Discussion: Another kind of space – In conversation with Zaha Hadid

© Roland Halbe
© Klemens Ortmeyer
© Hélène Binet
© Richard Bryant
© Klemens Ortmeyer
© Richard Bryant
Four-and-a-half years after work began on site, Zaha Hadid’s Phaeno Science Center in Wolfsburg has now been officially opened. Located in a prominent position right by the ICE station and within sight of Volkswagen’s “Autostadt”, this spectacular exhibition building promises to inject new energy into the town of Wolfsburg and attract increasing numbers of visitors. The enormous concrete structure of this science centre crouches above a sculptured open space on legs that taper towards the bottom, legs that are large enough for the hollow space inside them to serve as entrances to the building. Before the official opening of the centre, Zaha Haditalked to DETAIL. Andreas Gabriel interviewed Zaha Hadid in Wolfsburg at the end of November 2005.