SPACE INNOVATION CENTER

SHANGAI SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY MUSEUM, CHINA

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SHANGAI SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY MUSEUM, CHINA
 Architects: Ennead Architects
 Total area: 58,600 sqmBuilt-up area: 38,000 sqm (409,000ft²)
 Lead Architect: Thomas Wong
 Client: Shanghai Science and Technology Museum
 Local Design Institute: Arcplus Institute of Shanghai Architectural Design & Research
 City: Shanghai
 Country: China

The monumental new museum creates an immersive experience that places visitors in direct engagement with real
astronomical phenomena. Through scale, form, and the manipulation of light, the building heightens awareness of
our fundamental relationship to the sun and the earth’s orbital motion. At 420,000 square feet, the new
astronomical branch of the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum will be the largest museum worldwide
solely dedicated to the study of astronomy.
Drawing inspiration from astronomical principles, the design invokes the experience of orbital motion. Each of the
building’s three principal forms – the Oculus, the Inverted Dome and the Sphere – act as functioning astronomical
instruments, tracking the sun, moon, and stars and reminding visitors that our conception of time originates in
distant astronomical objects.

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CONCEPT – without straight lines or right angles, echoing the geometry of
the universe and the dynamic energy of celestial movement.
Wong drew inspiration from the classic “three-body problem” in physics,
looking to the intricate choreographies created by the gravitational attraction
of multiple bodies within solar systems. This is reflected in the winding
architectural ribbons of the Museum’s facade. The building’s envelope traces
a series of arcing paths that are visibly 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 theatre.

The Museum and each of the three principal architectural components that
define the design – the Oculus, Inverted Dome, and Sphere – act as
functioning astronomical instruments, tracking the sun, moon, and stars.
The Oculus, suspended above the main entrance to the Museum, demonstrates
the passage of time by tracking a circle of sunlight on the ground across the
entry plaza and reflecting pool. At noon during the summer solstice, there is a
full circle, which aligns with a circular platform within the Museum's entry
plaza. The Oculus creates a veritable timepiece in the civic square.

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The Sphere houses the planetarium theatre, which is half submerged in the
building. With minimal visible support, it evokes an illusion of weightlessness
or anti-gravity. The pure spherical form references the primordial shapes in
our universe and, like the orientation we yield from our position relative to the
sun or moon, becomes an ever-present reference point for the visitor. The
Sphere derives its shape not only from the requirements of the programmatic
element it contains, but as an abstract manifestation of a primary celestial form.
Embedded in the roof plane of the lower Museum wing, as if rising out of the
Earth-bound horizon, the sphere gradually emerges into view as one rounds
the building, the drama unfolding as though one were approaching a planet
from one of its moons, allowing visitors to experience it as a weightless mass
from below.

The Inverted Dome is a large inverted glass tension structure which sits on top
of the central atrium of the building at the roof line so visitors can occupy the
center of the glass dish with an unimpeded view of the sky. The culmination
of the exhibit journey, this space cuts the view of the horizon and adjacent
urban context, and focuses the visitor on the all-encompassing sky – a real
encounter with the universe to conclude the simulated experience within. The
720-degree spiraling ramp inside the Museum and underneath the Inverted
Dome traces the orbital flow of the visitor sequence throughout the Museum The exhibition is divided into three zones – Home, Cosmos and Odyssey – to lead visitors
on a tour around the solar system, faraway galaxies and even black holes, and to
exhibits and launches the eye upward to its apex. understand the history of astronomy and inspire people to think about its future.

Set within an expansive green zone, the Museum grounds include a host of
buildings and programming including temporary and permanent exhibits, a
78-foot solar telescope, an observatory, an optical Planetarium, Education and
Research Center, and Digital Sky Theater. Programming at the Museum will
feature immersive environments, artifacts and instruments of space
exploration, and educational exhibitry.
There are more than 300 exhibits, 85% of which are developed by the museum and over
half are embedded with interactive functions.
The steel structures are built in irregular shapes to create a futuristic vibe, and
several breakthroughs were made, such as the 30-meter-diameter dome cinema
‘hanging in the air’ and 200-meter-long spiral staircase with few holds.
The main building consists of three structures for three celestial bodies: the
Oculus, Inverted Dome and Sphere. Together they form a giant astronomical
instrument that tracks time based on changes in light and shadow. It can also
display China's solar terms, created by ancient Chinese based on the changes
in the sun's position.

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