The recently completed 420,000-sf Shanghai Astronomy Museum is set to open on July 18. The new astronomical branch of the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum is the largest museum in the world solely dedicated to the study of astronomy.
The building does not include any straight lines or right angles as a nod to the geometry of the universe and the dynamic energy of celestial movement. Design inspiration was drawn from the “three-body problem” in physics, which looks to the intricate choreographies created by gravitational attraction of multiple bodies within solar systems.
The building’s envelope traces a series of arcing paths that are influenced by gravitational pull: the heart of the central atrium, the forward momentum at the entry, and the planet-like sphere that envelopes the planetarium theater. Additionally, the museum’s three principal architectural components, the Oculus, the Inverted Dome, and the Sphere, act as functioning astronomical instruments that track the sun, moon, and stars.
The Oculus is suspended over the museum’s main entry and demonstrates the passage of time by tracking a circle of sunlight on the ground across the entry plaza and reflecting pool. The Sphere houses the planetarium theater, which is half submerged in the building. The Sphere derives its shape from the programmatic element it contains, but also from an abstract manifestation of a primary celestial form. With minimal visible support, the Sphere evokes an illusion of weightlessness and anti-gravity. The Inverted Dome is a large, inverted glass tension structure that sits on top of the central atrium at the roof line. Visitors will have the ability to occupy the center of the glass dish with an unimpeded view of the sky. The Inverted Dome acts as the culmination of the exhibit journey. A 720-degree spiraling ramp inside the museum and underneath the Inverted Dome traces the orbital flow of the visitor sequence throughout the museum exhibits and draws the eye upward to its apex.
The museum grounds include buildings and programming such as temporary and permanent exhibits, a 78-foot solar telescope, an observatory, an optical Planetarium, an Education and Research Center, and a Digital Sky Theater. Programming at the museum will feature immersive environments, artifacts and instruments of space exploration, and educational exhibits.
A ceremony to celebrate the museum’s opening will be held on July 17.
Related Stories
| Oct 12, 2011
BIM Clarification and Codification in a Louisiana Sports Museum
The Louisiana State Sports Hall of Fame celebrates the sporting past, but it took innovative 3D planning and coordination of the future to deliver its contemporary design.
| Oct 12, 2011
Consigli Construction breaks ground for Bigelow Laboratory Center for Ocean Health
Consigli to build third phase of 64-acre Ocean Science and Education Campus, design by WBRC Architects , engineers in association with Perkins + Will
| Sep 12, 2011
Living Buildings: Are AEC Firms up to the Challenge?
Modular Architecture > You’ve done a LEED Gold or two, maybe even a LEED Platinum. But are you and your firm ready to take on the Living Building Challenge? Think twice before you say yes.
| Apr 13, 2011
Expanded Museum of the Moving Image provides a treat for the eyes
The expansion and renovation of the Museum of the Moving Image in the Astoria section of Queens, N.Y., involved a complete redesign of its first floor and the construction of a three-story 47,000-sf addition.
| Apr 12, 2011
Entrance pavilion adds subtle style to Natural History Museum of Los Angeles
A $13 million gift from the Otis Booth Foundation is funding a new entrance pavilion at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. CO Architects, Los Angeles, is designing the frameless structure with an energy-efficient curtain wall, vertical suspension rods, and horizontal knife plates to make it as transparent as possible.
| Jan 21, 2011
Sustainable history center exhibits Fort Ticonderoga’s storied past
Fort Ticonderoga, in Ticonderoga, N.Y., along Lake Champlain, dates to 1755 and was the site of battles in the French and Indian War and the American Revolution. The new $20.8 million, 15,000-sf Deborah Clarke Mars Education Center pays homage to the French magasin du Roi (the King’s warehouse) at the fort.
| Jan 19, 2011
Industrial history museum gets new home in steel plant
The National Museum of Industrial History recently renovated the exterior of a 1913 steel plant in Bethlehem, Pa., to house its new 40,000-sf exhibition space. The museum chose VOA Associates, which is headquartered in Chicago, to complete the design for the exhibit’s interior. The exhibit, which has views of five historic blast furnaces, will feature artifacts from the Smithsonian Institution to illustrate early industrial America.
| Jan 19, 2011
Museum design integrates Greek history and architecture
Construction is under way in Chicago on the National Hellenic Museum, the nation’s first museum devoted to Greek history and culture. RTKL designed the 40,000-sf limestone and glass building to include such historic references as the covered walkway of classical architecture and the natural wood accents of Byzantine monasteries. The museum will include a research library and oral history center, plus a 3,600-sf rooftop terrace featuring three gardens. The project seeks LEED Silver.
| Nov 23, 2010
The George W. Bush Presidential Center, which will house the former president’s library
The George W. Bush Presidential Center, which will house the former president’s library and museum, plus the Bush Institute, is aiming for LEED Platinum. The 226,565-sf center, located at Southern Methodist University, in Dallas, was designed by architect Robert A.M. Stern and landscape architect Michael Van Valkenburgh.
| Nov 2, 2010
Cypress Siding Helps Nature Center Look its Part
The Trinity River Audubon Center, which sits within a 6,000-acre forest just outside Dallas, utilizes sustainable materials that help the $12.5 million nature center fit its wooded setting and put it on a path to earning LEED Gold.
