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Project Portfolio – February 2006

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Phaeno Science Center

Wolfsburg, Germany
Zaha Hadid Architects

Zaha Hadid pours her ideas of fluid architecture into concrete and glass at the cinematic Phaeno Science Center in Wolfsburg, Germany

	Photo © Klemens Ortmeyer

By Clifford A. Pearson

Five years ago, a town built as a showcase of 20th-century industrial production hired Zaha Hadid to lead it into the 21st century. The selection seemed inspired. Who better to create an icon of the information age than the high priestess of avant-garde architecture herself? The choice—after an international competition that included Enric Miralles/Benedetta Tagliabue from Barcelona, Barkow Leibinger from Berlin, and Auer + Weber from Stuttgart as finalists—had the right sense of daring, since Hadid in 2000 was still known mostly for her seductive drawings and had completed few buildings. Fast forward to November 2005 and the opening of the phaeno Science Center in Wolfsburg, Germany: Hadid, who won the Pritzker Prize the year before, was riding a wave of acclaim after the completion of her Central Building at BMW’s factory in Leipzig [record, August 2005, page 82], the Ordrupgaard Museum Extension in Copenhagen, and the Hotel Puerta América in Madrid, where she designed a floor of guest rooms whose curvaceous, milky white surfaces seem pulled from some architectural dreamscape [record, September 2005, page 96]. So does Phaeno live up to its hype as one of the most anticipated projects of the year?It does, although it is flawed.

With its winglike floor plate, faceted elevations, and graceful curves, Phaeno shares many characteristics of Hadid’s other motion-inspired projects, such as her BMW building, ski jump in Innsbruch, and the National Center of Contemporary Art (a.k.a. MAXXI), now under construction in Rome. Its extensive plaza and multiple ways of connecting with its setting give it a powerfully urban sensibility. “It’s both an object and a field,” says Passos. As such, it’s an intriguing hybrid that brings together the enduring notion of architecture as sculpture with a more contemporary search for expressing the dynamic relationships of an information-driven, networked world. A lot of architects these days talk about combining these two approaches in their work. Zaha Hadid has done it here.

Want the full story? Read the entire article in our February 2006 issue.
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the People

Client
Neuland Wohnbaugesellschaft mbH
Erfurter Ring 15
38444 Wolfsburg
On behalf of the City of Wolfsburg

Design Architect
Zaha Hadid Architects
www.zaha-hadid.com

Architects
Zaha Hadid Architects
www.zaha-hadid.com

Mayer Baehrle Freie Architekten BDA, Germany www.mayer-baehrle.com

Project Architect:
Christos Passas [Zaha Hadid Architects]; Rene Keuter, Tim Oldenburg [Mayer Baehrle Architects]

Ass.Project Architect:
Sara Klomps

Project Team:
Gernot Finselbach, Helmut Kinzler, David Salazar [Zaha Hadid Architects]; Sylvia Chiarappa, Stefan Hoppe, Andreas Gaiser, Roman Bockemühl, Annette Finke, Stefanie Lippardt, Marcus Liermann, Jens Hecht, Christoph Volkmar [Mayer Baehrle Architects]

Competition Team:
Christos Passas, Janne Westermann, Chris Dopheide, Stanley Lau, Eddie Can, Yoash Oster, Jan Hubener, Caroline Voet

Special Contributor:
Patrik Schumacher (Director) [Zaha Hadid Architects]

Contributors:
Silvia Forlati, Guenter Barczik, Lida Charsouli, Marcus Liermann, Kenneth Bostock, Enrico Kleinke, Constanze Stinnes, Liam Young, Chris Dopheide, Barbara Kuit, Niki Neerpasch, Markus Dochantschi [Zaha Hadid Architects]

Engineer(s)
Structural:
– Adams Kara Taylor, UK
Hanif Kara, principal
Paul Scott, Project engineer
www.akt-uk.com
– Tokarz Freirichs Leipold, Germany
Lothar Leipold
Prof. Bernhard Tokarz

Services Engineers:
– NEK, Germany www.nek-ingenieure.de
– Buro Happold (Berlin, London) www.burohappold.com

Consultant(s)
Cost Consultant:
Hanscomb GmbH, Germany

Lighting Consultants:
– Fahlke & Dettmer, Germany
– Office for Visual Interaction, USA

Photographer
Klemens Ortmeyer

the Products

Exterior / Interior Finishes
Concrete:
Contractor (Rohbau) - E. Heitkamp GmbH, Humboldtstrasse 27 21509 Glinde www.heitkamp.de

Concrete Shuttering:
Doka GmbH, NL Hannover, Industriestrasse 57, 31275 Lehrte www.doka.com

Steelworks:
Claus Queck GmbH Industriestrasse 13 52355 Dueren

Metal facades:
Huebener&Moews, Fassadentechnik GmbH Sandstrasse 8 39517 Jerchel

Metal-Glasfacades:
– Gebr. Gieseler, Dornierstr. 2, 30179 Hannover www.gebr-gieseler.de
– Dr. Lintner+Niessink Engineering GmbH, Eltzer Drift 7, 31234 Edemissen

Insul.& Drywalling:
– Fa. Bode, Borsigstrasse 11, 38446 Wolfsburg
– Fa. Spoma, Seglestr. 43/44, 39126 Magdeburg www.spoma.de

Glazing
Internal Glazing:
Dorma Automatic, Werk Nord, Am Pferdemarkt 16, 308353 Langenhagen
STS

Lighting
Prolicht Beleuchtungs Gesmbh, Valiergasse 61, A-6020 Innsbruck

Conveyance
Escalators:
Schindler Aufzuege Hamburg Lademannbogen 131 22339 Hamburg www.thyssen-aufzuege.de

Lifts:
Thyssen Aufzuege Hamburg GmbH, NL Hannover Am Listholze 78, 30177 Hannover www.thyssen-aufzuege.de

Other
Excavation:
Bauer Spezialtiefbau GmbH, Industrieweg 2a, 99734 Nordhausen www.bauer.de

Sanitary, HVAC:
Imtech GmbH&Co KG Klausenerstrasse 16, 39112 Magdeburg www.imtech.de

Electrics:
– Cegelec AT GmbH, Eisvogelstr. 33, 39110 Magdeburg www.cegelec.de
– Termath AG, Beesestr.1, 38446 Wolfsburg www.termath.com

Media:
Krex GmbH, Zscherbenerstr. 9a, 06179 Angersdorf www.krex.de

Metalworks:
Fa. Krenz, Wolmirstedter Str. 4, 39326 Farsleben

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