Planetarium in progress
We were rocketed away when Ennead Architects revealed its stellar plans for the Shanghai Planetarium back in 2016. A couple of years later, construction of the world’s largest planetarium theatre is in full swing...
Set to complete in 2020, the planetarium is now taking shape. The building revolves around three central forms – the Oculus, the Inverted Dome and the Sphere. Here we see how the shapes of the forms reflect planets orbiting in space. Thomas Wong, lead designer of the building and design partner at Ennead Architects, wanted the architecture to connect the purpose of the building to its historical context. ‘The use of the building to manipulate sunlight and demonstrate this most basic astronomical principle connects the modern museum with historic structures that act in similar ways: the Great Pyramids at Giza, Angkor Wat, Jantar Mantar, the Mayan Temples at Chichen Itza,’ Wong explains.
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Ellie Stathaki is the Architecture & Environment Director at Wallpaper*. She trained as an architect at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and studied architectural history at the Bartlett in London. Now an established journalist, she has been a member of the Wallpaper* team since 2006, visiting buildings across the globe and interviewing leading architects such as Tadao Ando and Rem Koolhaas. Ellie has also taken part in judging panels, moderated events, curated shows and contributed in books, such as The Contemporary House (Thames & Hudson, 2018), Glenn Sestig Architecture Diary (2020) and House London (2022).
-
Jaguar reveals its new graphic identity ahead of a long-awaited total brand reboot
Jaguar’s new ethos is Exuberant Modernism, encapsulated by a new visual language that draws on fine art, fashion and architecture
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Olfactory Art Keller: the New York gallery exhibiting the smell of vintage perfume, blossoming lilacs and last night’s shame
Olfactory Art Keller is a Manhattan-based gallery space dedicated to exhibiting scent as art. Founder Dr Andreas Keller speaks with Lara Johnson-Wheeler about the project, which doesn’t shy away from the ‘unpleasant’
By Lara Johnson-Wheeler Published
-
Explore a barn conversion with a difference on the Isle of Wight
Gianni Botsford Architects' barn conversion transforms two old farm buildings into an atmospheric residence and artistic retreat, The Old Byre
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Raw, refined and dynamic: A-Cold-Wall*’s new Shanghai store is a fresh take on the industrial look
A-Cold-Wall* has a new flagship store in Shanghai, designed by architecture practice Hesselbrand to highlight positive spatial and material tensions
By Tianna Williams Published
-
Neri & Hu’s dynamic New Bund theatre takes centre stage in Shanghai’s cityscape
In Shanghai, Neri & Hu’s New Bund 31 Performing Arts Center is a theatre offering a contemporary take on a classical archetype
By Tianna Williams Published
-
Fotografiska Shanghai invites us to 'a poetic immersion' into the realm of photography
Fotografiska Shanghai by AIM Architecture opens nestled into a green corner of the Chinese city's Suzhou Creek
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Open architecture on building and China’s cultural landscape
Open Architecture’s perfectly considered projects either disappear into the landscape or become new landmarks
By Yoko Choy Last updated
-
Heatherwick Studio’s 1000 Trees blooms in Shanghai
Heatherwick Studio’s 1000 Trees is Shanghai’s newest mixed-use development, blending trees, art and sculptural concrete
By Nick Compton Last updated
-
Sacred space, clouds and milk chocolate: meet Wutopia Lab’s Shanghai pavilion
Wutopia Lab draws on dreams, clouds and milk chocolate in its latest creation, an architectural pavilion on the outskirts of Shanghai; meet the Shrine of Everyman
By Ellie Stathaki Last updated
-
A new museum near Shanghai celebrates Chinese cultural history
Chinese architecture studio Horizontal Design is behind the design of the new Zhang Yan Cultural Museum, a contemporary building inspired by the past
By Ellie Stathaki Last updated
-
David Chipperfield Architects launches Shanghai's West Bund Museum
The Pompidou Centre opens its first overseas outpost at Shanghai's West Bund Museum, a redesign of three connecting volumes decked in opalescent recycled glass by David Chipperfield Architects
By Yoko Choy Last updated