Vitra Fire Station, the Phoenix of Architecture
Introduction
Who would have ever thought that one single lighting bolt could set in motion a chain of events that would led to the creation of one of the most astounding pieces of architecture? This was the case during 1981 in Weil am Rhein, Germany when a lightning strike decimated the Vitra Campus, a campus compromised of factories, showrooms, and design museums. But why wasn’t the fire put out earlier? Didn’t they have a fire department? The unfortunate answer was yes, but the river that was the only source of water around was located miles away, and were unable to put it out in time.
It was now demonstrated that the need for a proper fire department in the Vitra campus was of utmost importance. Thus, the Vitra Campus hired a renowned architect by the name of Zaha Hadid to design the new fire station within the campus. Construction for the new building began 1991 and ended in 1993. However, this building was then chosen to be recycled into exhibition space for the Vitra campus once the framework for local fire fighters expanded into the area. The building now is a iconic building for tourism in the area, and acts as a new piece in their collection of permanent campus chairs.
Purpose
So what did this new fire department need to provide? Focusing on the primary use for the building it was to house a proper and maintained fire department, including living quarters, garages, meeting rooms, work areas, and would have to have adequate circulation. As secondary uses the building needed to act as a large house for the fire fighters, containing a kitchen, and living quarters. For Hadid however, it was integral that the look of the building shield itself from the traditional look of its neighboring buildings. Also the build was not to just merely exist, it needed to be the building that would structures the streets surrounding it.
Design
Hadid was insistent on the aesthetic simplicity of the building, given that excessive care to detail would detach from the prismatic volume of the building, degrading the visual impact of the building.
Exterior Features
The materials used for this building was mainly concrete and steel supports. It is composed of a series of concrete walls and roofing features, with certain interstitial spaces in between. The walls which from a distance may seem planar are actually tilted, punctured, and folded to meet certain internal requirements. The planes that make up the roofs and the walls are cast in-situ concrete. During the process of constructing the planes, Hadid specified visual purity of these planes so taking away from the otherwise sharp edges of the concrete was executed.
Interior Features
Images of the interior of the Virta Fire Station building depict an exasperating scene of contour. Each element of the interior adds to the feeling of movement in the building as neighboring elements contain lines that run parallel, and the perception to depth is tampered by adding slanted planes onto sides of the wall, making each room seem even larger. Also each element featured is kept simple in terms of detail, elements are comprise just as volumetric prisms.
Library Sources
Source one collected from the library database is from “Passages:Zaha Hadid 1950–2016” a museum post regarding the work that Zaha completed. It goes over her initial start as an artist making exemplary geometrically abstract work. Leading up to her major start when she was contracted to design a new fire station in the Vitra campus. The article covers her rise to popularity once completed this project.
Source two collected from the library database is “New Fields of Architecture”, this article covers the natural rise to fame that Zaha Hadid experienced from the start of her architectural origins. The source also explicates the unique style that individualized her from other architects, for her geometrical style and giving her the missionary. This articles delves straight into the thought process of her works, and how they created a means of controversy. It also gives concrete examples of how other architect’s works compare to Zaha’s just to exemplify the difference in her work.
Personal Rendition
Relative Location
Located on the Vitra campus the surrounding area is an urban land with factories as surrounding buildings. However, more towards the side of the campus are design museums and other buildings with interesting form factors such as the VitraHaus which seems like a bunch of buildings fell into a stockpile, as well as the eloquent design museum itself. The area is bounded by the insertion of two roads and side walls.
Videos of the Building
After watching Joff J-K’s video of himself visiting the Vitra Fire station you can really see the slender figure of the building, and just how narrow it comes off to actually be. While in the interior the takes upon the same narrow contours of the exterior, the walls are lined with multiple glass panels giving the building a much more open sense for light. But to me the building seemed much more barren that actually said to be, I do wish the building had been chosen for continued use so that further interior decor might happen. But in terms of overall architecture, the building flourish in terms of edge contours and prismatic volume of the roofs and walls.
Articles regarding Zaha Hadid
After reading Michael Kimmelman’s New York Times article announcing and covering her life work, before her recent death in 2016 from a sudden heart attack, I was confirmed to all the previous comments I knew she cooperated in her designs. As stated in the article, all of the works Zaha Hadid was apart of she made it a portent role in her work that each building had an expressive geometric identity. This expressive ability gave way for eye popping style and a subtle emotional ambiguity lingering in her simplistic yet complex work. Her works were know for string controversy and admiration from tons of awards. Although most deemed her works to be impractical and imprudent, her works were glorified by Architects all around. Hadid’s sources were known to be nature, history, and whatever she found useful in all her designs. The fluidity and geometry of her designs spoke volumes to the voluptuous and muscular buildings she erected.
Articles about the Building
After reading the provided article one can is enlightened to the fact while once the building was finished, while architects found the building marvelous, the fire fighters themselves were not so amused by it’s impracticality, and soon left the building. This building was one of the first contracted buildings in her name and was a milestone in shooting her career forward. During the construction of the building, Hadid had specifically demanded that roof cladding and edging were to be ignored because they may detract from the crisp edges of the concrete. The structural shape of the building itself was dictated by the surrounding road around it, and thus resulted in a long, narrow structure stretching across the street.
Interview with Zaha Hadid
This article conducted by Radio 4 is a controversial yet accurate interview as to the character of Zaha Hadid. The lead reporter for this interview initially began by questioning the presence of sexism in the field of architecture and its affect on her own career. To which she claimed it was a factor that was getting better with time, and that it was only a factor in her earlier career, and now she sees very little presence of that being an issue. However, the interview took a stark turn when the reporter questioned the recent claims of multiple deaths occurring on her Qatar sports stadium, to which she exclaimed such issues were utter sophistry and fraudulent. Feedback between the two individuals continued until a new controversy was mentioned regarding her building in Japan, that once pressed to respond, walked out immediately. This interview gives insight into the dynamic and direct attitude of Hadid they most likely plays a large role as a successful architect.
Zaha Hadid Blog
The author of this blog goes into depth about the past success Zaha Hadid had before here passing in 2016, explaining the unique perspective and take she had on architecture. I agree with this author in that she defined herself as a visionary in terms of her designs being aloof, elegant, and futuristic. However, when mentioning that she designs were practical, to the testaments made by other sources as well as my sights of her works, many of which are very unpractical. For example, such as the Vitra Fire Station, sure it is eye candy for many viewers, the actual purpose of the building was not to the standards of the firemen who actually used the building. Another perspective that I agree within the article was about the way she was able to perfectly incorporate the light into her designs, allowing the light to play a heavy role in adding to the aesthetic of he models.
Citations
Fiederer, Luke. “AD Classics: Vitra Fire Station / Zaha Hadid.” ArchDaily, 21 Apr. 2016, www.archdaily.com/785760/ad-classics-vitra-fire-station-zaha-hadid-weil-am-rhein-germany.
Feldier, Reon. “Vitra Fire Station.” WikiArquitectura, 16 July 2016, en.wikiarquitectura.com/building/vitra-fire-station/.
Engel, Sophie, and Gerti Draxler. “Design by Zaha Hadid.” DorotheumArt Blog, 1 Feb. 2018, www.dorotheum.com/blog/en/design-zaha-hadid-2/.
Wainwright, Oliver, and Owen Gibson. “Zaha Hadid Radio 4 Interview: How and Why It Went so Wrong.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 24 Sept. 2015, www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/ng-interactive/2015/sep/24/zaha-hadid-radio-4-interview-sarah-montague-qatar.
Kimmelman, Michael. “Zaha Hadid, Groundbreaking Architect, Dies at 65.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 31 Mar. 2016, www.nytimes.com/2016/04/01/arts/design/zaha-hadid-architect-dies.html.