The Transparent Factory

Art, culture and architecture have always come together at Straßburger Platz. Until the bombing of Dresden during the Second World War, this was the location of the city's Exhibition Palace and the Kugelhaus. The latter was actually disassembled before the war, during the Nazi regime. Today, the »Transparent Factory«, with its nearly 40-meter-tall glass tower, represents a bridge to the past and contains the most up-to-date, exciting manufacturing technology.

The three-story L-shaped building, 55,000 square meters in area, is located on 8.3 hectares; since December 11, 2001, it has been the manufacturing site for the Phaeton, Volkswagen's new luxury-class vehicle. The entire manufacturing process can be observed through its 27,500 square meters of windows. In homogeneously integrating the factory into the city landscape, Volkswagen created a new manufacturing concept. The idea of making the individual vehicle production steps available for public viewing is completely original. Building the factory in the city center also involved a new logistics system. Trains carrying prefabricated parts are shuttled back and forth using the Dresden metro network, between the Friedrichstadt logistics center and the factory.

• Architectural eye-catcher: The Transparent Factory