”People used to think women did not have enough logic. Well, that is absolute nonsense. I don’t know the ego of a man or how their mentality works, but there is no difference at all in capability, not formally in terms of the buildings at least. There might be differences in women’s leadership qualities or in their ego issues, but we can design in the same way if we have the chance.” 

So spoke Zaha Hadid in 2013, just three years before her untimely death. Hadid was unquestionably one of the most famous architects in the world, one of only a handful in the profession who could genuinely attest to being a household name. And she also happened to be a woman. But it was an association she was never keen to emphasise, insisting that she wished to known as an architect and not “just a woman architect”.

Hadid’s phenomenal success, as well as her forthright views on the significance – or otherwise – of her femininity, have come sharply into focus in a political and cultural climate where gender equality issues have surged to unprecedented prominence. Accordingly, next month is the deadline for companies with more than 250 employees to publish information on any gender pay gap within their organisation.