Planetarium and Science Museum
Kırşehir / Turkey, 2016

The building is formed by the arrangement of variety of different uses expanding at ground floor and unifying roof cover.

Both national and international examples of planetarium buildings are mostly associated with the ‘sphere’ form by this time. And it would not be wrong to say that incorporation of this sphere form became a tradition with this building typology. Through various reasons, like the necessity of dome curtain for simulation purposes or formal references for spatial characteristics that represents the sphere form of planets, the utilization of sphere form is justified. In this project, this tradition has been reinterpreted with an alternative formal expression. In another words, the building’s geometry is derived from the idea of rejecting the traditional sphere form.

Instead of putting forward the most essential part the simulation hall-hierarchically foreground, it was blended in within the building among all other functions(i.e. exhibition, test labs, seminar rooms etc.) to create an information and learning complex. This design decision is the result of the idea to put the same significance to all parts to generate a complete learning center experience.

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The form of the building is shaped by disciplining the masses that houses different functions within Ursa Minor’s proportional limits at accidental intersections of axis coming from the surrounding with the functional scheme. The choice of this specific constellation has no exclusive meaning rather than being most widely known one. Or it was not the result of search for metaphorical reference. It can be taken into hand as an illustration that accentuates the corners while being perceived from a distance in open areas. Corners of constellation hold the functional differentiation of the complex while polaris is proposed as observation point. This observation point does not only fulfill its very function but also stands out as an exemplification demonstrating the usage of a typical observation point in an observatory.

Project facts

Architectural design: R. Güneş Gökçek

Architectural office: rggA

Project team: Derya Rana Musluk, Hazel İlkay

Project date: 2016

Models: Jihat Arslan

Construction area: 2.000 m2