Brit Award 2017 statuettes designed by Zaha Hadid before she died

The Iraqi-born British architect died suddenly on 31st March at the age of 65 after suffering a heart attack.

She had accepted the invitation to design the awards in January and had begun work on the designs, but after her untimely death her team agreed to see the project to its end. The Brit Awards made the announcement on what would have been Hadid's 66th birthday, 31st October.

The Brit design project was led by Maha Kutay, Director at Zaha Hadid Design, alongside Niamh Byrne from the Brit Awards. The team has created a "family" of five statuettes.

Kutay said: “Zaha was truly excited to be doing this. Her vision was, being an architect, to focus our efforts more on the 3D element, as the statue had previously been used as a canvas for artists to paint on for the last few years.

"Our design expresses Zaha’s unwavering belief in progress and optimism for the future and a break from the norm. The biggest challenge was to create something different within certain guidelines, yet achieving a result recognisable to the public.

"You have to respect the existing to create something new.”

It was while she was attending last year's ceremony that music fan Hadid revealed she knew "exactly" what she wanted to do with the statuettes, Brits chairman Jason Iley explained.

Iley recalled: "She enthused, ‘I know exactly how I want to do it! I have a vision for it!’ Which was amazing as she was one of the most brilliant, forward thinking architects in the world.”

The Brit Award 2016 statuettes were created by fashion designer Pam Hogg.

The Brit Awards 2017 with Mastercard will be broadcast live on ITV on Wednesday 22nd February from London’s O2 Arena