Construction has started on Shanghai’s 409, 000-square-foot Shanghai Planetarium.
Based in the city’s Lingang district and due to open in 2020, it will operate as the new astronomical branch for the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum. The museum will boast a 78-foot-tall solar telescope together with exterior exhibition space.
The museum will include:
- A 68-foot Diameter Digital Sky Theater
- An Education and Research Center
- An IMAX theater
- A 60-foot-Diameter Optical Planetarium
- Permanent and temporary Exhibit Galleries
- A Solar Telescope
- Youth Observation Camp
- Observatory
The international-competition-winning design of the building is inspired by astronomical principles in its three forms: the “oculus, ” the “inverted dome, ” and the “sphere.” This arrangement represents an astronomic tool being used to track the sun, moon, and stars.
New York design firm Ennead Architects‘ Partner Thomas Wong said, “In linking the new museum to both scientific purpose and to the celestial references of buildings throughout history, the exhibits and architecture will communicate more than scientific content: they will illuminate what it means to be human in a vast and largely unknown universe”.
All images kind courtesy Ennead Architects.
https://www.contractdesign.com/news/projects/Construction-Begins-on-Ennead-Architects-Shanghai-Planetarium-39650.shtml