Shanghai Planetarium, Planetarium in Nanhui New City, Shanghai, China
Shanghai Astronomy Museum is a planetarium in Nanhui New City, Shanghai, China. The building has a long, low wing with a curved roof clad in grey rectangular panels and a horizontal band of windows, while a large sphere covered in triangular panels rests on a white cylindrical base to the right.
The project was approved in 2014 and construction began in 2016, leading to its opening on July 17, 2021. During the opening ceremony, a lunar soil sample collected by the Chang'e 5 mission was presented and placed in the Journey exhibit area.
The museum's design draws on the three-body problem from physics, and this influence appears in the winding ribbons of the facade and the planet-like sphere. Visitors often gather around the oculus above the entrance, where a circle of sunlight moves across the ground and marks the passage of time.
The site lies far from central Shanghai, so allow extra time for the trip and plan your visit around the main exhibits. Inside, follow the spiraling ramp that connects the galleries and leads up to the glass dome for a view of the sky.
The building has no straight lines or right angles, and its shape echoes the movement of celestial bodies. The sphere that houses the planetarium theater appears to float, with its lower half hidden in the roof, creating a sense of weightlessness.
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