If This Building Looks A Little 'Out Of This World',

the design has worked,

New York studio Ennead Architects has completed the Shanghai Astronomy Museum in China, it has the distinction of being the worlds largest astronomy museum, photography by ArchExists,

designed to reflect the shapes and geometry of the universe, the museum has no straight lines or right angles, "The foundational design concept of the Shanghai Astronomy Museum was to abstractly embody within the architecture some of the fundamental laws of astrophysics, which are the rule in space," explained Ennead Architects design partner Thomas J Wong, "To the extent possible, we wanted this building to echo the essence of the universe and there are no straight lines or right angles in space!" he continued, "Once we embraced the idea of a set of curvilinear forms, we capitalized on every opportunity to make it the very basis of the building and experience."

the Oculus projects a circle of light on the entrance plaza, "We are within a universe that is continuously in motion, something as essential as it is easy to overlook," said Wong. "The notion of orbital motion and its relationship to time became a primary source of architectural inspiration, there are three primary design elements that define the building parts and also provide an architectural lens for observing the earth's own orbital motion: the inverted dome, the planetarium sphere, and the Oculus," he added,

the main entrance leads to a large entrance hall and reception, which contains a curving ramp that leads to the various exhibitions and is topped with an inverted dome, created as the culmination to the sequence of galleries, a rooftop space on top of the inverted dome has an "unimpeded view of the sky",

the majority of the gallery spaces are positioned on one side of the entrance hall, with the planetarium theatre located on the other, set in a sphere that is suspended above a small auditorium by three concrete supports, the planetarium was designed to have an immediate visual impact, and it certainly does, it is huge! what an amazing piece of architecture.