The Building, Digitally Remastered
In this era, the rectilinear glass box has become a quaint relic of the predigital past.
Zaha Hadid Architects
Wolfsburg, Germany
2005
Most of the Phaeno Science Center’s weight rests on a series of scattered concrete cones that seamlessly taper down from the building’s underbelly. But the cones are not only structural supports: they also house a bookstore, a theater, and the museum’s entrance. Computers configured the exact cone placement necessary for the curvaceous design to work, and a new material called self-compacting concrete filled it out. It is the only concrete capable of sustaining a structure with such sweeping curves and tight angles.
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