Rosenthal Museum

ROSENTHAL CENTER FOR CONTEMPORARY ARTS

BUILDING ANALYSIS BY MASON PENDERGAST AND TYLER NAUMANN

TABLE OF CONTENTS

STORY

ARCHITECT PROFILE Since their founding in 1980, Zaha Hadid architects has been working in “all scales and sectors.” They strive to create diverse spaces that not only fit in with their surroundings, but work in “synchronicity” with them. Their portfolio includes a total of 950 projects distributed among 44 countries. Zaha Hadid, the founder and executive of the firm, is a critically-acclaimed architect herself, and the first female recipient of the Pritzker Prize.

Her commitment to modernism and shifting away from “existing typology,” shifting the geometry of building forms.

ROSENTHAL CENTER FOR CONTEMPORARY ART

Architect: Zaha Hadid Architects Location: Cincinnati, Ohio Built: 1997-2003 Area: 91,500 ft2 Structural Engineer: THP Limited General Contractor: Turner Construction Concrete: High Concrete Group LLC

3. STORY 4-5. SITE 6-7. SPACE | DRAWINGS 8-9. SPACE | MODEL 10-11. PERFORMANCE 12-13. STRUCTURE 14-15. CIRCULATION 16-17. REFLECTION 18. REFERENCES

Zaha Hadid Architects’ Vitra Fire Station and MAXXI: Museum of XXI Century arts projects use distinct concrete geometries on the exterior to define the circulation and program within the building, similar to the Rosenthal Center.

Vitra Fire Station, Germany. (1993)

Urban Carpet Urban Carpet concept in built form, pulling the fabric of the public space into the upper galleries

PROJECT NARRATIVE Settled in the middle of downtown Cincinnati, the Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art by Zaha Hadid Architects serves as an exhibition space and museum for one of the oldest institutions of contemporary visual art in the United States. The Rosenthal Center hosts nearly 100,000 guests annually, since its opening in 2003, and has no permanent collection. The building is one of Hadid’s first fully realized projects, and plays a role in marking Hadid’s transition from captivating drawings and renders to successful full scale buildings. The building sits on a relatively small corner site, and rises to a height of ten stories.

The Rosenthal center uses two main concepts to situate itself in downtown Cincinnati and perform its role as a museum. The first is the idea of an “Urban Carpet,” which blends the public realm at the street with the ground floor of the museum. A wide concrete strip starts at the street on the ground and continues into the building until curving upward, drawing the public up into the gallery spaces. The walls on the first floor are 100 percent glazing, and a narrow, black steel clad experiential stair is used for circulation upwards and through the galleries. Once the visitors are in the galleries, the building employs a jigsaw puzzle concept to piece together gallery spaces on various levels, connected by ramps and small stairs throughout and a central atrium area on the fourth floor. This is also visible from the exterior, as the main gallery spaces are expressed as distinct rectangular volumes that are clad in different materials.

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Museum of XXI Century Cultural Arts (2009)

Drawing of jigsaw concept: dividing program between distinct concrete geometries 3

SITE eet 7th Str

Main

Street

treet

Steet

t Walnu

Vine S

3

eet 6th Str

1 ELECTRIC TRANSMISSION LINE DUKE ENERGY PLANT, UTICA SHALE

1” = 125’

2

1

2 WATER

OHIO RIVER, MILLER TREATMENT PLANT

3 WASTE TREATMENT

METROPOLITAN SEWER DISTRICT OF GREATER CINCINNATI

RESOURCES

CLIMATE + RESOURCES

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PSYCHROMETRIC

WIND ROSE

TEMPERATURE

The Rosenthal Center, being located in urban Cincinnati, Ohio, experiences a humid subtropical climate. Summertime is warm and humid, and winters are very cold. In response to this climate, the project doesn’t do much- concrete, aluminum, and glass are good conductors, not insulators, so we assume the project relies on a decent amount of mechanical climate control, especially given the large, open space around the experiential stair. In terms of resources, the Rosenthal Center is close to most of its sources. Its water comes from the Ohio river- a few block away- and is treated in the city, its waste management happens in a plant a few miles west, and its energy comes from a plant across state line in Kentucky. To our knowledge, the building recycles none of these processes.

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OFFICE

FOURTH LEVEL

OPEN TO BELOW

SPACE | SECTION + PLANS

SECOND FLOOR

OFFICE OPEN TO BELOW

GALLERY

OPEN TO BELOW

OPEN TO BELOW

THIRD LEVEL

OFFICE

LOADING

OFFICE

OFFICE

P

CE RE

OPEN TO BELOW

RECEIVING

N TIO

LOUNGE

THIRD FLOOR

SECOND LEVEL

ION

PT

CE RE

PENTHOUSE

OPEN TO BELOW

LOUNGE

THIRD FLOOR PENTHOUSE

LOBBY

STORAGE

SIXTH LEVEL STORAGE

OFFICE

ENTRY

GALLERY

SIXTH LEVEL

GALLERY

FIFTH LEVEL

GROUND LEVEL

GALLERY

FIFTH LEVEL

SECOND FLOOR

ION

PT

GALLERY

FOURTH LEVEL

CE RE

GROUND LEVEL

GALLERY

LOUNGE FOURTH LEVEL

SECOND FLOOR

THIRD LEVEL

THIRD FLOOR

GALLERY

GROUND LEVEL

PENTHOUSE

THIRD FLOOR

LOADING RECEIVING

THIRD LEVEL

LOWER LEVEL

LOADING

SECOND LEVEL

MECH.

RECEIVING

KITCHEN STORAGE WORKSHOP

LOBBY

SECOND LEVEL

SIXTH LEVEL ENTRY

LOBBY

GALLERY

CROSSGROUND SECTION LEVEL

ENTRY

PERFORMANCE

GROUND LEVEL GROUND LEVEL

FIFTH LEVEL

GROUND LEVEL

MECH.

LOWER LEVEL

MECH.

GALLERY

KITCHEN WORKSHOP

LOWER LEVEL

5

10

MECH.

KITCHEN

FOURTH LEVEL

CROSS SECTION25

CROSS SECTION

PERFORMANCE

SECOND FLOOR LOWER LEVEL LOWER LEVEL

THIRD LEVEL

6

5

10

10

25

25

SECOND FLOOR

MECH.

50

LOBBY

50

LOBBY

5 10

25

LOWER LEVEL

25

50

N

LOADING RECEIVING

LOWER LEVEL 5 10

SECOND LEVEL

GALLERY

PERFORMANCE

MECH.

CROSS SECTION

5

LOBBY

WORKSHOP

50

50

N

7

SKIN

SOUTH ELEVATION

WEST ELEVATION

FORM + CLADDING

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The form of the Rosenthal Center utilizes a “jigsaw” of unique, rectangular geometric forms to indicate its galleries. In our study of the overall form, we also found that, following those geomteries’ forms, the floorplates allow for several double-height spaces around the experiential stair, giving more breathing room for the urban carpet. The building’s cladding consists of three components: grey concrete paneling, blackened aluminum, and glass curtain walls. While there was no explicit logic, we found generally that (usually) behind the concrete is gallery space, and behind the aluminum and glass is office space.

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PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS

ASE MODEL

sDA MODEL

SUSTAINABILITY

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Unfortunately, the Center for Contemporary arts does not pay much mind to sDA or ASE factors specifically, and certainly does not have an optimal EUI, but does pay some attention to overall daylighting. Its glazing is oriented southfacing, and whether intentional or not, is shaded by the geometries of upper floors. There is also glazing on the eastern side, likely for its view, but also providing some early light to the “urban carpet.” The building’s heaviest energy load comes from heating, which makes sense with regards to the building’s double-height gallery spaces and its use of concrete, which scores low in its insulative capabilities. Also contributing to that load is the colder winter, spring and fall in Cincinnati 11

STRUCTURE

W 24 x 104 WIDE FLANGE

SHEAR WALL

STRUCTURAL GRID

FOOTINGS

COLUMNS

SHEAR WALL

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PHYSICAL

GRID + OFFSET

Our initial study of the Rosenthal Center demonstrated how the building uses a relatively straightforward steel-based grid of columns, and beams and girders that frame into those columns from supporting the unique gallery geometries. According to construction photos, we determined that the grid utilizes wide flange steel for support, but utilizes a GFRC concrete column cover for its final finish. The parallelgoram-like shape of the columns in plan is likely utilized to prevent the grid from becoming too regular, as it would if utilizing typical square or circular columns, or even leaving the fireproofed steel exposed.

Upon further analysis, we discerned that the structural system of the Rosenthal Center is based off of a typical grid, but features slightly offset framing for the edges of the distinct geometries composing the building. On the south and east-facing facades, cantilever beams follow the angled edges of the roughly rectangular galleries. We also discovered that besides a purely conceptual device, the urban carpet also acts as a shear wall for the building. Lastly, we noted that the only other variation within the grid is in the interior, where occasional breaks occur to allow for doubleheight spaces

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CIRCULATION

FREIGHT ELEVATOR

ELEVATOR

EGRESS STAIR

MECHANICAL ROOM/ CHASE R

DUCTWORK

6 5

4

3

2

EXPERIENTIAL STAIR

URBAN CARPET SHEAR WALL

G

B

AN RB

ET

RP

CA

MECHANICAL ROOM

AN RB

MECHANICAL ROOMS

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ENTER

U

ET

RP

CA

U

MECHANICAL: FORCED AIR SYSTEM

HUMAN: PATHS SCHEME

The Rosenthal Center utilizes a climate control system of forced air to circulate the space. Three mechanical chases located within mechanical rooms, aligned by floor, supply the entire building, along with one in the basement. In terms of the buiding’s materiality, the concrete paneling contacted by sunrays provide radiant heat to the space, and also protect the space from the sun’s direct rays to enhance the gallery experience. However, as mentioned in “site,” the concrete paneling does not serve the building’s insulation particularly well, and does require the forced-air system to be used significantly throughout the colder parts of the year. The building does not, at least deliberately or explicitly, use any passive strategies.

The Rosenthal Center’s main circulation is its experiential stair, guided by the urban carpet. One enters on the ground floor of the building, then is directed by the entryway’s angle to the experiential stair. The building’s two egress stairs, freight elevator, and elevator, separated from the experiential stair, guide circulation from the three parts of the building to the lobby, then allow them to discharge there, where there is a clear path to the main entry/exit way.

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REFLECTION

Beginning our research, we initially saw the Rosenthal Center as a simple conglomeration of rectangular forms. Within that mass, it was hard for us to imagine any interesting spatial articulation on the interior, especially in light of it being an art museum. The programming seemed restrictive, because art museums are typically sterile, vague environments because of the necessity for flexibility within the spaces. Without a permanent stationary collection, the spaces need to be versatile. However, studying the Rosenthal Center has taught us that simple articulations in surface and form can indeed indicate more complex ideas about the interior space, and that even within a rectangular design, the sculpting of volume and space can transcend the structure of floor plates and walls.

The exterior of the building is something we at first deemed uniconic, but upon study, noticed that the geometry and materials are pulled and pushed in such a way that they can indicate the gallery and double height spaces inside. Seeing how the section and elevation line up accordingly reinforces this idea. This concept was especially significant for the Rosenthal Center because most of the concrete masses have no windows, so it is nearly impossible to actually see what is going on inside. Additionally, even though the primary way we viewed the Rosenthal Center was through floor plans, it became immediately evident that the different levels of the building blended together into spaces and volumes that went beyond the floorplates, creating elegant double-height spaces and the main void allowing for the urban carpet. Trying to understand how Zaha Hadid designed these dynamic spaces suspended within both the floor plates and the rectangular form was helpful because we got to see how she achieved a variety of intriguing experiences, while still hitting every kind of benchmark: not wasting space, slope and stair requirements, fitting in spaces like a loading dock and restrooms, and a circulation strategy that both connects and defines the drivers behind the building.

Studying these ideas also helped us with our studio projects, in which one of the main issues at hand was spatial articulation on the interior, and using every square foot to the advantage of our overarching concept in some way: something the Rosenthal center does in a particularly well and organized manner, without an overly-daring form.

Seeing all these different aspects come together so seamlessly acquainted us with a more formally-humble architecture, one that is more about an epic interior experience rather than simply an epic form. Ultimately, we've gained a new respect for the Rosenthal Center, and been able to apply the concepts we learned from Hadid's design thinking even to our own studio projects, and they've become all the better for it.

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REFERENCES

PROJECT INFORMATION ROSENTHAL CENTER FOR CONTEMPORARY ART

Architect: Zaha Hadid Architects Location: Cincinnati, Ohio Built: 1997-2003 Area: 91,500 ft2 Structural Engineer: THP Limited General Contractor: Turner Construction Concrete: High Concrete Group LLC

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY Zaha Hadid Architects. “Lois & Richard Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art.” Zaha Hadid Architects. 2003. https://www.zaha-hadid.com/architecture/lois-richard-rosenthal-center-for-contemporary-art/

Project information, credits (Story page)

Sketches, drawings, models, renders (Story Page) High Concrete Group. “Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art.” High Concrete Group LLC. 2020. https://www.highconcrete.com/projects/by-application/public/cultural/rosenthal-center-for-contemporary-art/

Concrete design information

Project statistics ARQA. “Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art.” ARQA. May 5, 2009. https://arqa.com/english-es/architecture-es/rosenthal-center-for-contemporary-art-cincinnati-usa.html

Project description, location

Floor Plans and Section information Luke Fiederer. “Gallery of AD Classics: Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art.” May 07, 2016. ArchDaily. https://www.archdaily.com/786968/ad-classics-rosenthal-center-for-contemporary-art-zaha-hadid-architects-usa

Project image gallery (Story Page, Circulation Page)

Site Plan, Plans

Sections

Elevations

Generative process sketches

Process and final physical models

Renders (Story Page) U.S. Energy Administration Information. “Ohio State Profile and Energy Estimates.” June 18, 2020. EIA. https://www.eia.gov/state/?sid=OH

Resources Information Chris Cone. “Lois & Richard Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art.” May 2003. ERCO. https://www.erco.com/projects/culture/lois-richard-rosenthal-center-for-contemporary-art-1569/en/

Photo of Ceiling (Mechanical)

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