Nature Reinvented

The aim of the project “Nature Reinvented” was to design a museum of natural history for the University of Strasbourg, which also houses a new planetarium. The building should open new and exciting perspectives of how we view, reflect and interact with nature, as well as providing a link between the historic Campus Imperial and the modern Campus Esplanada.

The building is formed as a block, which just like its neighbouring buildings contains a central courtyard. Contrasting to its neighbours however, the central courtyard opens up and is accessible from the Boulevard de la Victoire. The form of the building takes inspiration from nature, in the sense that it starts in the ground and spirals upwards to the highest point of the museum, where the planetarium is located. The rooftop garden is sloped to provide easy access for visitors, which brings life all around the building. The green roof top is intended to be designed by the students of the botanical institute. This will further help integrate the museum into the university by letting students interact and become directly involved in its planning and implementation. The ground floor rooms around the courtyard will be spaces open to the public such as cafes, multimedia rooms and the museum shop.\nJust like the outside of the building, the inside unfolds itself from the lowest to the highest point in the eyes of the visitor. The first permanent exhibits are located just beneath the foyer in the basement of the museum and continue up to the second floor. The special exhibits are located above the foyer on the first floor and also continue up to the second floor. The routes from either exhibits lead to a common room directly below the planetarium. From there the visitors can enter the planetarium und exit out onto the rooftop garden and experience the building from the outside. The building takes note of its surroundings and has a brick façade. The outer layer seems closed off, bar the large individual windows. The perforated façade contains the sculptural form of the building and provides shade for the glass façade on the inside. It also allows visitors to experience interesting light effects in the recreational areas. The rooms of the building are arranged in such a way as to create a buffer zone with no fixed air parameters. The spiral connection, combined with the main tower, creates a ‘chimney effect’ allowing for natural ventilation throughout the building. The exhibition rooms are controlled using building technology.