Shanghai, China

Ennead’s long-awaited Shanghai Astronomy Museum opens later this year in a celebration of the continuum of time and space.

The project provides permanent exhibit galleries, temporary exhibit galleries, digital sky theater, optical planetarium, IMAX theater, education and research center, solar telescope, youth observation camp, and observatory. Ralph Appelbaum Associates served as the exhibition designers.

The design, developed with the Shanghai Institute of Architectural Design and Research, is modern and forward-looking while at the same time presents a link to the past, mirroring both the rich history of Chinese astronomy and the future ambitions of China’s space exploration program.

The final design utilized orbital motion as a metaphorical reference and generator of the design’s form.

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.

Drawing inspiration from astronomical principles, the international competition-winning design strategy invokes the experience of orbital motion. Each of the building’s three principal forms – the Oculus, the Inverted Dome and the Sphere – acts as an astronomical instrument, tracking the sun, moon and stars and reminding visitors that our conception of time originates in distant astronomical objects.

The building form, program and circulation support the flow of visitors through the galleries and the experience of the three central bodies.

Set within an expansive green zone, the Museum grounds include exterior exhibits, including a seventy eight-foot-high solar telescope, as well as evening activities at a Youth Observation Camp and Observatory.

The Museum will elevate scientific and technological capacity while redefining the Langang area, about forty-five minutes from downtown Shanghai.

The building form, program and circulation support the flow of visitors through the galleries and the experience of the three central bodies.

Set within an expansive green zone, the Museum grounds include exterior exhibits, including a seventy-eight-foot-high solar telescope, as well as evening activities at a Youth Observation Camp and Observatory.

The Museum will elevate scientific and technological capacity while redefining the Langang area, about forty-five minutes from downtown Shanghai.

Architects: Ennead Architects
Design Team: Thomas Wong, V. Guy Maxwell, Grace Chen, Stefan Knust, Anthony Guaraldo, Charles Wolf, Na Sun, Eric Tsui, Jorge Arias, Margarita Calero, Michael Caton, Christina Ciardullo, Eugene Colberg, Regina Jiang, Jörg Kiesow, Weiwei Kuang, Francelle Lim, Xiaoyun Mao, David Monnar, Nikita Payusov, James Rhee, Yong Roh, Miya Ruan, Stephanie Tung, Charles Wong, David Yu, and Fred Zhang
Architects of Record: Shanghai Institute of Architectural Design and Research
Exhibition Designers: Ralph Appelbaum Associates, Inc.
Client: Shanghai Science & Technology Museum