Ennead Architects has completed work on a stunning new astronomy museum in Shanghai, China, the largest in the world. The building's curved design (it contains no straight lines or right angles) is inspired by the cosmos, and parts of it function a bit like an oversized sundial, marking the passage of time.
A museum of astronomy with celestial mechanics
The Shanghai Astronomy Museum measures approximately 40.000 square meters (420.000 square feet). It includes temporary and permanent exhibitions, as well as several smaller surrounding buildings. It houses a solar telescope, an observatory, an education and research center, a theater and a planetarium, as well as viewing points and more. The overall shape of the main building is defined by three main elements: the eye, the sphere e the inverted dome.
The Eye it is suspended above the main entrance and traces a circle of sunlight on the ground across the entrance plaza and reflecting pool. During the summer solstice there is a complete circle. At noon this circle aligns with a circular platform in the entrance plaza. This sort of thing has been done in the past with modern architecture, but this is a particularly well-executed example.
Inside the astronomy museum is located the sphere. With visible supports kept to a minimum, it is designed to create the illusion of floating in mid-air for visitors, while its interior contains the planetarium theatre.
Finally, the Inverted dome it is a large inverted glass structure that rests on the building's central atrium and is reached by a 720-degree spiral ramp. The area offers visitors a breathtaking view of the sky.
It is also inspired by the “three-body problem”
The Shanghai Astronomy Museum is an architecturally ambitious project. Its absence of straight lines and right angles “echoes the geometry of the universe and the dynamic energy of celestial movement,” explains the company's press release. The architect Thomas J. Wong drew inspiration from the classic “three-body problem” in physics, with intricate choreographies created by the gravitational attraction of multiple bodies within solar systems. An inspiration that is clearly reflected in the winding architectural ribbons of the façade of the Astronomy Museum.
The Shanghai Astronomy Museum opened to visitors on July 18 and serves as the new branch of the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum, completed in 2015.
