The Wonders of the Shanghai Astronomy Museum
The Shanghai Astronomy Museum, located in Lingang New City, Pudong New Area district, Shanghai, is a marvel of modern architecture and a testament to mankind’s fascination with the cosmos. Opened in 2021, it is the world’s largest museum dedicated solely to the study of astronomy.To get more news about
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The museum’s design, by Ennead Architects, is inspired by the principles of astronomy. 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. These forms create an immersive experience that places visitors in direct engagement with real astronomical phenomena.
The Oculus, suspended above the museum’s main entry, tracks a circle of sunlight on the ground across the entry plaza and reflecting pool. At noon during the summer solstice, a full circle aligns with a circular platform within the museum’s entry plaza. This creates a veritable timepiece in the civic square.
The Sphere houses the planetarium theater, half submerged in the building. With minimal visible support, it evokes an illusion of weightlessness or anti-gravity. The Sphere’s pure form references the primordial shapes in our universe and becomes an ever-present reference point for the visitor.
The Inverted Dome, a large inverted glass tension structure, sits on top of the central atrium of the building at the roof line. This space cuts the view of the horizon and adjacent urban context, focusing the visitor on the all-encompassing sky.
The museum also includes a 78-foot solar telescope, an observatory, and a youth observation camp. It hosts temporary and permanent exhibits, as well as several smaller surrounding buildings.
In conclusion, the Shanghai Astronomy Museum is a place where the institutional mission is fully enmeshed with an architecture that itself is teaching. It is a place that illuminates what it means to be human in a vast and largely unknown universe. It is a place that reminds us that our conception of time originates in distant astronomical objects. It is, in short, a place where the wonders of the cosmos come to life.
The Wonders of the Shanghai Astronomy Museum
