The Richard and Lois Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art
Cincinnati, Ohio · 2003
Photo · Photo by Helene Binet
An interior precedent demonstrating Zaha Hadid's 'urban carpet' concept, where a cast-in-place concrete floor curves upward to become a wall, integrated with suspended steel staircases and dynamic lighting.
- What we like about this project
- The concrete wall curves so smoothly that the boundary between floor and wall is completely erased.
Materials
- cast-in-place-concrete
- steel
- glass
- gypsum-board
Visual identifiers
- urban-carpet
- curved-concrete-wall
- suspended-staircase
- atrium-void
- blue-lighting
Style tags
- deconstructivist
- parametric
- sculptural
Visual tags
- deconstructivism
- monumental-scale
- fluid-geometry
- civic-space
- sculptural-circulation
- Geometry
- A dramatic, sweeping curved concrete wall forms an 'urban carpet' that transitions from horizontal floor to vertical wall, juxtaposed with a suspended, linear steel staircase and orthogonal overhead volumes.
- Facade system
- Glazed curtain wall visible at the rear atrium boundary.
- Structural guess
- Cantilevered steel stairs and post-tensioned concrete walls.
- Spatial scale
- A monumental, multi-story public atrium scaled to civic proportions.
- Lighting
- Cool blue ambient light washes the concrete curve, contrasted with bright white linear light fixtures recessed into the ceiling above.
- Atmosphere
- Cool, futuristic, and highly dynamic, defined by sweeping curves and dramatic structural suspensions.
- Environmental context
- An interior lobby or atrium space with a glazed facade visible in the background, revealing glimpses of the street outside.
- Spatial experience
- The space feels dynamic and compressed yet vertically expansive, drawing the eye upward and inward along the curved concrete plane and the floating stair run.
- Composition rhythm
- The diagonal slash of the dark steel staircase cuts across the sweeping, smooth curve of the concrete wall.
- Style reading
- Deconstructivist fluid dynamism
- Program
- Contemporary art museum lobby
- Perspective
- Interior Spatial
- Discipline
- architecture
- Materials
- cast-in-place-concrete, steel, glass, gypsum-board
- Visual identifiers
- urban-carpet, curved-concrete-wall, suspended-staircase, atrium-void, blue-lighting
- Style tags
- deconstructivist, parametric, sculptural
- Visual tags
- deconstructivism, monumental-scale, fluid-geometry, civic-space, sculptural-circulation
- Geometry
- A dramatic, sweeping curved concrete wall forms an 'urban carpet' that transitions from horizontal floor to vertical wall, juxtaposed with a suspended, linear steel staircase and orthogonal overhead volumes.
- Facade system
- Glazed curtain wall visible at the rear atrium boundary.
- Structural guess
- Cantilevered steel stairs and post-tensioned concrete walls.
- Spatial scale
- A monumental, multi-story public atrium scaled to civic proportions.
- Lighting
- Cool blue ambient light washes the concrete curve, contrasted with bright white linear light fixtures recessed into the ceiling above.
- Atmosphere
- Cool, futuristic, and highly dynamic, defined by sweeping curves and dramatic structural suspensions.
- Environmental context
- An interior lobby or atrium space with a glazed facade visible in the background, revealing glimpses of the street outside.
- Spatial experience
- The space feels dynamic and compressed yet vertically expansive, drawing the eye upward and inward along the curved concrete plane and the floating stair run.
- Composition rhythm
- The diagonal slash of the dark steel staircase cuts across the sweeping, smooth curve of the concrete wall.
- Style reading
- Deconstructivist fluid dynamism
- Program
- Contemporary art museum lobby
- Perspective
- Interior Spatial
- Discipline
- architecture