The Lois & Richard

ROSENTHAL CENTER
for contemporary art
“moving
My ideas come from observation: of the site, of nature, of people
in the city. It’s always about how you move people through
a space, and how they use it.”

- Hadid, 2010

University of Cincinnati 2009

 T. Walsh 2010

“It’s about promenading... being able to pause,

to look out, look above, look sideways.”
- Hadid, 2007

“[This] architecture of Zaha Hadid is most commonly associated with contorted

forms, sharp edges and extensive low-lying spaces and energized with very
specific spatial and organizational attitudes to movement” (Gregory, 2008, p. 116).

The 80,000 sf Rosenthal Center was constructed to match downtown Cincinnati’s

formal grid. It was completed in 2003 and aims to provide artists a space wherein
they could exhibit their works, performances and installations. The building has “a
new fluid, kind of spatiality” (Hadid, 2007), as it creates spaces which curators can
customize to suit the diversity of their works. It has a total of 8 levels including the
lower-level and penthouse.

Experimenting with “spatial articulation, the interplay between buildings and

existing landscapes, and formal dynamism” (Ego, 2005), the building focuses on
these key features: the Urban Carpet, Jigsaw Puzzle and Skin/Sculpture; the back
wall curves upward where visitors are then lead in by a series of stairs to the upper
floors. The geometric structure of the upper-level galleries are linked like a puzzle,
and also provides several spaces for the “great range of scales and materials in
contemporary art”. The design of the building was influenced by its location; two
facades were created, where one allows people to look through the glass and into
the Center and the other shows an “imprint of the gallery interiors” (Contemporary
Arts Center, 2010).

J. Klee 2008
 University of Cincinnat 2009

Danda.be R. Halbe

The essential quality of Hadid’s design, spatial virtuosity, is expressed in the interiors (Gregory,
2008). The structure houses galleries, a cafe kiosk, offices, performance areas and an education
facility. There are ramps that serve as open spaces as well for people to view and interact with art
and other people. The design of the building provides guests the possibility of viewing art as a
collective experience.

Hadid views the interior as a continuation of the city. The Center reflects the modernity of urban
landscapes. Although the exterior seems to be made of solid concrete blocks stacked on top of
each other, the spaces they create for the interior has dynamism as they shift from one scale and
shape to another. As a result, visitors perceive space as a changeable element, which seems to
adapt to the variety of works exhibited.

“The spaces in these centers don't

have to be defined by the need for
walls to hang pictures on.”

- Hadid, 2001
Contemporary Arts Center 2010