Architecture studio MAD has unveiled construction photos of its new Hainan Science Museum in China, which it says is expected to open in 2025.
In a statement, MAD said the project is steadily advancing through its construction phase. Building work started in November 2021, with the main structure completed in June 2023.
The new 46,000-square-metre building’s exterior can be seen in new photos released by MAD. It features a “biomorphic form with fluid, soft shapes”, the studio said.
“Resembling an updraft, the design mimics the upward movement of warm air from the Earth’s surface,” it added.
The exterior is now being covered in fibre-reinforced plastic panels to achieve a “flowing and ascending form”, according to MAD.
Designed for Hainan’s tropical climate, the panels feature open seams and water-guiding grooves for drainage purposes.
The six-storey science museum includes five floors above ground and one underground level. The above-ground levels measure a total of 28,000 square metres.
MAD’s design includes dedicated areas for younger children, older kids, and adults. For the younger ones, there are spaces on the second and third floors. Older kids and adults are encouraged to begin their experience at the top floor and descend.
New science museum to open in 2025
MAD said its concept for the museum “seeks to blend its natural tropical context with its urban surroundings, where technology and science meet nature”.
“A science museum is about education and imagining the future; we want nature to be part of that vision as well,” said MAD founder Ma Yansong.
Hainan Science Museum is expected to open to visitors next year after finishing the curtain wall and landscape construction by June of this year.
