INTERNATIONAL
The Exploratorium Bernard Tschumi Architects has completed a major museum, the Exploratorium, in Tianjin, China, to showcase artefacts from the city’s industrial past through to contemporary technology. PHOTOGRAPHY KRIS PROVOOST
T
he Tianjin Binhai Exploratorium, designed by Bernard Tschumi Architects, is a 33 000m2 museum structure designed as part of the city’s Binhai Cultural Centre. The Exploratorium will showcase artefacts from Tianjin’s industrial past through large-scale contemporary technology, including spectacular rockets for space research. It will also contain facilities for cultural events and exhibitions, as well as galleries, offices, and restaurant and retail spaces.
Bernard Tschumi Architects designed the Exploratorium to relate to the rich industrial history of the area, the site of high-volume manufacturing and research. A series of large-scale cones creates major rooms throughout the museum. The central cone, lit from above, connects all three levels of the Exploratorium. A spiralling ramp ascends to the top level, offering an unusual spatial experience of the modern vertical city by reinterpreting an ancient
10 LEADINGARCHITECTURE & DESIGN FEBRUARY/MARCH 2019
industrial typology. The roof is accessible to visitors and acts as a promenade with striking views over the surrounding city. “The Exploratorium is designed as a building for the past, the present and the future of Tianjin,” says Bernard Tschumi. The focal point of the exhibition complex is the grand lobby or cone that provides access to all public parts of the program. This immense cone – almost double the height of the Guggenheim Museum – connects to all surrounding spaces and allows
visitors to spiral through the large exhibition halls stacked on each end of the building, past view portholes and lightwells that give each hall an individual character and configuration. Grand, tripleheight spaces define the main circulation, while a constellation of lights and circular lightwells give the space an otherworldly feel. The perforated aluminium façade gives a unified presence to the building, despite its large size and the disparate elements of the program. The cones provide even, natural
