SCIENCE ISLAND
Kaunas
2016

Science Island International design contest

An ancient architectural type to illustrate the evolution of technology and mankind: this will host the new Science and Innovation Centre in Kaunas, Lithuania, in a journey through space, time and knowledge.

The tepee, the archetypical symbol of the house that carries the primordial notion of shelter, gives shape to the structural elements, connected to one another in a seemingly random way, which still maintain its iconic identity; an architecture that preserves distant memories becoming a spiritual and symbolic value for the entire humanity.

The project, like a nomadic village, fits and integrates with the natural landscape of the island in a barycentric position, in keeping with the orography and the vegetation, becoming a symbolic gate to Kaunas.

It is not a self-referred composition but an iconic structure, open to the nature and the city through its visual permeability and organic shape, that progressively offer unusual points of view throughout the visit, both inside and outside the building.

Natural light penetrates and marks any corner of the architecture, transforming the look of the building during the day and in different seasons, becoming a permanent installation itself.

The existing pedestrian paths are kept unchanged to allow the access to the structure from different points and levels, integrating the project to the life of the island.