Since its opening in 2003, the new Lois and Richard Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art has attracted attention from around the world. Called “the most important American building since the end of the Cold War” by then New York Times architecture critic, Herbert Muchamp, the project at the time represented many groundbreaking “firsts.”
The Contemporary Arts Center brings art and the creative process to all people through exhibitions, performances, and experiences that open minds. It was internationally renowned architect Zaha Hadid‘s first commission in the United States, her first public work, and the first major new American museum to be designed by a woman.
KZF Design is proud of our work with the late Ms. Hadid, taking her bold, avant-garde, ‘deconstructionist’ style and vision and bringing it from drafting table to tangible life. The CAC project is widely regarded as the one through which Ms. Hadid solidified her reputation as an architect of built works.
Over the course of her career prior, she had begun to be regarded as a “paper architect,” meaning her designs were so avant-garde it was a challenge to move beyond the sketch phase and actually be built. Indeed, her beautifully rendered designs were exhibited as works of art in major museums.
KZF architects, engineers, and interior designers were able to see into the design to find the structure within and without, translating a futuristic dream into contemporary construction. The collaboration is one of the hallmark moments in KZF Design’s more than 67-year history of providing design to fashion the Cincinnati we experience today.
The 20th anniversary of the CAC is celebrated through the A Permanent Nostalgia for Departure: A Rehearsal on Legacy with Zaha Hadid exhibition, which captures magical legacy of Zaha Hadid, as well as at the CAC’s Annual Gala on Saturday, October 7, 2023.
View our portfolio for additional information on the protect. Additional images follow this article below.
