecting three buildings - a library, museum and concert hall - was notable for being a complex, fluid space.

Its unusual design was based on the contours of a mountain range, she said.

Opera House, Guangzhou

Dame Zaha, who won the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2004, continues to innovate and was particularly praised for her design of the Guangzhou Opera House in China in 2010. The building was inspired by the River Pearl which it overlooks.

She appeared in the BBC Woman's Hour power list in 2013 and is the first woman to be awarded the Royal Institute of British Architects' Royal Gold Medal.

(BBC)