The Center for the Promotion of Science proposal by Zürich based architecture studio Dürig AG is based on the concept of a New Belgrade composed of an orthogonal grid of a unified structural system that embraces rationality and clarity. The urban plan of the composition is to create defined individual building segments within the subdivided block of nine distinct segments. Within this development, Dürig AG has designed a Scientific Research Institute of which the Center for the Promotion of Science is an integral part.
More on this project after the break.
Each of the nine segments of the urban plan are defined by the length of streets within the city greed. Where the building of Block39, the Science Research Institute, meets the corners, the frame is lifted to reveal the internal organization of the block which includes a view of the park, with the Center for the Promotion of Science. The park’s design consists of a series of spacious rectangular plots, populated with trees, a tower block research center in addition to the CPS, along with the existing school of art already located on the site.
The Center for the Promotion of Science is a one-storey flat building that stands independently. Its basic rectangular forms reveals a restrained external appearance in contrast to the expansive spaciousness of the urban development. The design relies upon the elements of space, volume, light and the succession of routes to create a timeless framework for the scientific exhibition. Deliberately simple, the architecture of the Center is focused on the spatial relationships of passage through the spaces, views within and out of the building and the accessibility of external light.
The building is divided into four functional zones: exhibition, service, planetarium and auditorium, with three hallways running in between them. The spaces are all expansive, with double-storey ceilings and courtyards and skylights that illuminate the depth of the rooms. The facade is designed as light and transparent, fully permeable in the summer as an extension of the park within which it is situated. The construction consists of reinforced concrete, covered in a light stone.
Dürig AG addressed sustainable measures in the design of the building. A heat pump provides heating and cooling energy generated from the earth’s constant temperature. Solar panels are mounted on the roof, and clime barrier in the form of a outer passageway insulates the temperature within the core of the building in intense temperature.
