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Sharaan Resort
Archaeological traces discovered dated back to the Bronze Age and several ancient treasures and cities that existed, with evidence of thriving civilizations such as the Dadan/Lihyan and the Nabataean kingdoms.
AlUla’s most significant landmark is the Nabatean city of Hegra, Saudi Arabia’s first UNESCO World Heritage Site -popular for its well-preserved tombs and structures.
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Also known as Mada’in Salih, Hegra was once a thriving metropolis for the Nabatean people, setting the scene for the Silk Road and a vast trading empire.
Planetarium in Shanghai
China is planning to make a new planetarium and astronomical museum in Shanghai, one of the crowded hubs of China, Asia.
Consisting of three “celestial bodies,” the entire building is assembled of the oculus, the inverted dome, and the sphere.
The building will anchor on astronomy and planetary science and will characterize a solar telescope,18m-diameter optical planetarium, an IMAX cinema, a 21m-diameter digital sky theatre, an education and research Centre, a youth observation camp and observatory and a range of galleries a 38,000 square-meter planetarium set for construction on the coast of East China Sea.
Elements
The curved, futuristic planetarium is built on three key architectural features – the oculus, the inverted dome, and the sphere, each of which acts as an astronomical instrument, tracking the sun, moon, and stars.
Each element speaks its own story:
the Oculus — an ancient architectural element first made famous when first made in the Rome Pantheon— turns the building itself into an astronomical instrument, visualizing the passage of time with a circle of light that moves slowly across the gallery floor.
By using reflecting pools—and the external environment of the museum creates a scenery of Japanese modernists.
The Inverted Dome —forms a focal point at the museum’s heart, presenting a description of architects as “sublime spatial experience” at the height of the visitors’ journey through the museum interior.
