World’s Largest Planetarium Lets Galaxies Of History & Technology Collide
Image via Ennead
With sloping curves and fluid shapes, the Shanghai Astronomy Museum (SAM) opened to the public last Sunday, July 18, claiming the title of the largest planetarium in the world. As soon as online ticketing opened, all admissions for the first week were rapidly sold out, Chinese news outlet SHINE reports.
Design firm Ennead was behind the museum’s incredible structure. China's first female observatory director, 94-year-old Ye Shuhua, was also one of the scientists who proposed and took part in the museum’s construction. Standing proudly at 420,000 square feet, the astronomical branch of the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum drew 5,828 visitors on its opening day.
Ennead’s design is inspired by astronomical principles, the geometry of the cosmos, and orbital motion, hence its spherical silhouette. The layout has no straight lines or right angles. Instead, the building’s principle forms (the Oculus, the Inverted Dome, and the Sphere) are all circular in nature. They house a sundial-like tracking device, the planetarium theater, and a sky-viewing platform respectively.
A piece of history has been embedded in the design, too. Another source of inspiration was the “three-body problem,” a currently still unsolved physics question: how is the motion of three celestial bodies calculated?
“The building is meant to be this embodiment of… astronomically inspired architecture,” Thomas J. Wong, Ennead partner and the Museum’s lead designer, told CNN. “The reason why we thought the three-body problem was interesting is because it’s a complex set of orbits. [These are] relationships that are dynamic, as opposed to a simple circle around the center. And that was part of the [design’s] intent – to capture that complexity.”
The SAM grounds are host not just to the main building, but also a 78-foot solar telescope, an observatory, an optical Planetarium, Education and Research Center, and a Digital Sky Theater.
At the museum, the three main exhibition zones are ‘Home’, ‘Cosmos’, and ‘Odyssey’. Visitors are guided to tour the solar system, and encouraged to understand the history of astronomy while looking forward to its future.
Image via Ennead
Image via Ennead
#Shanghai #Astronomy #Museum
— Sam Norris (@SamanthaHiHoo) July 19, 2021
architect: ennead architects
lead architect: thomas j. wong (ennead design partner) and v. guy maxwell (ennead management partner)
LDI: shanghai institute of architectural design and research
location: Shanghai, China 🇨🇳 pic.twitter.com/jA28KCRbrL
[via Universe Today, image via Ennead]
Also check out these recent news
