Porsche Museum, Stuttgart, Deutschland, designed by Delugan Meissl. Photo by Marcus Jendretzke.

Moshe Safdie’s ArtScience Museum is a part of the lavish Marina Bay Sands complex in Singapore. It’s the first building in Singapore to be constructed using Glass Fibre Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) – a material regularly used in the manufacture of high-performance racing yachts. Photo by Nina Papiorek.

The design of the Museum takes the form of an open lotus flower and aims to capture ‘Safdie’s philosophy that art and science together can excite and inform visitors in a new way’.

The form is grounded on a circular base with ten individual finger-like projections extending outwards with skylights in the ‘fingertips’. With the tallest ‘finger’ standing 60m from the ground, the 4,800 sq m facility comprises a vast array of uniquely curved interior spaces.

In the centre of the ten projections is a dish-style roofing system which channels rainwater into a central cylindrical waterfall and reflection pool. Some of this water is then reused in the Museum’s restrooms as part of Singapore’s Green Mark programme.

Alésia Museum and Archaeological Park, Burgundy, France, by Bernard Tschumi Architects.

The first building, part of a museum complex, is the new interpretive center on the site of the historic Battle of Alésia. Located in Burgundy, France, the building marks the position of the Roman army, under Julius Caesar, and its encampment surrounding the Gauls under Vercingetorix in 52 B.C.

Tschumi’s design features a cylindrical building with an exterior envelope made of wood, a material that references the Roman fortifications of the era, some of which are reconstructed in an area a short walk from the building. The roof of the building is planted with low shrubs and trees, so as to minimize the visual impact of the building when seen from the hill above (the historical position of the Gauls). The materiality and sustainable elements of the building are meant to make visitors aware of the surrounding landscape, which appears much as it would have 2000 years ago.

A second building on the hill will mark the location of the Gauls, and has a similar geometry but is clad in stone, evoking its trenched position. The interpretive center will contain exhibits and interactive displays that contextualize the events of the Battle of Alésia and its aftermath. The displays are intended to reach a broader audience than a museum, with a range of media and programs for all ages.

NEMO Science Center, Amsterdam, designed by Renzo Piano. Photo by Fréderic Louis (my own photo).

Yellow Curves, Centro Niemeyer, Avilés, Asturias, Brazil. By José Andrés Gutiérrez.

Túnel. Museu Oscar Niemeyer, Curitiba, Brazil. By Frank Silveira.

The Jewish Museum, Berlin, by Daniel Libeskind, photo by Andreas Levers.

Ordos Art & City Museum in Ordos, Inner Mongolia, China, by MAD Architects.

Oscar Niemeyer, Project for a Museum, Caracas, Venezuela, 1955