Volkswagen's 'Transparent Factory'

Die Gläserne Manufaktur - Dresden, Germany

VW Transparent Factory photo

ABOVE: The Transparent Factory at night. INSET BELOW: A Phaeton body shell rides an overhead conveyor, and a finished car cruises through Dresden.

by Durant Imboden

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Dresden, Germany

Modern factories tend to be dreary places, with windowless walls of cinder block or sheet metal and open floor areas that can be switched from widget-making to doughnut-baking as the market and corporate takeovers dictate.

Phaeton assembly line photo Volkswagen's "Transparent Factory" or Gläserne Manufaktur in Dresden is a notable exception to the rule: It's a place of beauty where small teams of workers assemble the Phaeton, Volkswagen's luxury car, in a purpose-built facility that looks more like a Scandinavian conference center than an industrial plant. (The architect, Dr. Gunter Henn, also designed Volkswagen's Autostadt in Wolfsburg.)

The Transparent Factory occupies an 8-.3-hectare or 20.5-acre site on Dresden's Strassburger Platz, next to the Botanical Gardens and within walking distance of the city center.

The glass-walled, L-shaped production facility is adjoined by a Studio where Phaeton buyers can choose options and materials for their custom-built cars and a Customer Lounge where they can pick up their finished vehicles.

A Visitors' Forum is open to the public for tours, concerts, and other events; it also has a Phaeton driving simulator and other exhibits. The Transparent Factory even has a café, bar, and restaurant.

At its heart, of course, the Transparent Factory is just what its name would suggest: a place to make automobiles. It was designed specifically to produce the Phaeton, Volkswagen's top-of-the-line luxury car. Die Gläserne Manufaktur was--and remains--both an assembly plant and a showplace for the Phaeton concept, aesthetics, and technology. It's a fitting addition to a state (Saxony) that has a long industrial tradition and a city (Dresden) that is known for the beauty of its architecture.

Next page: Visiting the factory

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Volkswagen's 'Transparent Factory' in Dresden

Visiting the factory

Photo gallery - 13 captioned pictures

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Dresden, Germany

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