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Project Description:

The first free-standing building for the Contemporary Arts Center, founded in Cincinnati in 1939 as one of the first institutions in the United States dedicated to the contemporary visual arts. The new Lois & Richard Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art provides spaces for temporary exhibitions, site-specific installations and performances, but not for a permanent collection. Other program elements include an education facility -- the Sara M. & Patricia A. Vance Education Center: The UnMuseum® -- offices, art preparation areas, CAC Store and public areas.

Location: Walnut Street and East Sixth Street in downtown Cincinnati. The site is across Walnut Street from a recently completed performing arts facility, the Aronoff Center for the Arts (designed by César Pelli), in a developing downtown cultural and entertainment area known as the Backstage District.

If you want to host your next event or meeting in a world-renowned space, talk to us about renting the CAC facility.

Owner's Representative:

David P. Crafts

Leadership:

Charles Desmarais, Former Director
Richard H. Rosenthal, Chair, Board of Trustees
James E. Rogers, Co-Chair, Campaign Cabinet
J. Joseph Hale, Jr., Co-Chair, Campaign Cabinet

Architectural Design:

Zaha Hadid

Associate Architect:

KZF Incorporated, Cincinnati
Donald L. Cornett, Mark Stedtefeld

Building Footprint:

11,000 square feet

Total Area:

80,000 square feet

Project Cost:

$34 million
(including land acquisition and endowment)

Groundbreaking:

May 2001

Completion:

Spring 2003

Major Design Features:

Urban Carpet:

To draw in pedestrian movement from the surrounding areas and create a sense of dynamic public space, the entrance, lobby and lead-in to the circulation system are organized as an "Urban Carpet." Starting at the corner of Sixth and Walnut, the ground curves slowly upward as it enters the building, rising to become the back wall. As it rises and turns, this Urban Carpet leads visitors up a suspended mezzanine ramp through the full length of the lobby, which during the day functions as an open, daylit, "landscaped" expanse. The mezzanine ramp continues to rise until it penetrates the back wall, on the other side of which it becomes a landing at the entrance to the galleries.

Jigsaw Puzzle:

In contrast to the Urban Carpet, which is a series of polished, undulating surfaces, the galleries are expressed as if they had been carved from a single block of concrete and were floating over the lobby space. Exhibition spaces vary in size and shape, to accommodate the great range of scales and materials in contemporary art. Views into the galleries from the circulation system are unpredictable, as the stair-ramp zig-zags upward through a narrow slit at the back of the building. Together, these varying galleries interlock like a three-dimensional jigsaw puzzle, made up of solids and voids.

Skin/Sculpture:

The building's corner location led to the development of two different, but complementary, facades. The south facade, along Sixth Street, forms an undulating, translucent skin, through which passersby see into the life of the Center. Offices - organized along this side to provide daylit working environments and views of the city - provide the facade with human animation. The east facade, along Walnut, is expressed as a sculptural relief. It provides an imprint, in negative, of the gallery interiors.

Interior Breakdown:

Lower Level:

Performance space: 2,366 sf
Lobby: 1,160 sf

Entry Level:

Lobby: 3,512 sf
Reception: 184 sf
Museum shop: 960 sf

Second Floor:

Galleries: 6,145 sf

Third Floor:

Offices: 3,737 sf

Fourth Floor:

Galleries: 5,442 sf
Offices: 1,379 sf
Board Room: 834 sf
Terrace: 381sf

Fifth Floor:

Members' Room: 540 sf
Galleries: 4,854 sf

Sixth Floor:

UnMuseum: 6,621 sf

Total Gallery Space: 16,441 sf
Performance Space: 2,366 sf
Education Space: 6,621 sf
Total Building Square Footage:
82,265 sf

Competition Design Team:

Office of Zaha Hadid: Zaha Hadid, Shumon Basar, Oliver Domeisen, Jee-Eun Lee, Terence Koh, Marco Guarinieri, Stephane Hof, Woody K.T. Yao, Ivan Pajares, Wasim Halabi, Nan Atichapong, Graham Modlen

Local Architect:

KZF Incorporated, Cincinnati
Donald L. Cornett, Mark Stedtefeld, Dale Beeler

Project Architect:

Marcus Dochantschi

Project Team:

Office of Zaha Hadid, Ed Gaskin, Ana Sotrel, Jan HŸbener, David Gerber, Christos Passas, Sonia Villaseca, James Lin, Jee-Eun Lee, Oliver Domeisen, Helmut Kinzler, Patrik Schumacher, Michael Wolfson, David Gomersall

Construction Manager:

Turner Construction Company
Craig Preston, Bill Huber

Structural Engineers:

THP Limited, Inc., Cincinnati
Shayne Manning, Murray Monroe

Acoustic Consultant:

Ove Arup and Partners, New York/London
Andrew Nicol, Richard Cowell

Services Consultant:

Heapy Engineering
Ron Chapman, Gary Eodice

Security Consultant:

Steven R. Keller & Associates

Theatre Consultant:

Charles Cosler Theatre Design, Inc.

Lighting Consultant:

Office for Visual Interaction, Inc. (OVI)
Jean M. Sundin, Enrique Peiniger

Photography:

Edward Woodman, David Grandorge

Study Models:

Chris Dopheide, Thomas Knüvener, Sara Klomps, Bergendy Cook, Florian Migsch, Sandra Oppermann, Ademir Volic (presentation mo