New York studio Ennead Architects has completed the world's largest museum dedicated to astronomy in Shanghai, China.
Designed to reflect the shapes and geometry within the universe, the form of the recently opened museum in Shanghai has no straight lines or right angles.
Ennead Architects designed the recently opened Shanghai Astronomy Museum
"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 astronomy museum was informed by the "geometry of the universe"
Located in the Lingang to the southwest of Shanghai, the institution forms part of the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum, and at 39,000 square metres is said to be the "largest museum worldwide solely dedicated to the study of astronomy".
Ennead Architects designed the building around three distinct architectural forms that were each derived from the movement of bodies within the universe.
The Oculus projects a circle of light on the entrance plaza
"We ar...