Wolfsburg, Germany
PHAENO SCIENCE CENTER
I created this series of the Phaeno Science Center built in Wolfsburg, Germany in 2005 in memory of one of the most inspiring architects of our time, Zaha Hadid. I always wanted to shoot one of her buildings and it was simply awesome to do so finally. I love the overall concept of this building with its raw and almost bulky concrete structure, that nevertheless has a superdynamic and almost lightweight look because it is built on large pillars and seems to hover slightly above the city.
In contrast to most other concrete buildings we see daily, the extravagant forms and cutted out elements of the Phaeno, especially on the inside, give it a very modern, almost futuristic look and are totally appealing to photograph for sure. The building integrates really well in to the center of Wolfsburg city and especially the underpass which opens the main train station to the center underlines impressively that the urban planning of the builing was well thought.
the phaeno science center
“The phaeno builing in the centre of Wolfsburg looks like a spacecraft that has just landed. Resting on its ten cone-shaped “feet”, the concrete structure spanning 154 metres seems to almost hover in the air.
Designed by the Iraq-born architect Zaha Hadid, the imposing structure sits enthroned high above street-level. The exhibition space, resting on conic supports and sublimely illuminated, emerged as the victorious project from an international competition staged in 2000. The London-based architect has devised a home for phaeno that breaks with many conventions and that liberates the area beneath it as a kind of urban space in the form of a covered artificial landscape with gently undulating hills and valleys.
Since November 2005, the futuristic apparition has been raising eyebrows in amazement and making eyes gleam with awe among passers-by. The inside of phaeno seems to be from another world as well: a free-flowing space framed by cast concrete. Without any right angles. Entwined over several levels. An ideal location for adventurers and discoverers. And a fantastic achievement of the London-based architect Zaha Hadid.”
Text source: http://www.phaeno.de/home-en
Phaeno Science Center Interior
