Zaha Hadid Complete Works for Taschen, Signed and Numbered Art Edition, 2009

Zaha Hadid left an indelible mark on the architectural world, transforming the look of contemporary architecture with her striking abstract and modernist designs. Fluid forms and Constructivist aesthetics — such as bold colors and softly angular edges — are the keynotes of her buildings and her furniture. Hadid’s work is the essence of energy and drama.

Born in Baghdad, Iraq, Hadid studied at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London and made that city her home for much of her life. Hadid’s design sensibility was formed more by art than architecture. In college, she was first inspired by the Russian avant-garde school of artists. The influence of painters such as Wassily Kandinsky and Kazimir Malevich is apparent in Hadid’s early work, in which she created abstract paintings and drawings to convey her ideas. The distortion of geometric shapes is a particularly prominent and recurring theme in her work. Hadid founded her firm in 1980, from which she launched architectural triumphs like the MAXXI Museum in Rome and the Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art at Cincinnati's Contemporary Arts Center.

Hadid’s furniture and sculptures provide her admirers with the chance to bring the beauty and drama of her architecture into their homes. These designs are true centerpieces that fill even staid rooms with fluidity and rhythm. The organic forms of her designs bring a sweeping sense of movement to stationary objects. The furniture exhibits a kind of playfulness and creates a relationship with the user. Hadid transformed furniture into fine art.

Find authentic Zaha Hadid tables, lighting and other works on 1stDibs.

From his humble beginning selling comic books in his native Cologne to his rapidly expanding book publishing empire, Benedikt Taschen has been all about living large — literally. Sumo, a 464-page, 66-pound compendium of Helmut Newton’s photography is one of the largest and heaviest books ever produced — it comes with its own display stand — and among the most expensive, too. The first copy in a limited edition published in 1999 and signed by many of the celebrities whose images appear in its pages sold at auction for $364,000.

TASCHEN’s success derives from his personality: he publishes books that reflect his own diverse personal enthusiasms. TASCHEN’s lavishly produced art books run the gamut from the ridiculous (The Big Book of Breasts) to the sublime (17th-century naturalist Albertus Seba’s Cabinet of Natural Curiosities).

The TASCHEN catalog includes scholarly examinations of cultural icons such as Muhammad Ali, gorgeous monographs on painters like Hieronymous Bosch, exquisite books of photography like Sebastião Selgado’s Genesis and portfolios of muscle cars. In addition to his 11 bookstores located in the United States and Europe, TASCHEN recently opened an art gallery in Los Angeles devoted to photography.

As you can see from the titles available on these pages, you are more than likely to have an interest in common with Benedikt Taschen — and his marvelous books give you a way to explore it fully.