Chimney-shaped Museum by Bernard Tschumi Architects in Tianjin, China Explores the City’s Industrial Past
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International architecture firm, Bernard Tschumi Architects, recently announced the completion of the Tianjin Binhai Exploratorium, a 33,000-square-meter museum structure in Tianjin, China. The Exploratorium museum is distinguished by its unique giant industr
Chimney-shaped Museum by Bernard Tschumi Architects in Tianjin, China Explores the City’s Industrial Past
International architecture firm, Bernard Tschumi Architects, recently announced the completion of the Tianjin Binhai Exploratorium, a 33,000-square-meter museum structure in Tianjin, China. The Exploratorium museum is distinguished by its unique giant industrial chimney-shaped exhibition spaces protruding from its perforated copper colored exterior.Designed in 2013-2014, the Exploratorium is set to open in Fall 2019. The Exploratorium will showcase artifacts from Tianjin’s industrial past through large-scale contemporary technology, including spectacular rockets for space research. The project is part of the city’s Binhai Cultural Center and contains facilities for cultural events and exhibitions as well as galleries, offices, and restaurant, and retail spaces.The project was completed in collaboration with the Tianjin Urban Planning and Design Institute, as part of its masterplan for a new cultural center in the Binhai district. As stated by the architecture firm on its website: “Bernard Tschumi Architects designed the Exploratorium to relate to the rich industrial history of the area, the site of high-volume manufacturing and research.” Talking about the project, Bernard Tschumi said: “The Exploratorium is designed as a building for the past, the present, and the future of Tianjin.”All of the Exploratorium's facilities are positioned in and around the giant cone structures, which protrude out from its walls and above the roofline. They are wrapped by a copper-colored facade made from perforated aluminum panels, designed by Bernard Tschumi Architects to give the building a «unified presence,» while helping it to reduce heat gain. Describing the design of the museum, Bernard Tschumi Architects states: “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 spiraling ramp ascends to the top level, offering an unusual spatial experience of the modern vertical city by reinterpreting an ancient industrial typology. The roof is accessible to visitors and acts as a promenade with striking views over the surrounding city.”Forming the focal point of the facade is the Exploratorium museum's largest cone, which houses a triple-height lobby with a large spiraling ramp. It provides access to all public parts of the building, and is lined with the viewing portholes that can be seen scattered across the facade. The smaller chimney-shaped volumes contain spaces for the display of large exhibits.To create an «other-worldly feel» inside the museum, Bernard Tschumi Architects fitted circular lights into the ramp to resemble a constellation. However, dependence on artificial lighting is limited elsewhere, as the conal structures are topped by skylights, and channel natural light into the whole museum. Bernard Tschumi Architects also designed these structures to function as solar chimneys — a passive cooling and heating system that channels warm air out of the building in summer, and filters it in during the winter.The Exploratorium sits alongside four other buildings in the Binhai Cultural Center master plan, including the Tianjin Binhai Public Library designed by MVRDV. All five are connected by a public corridor sheltered beneath a glass canopy.The Exploratorium is Bernard Tschumi Architects' first large-scale building in China, but it is not the first project by the studio to have a striking facade.Dedicated to the interface between 21st-century culture and architecture, Bernard Tschumi Architects is an international architectural and urban design award-winning firm with over $1 billion worth of projects for institutional, private, and civic clients. With offices in New York and Paris, the firm has been the recipient of numerous national and international honors, and has established a world reputation for its innovative design solutions to client concerns of different sizes and scales. Bernard Tschumi established the firm in Paris in 1983 with the commission for the Parc de la Villette and opened the head office, Bernard Tschumi Architects (BTA), in New York in 1988. https://www.blouinartinfo.com/ Founder: Louise Blouin Read more
