☉ Natural Science Museum in Berlin is a proposal by Francisco Rocha for AWR Competitions designed in 2014. It is located in Berlin Germany in a railway and park setting. Its scale is large. Key materials are concrete and glass. Concepts such as tower and transparency are explored.
«And just as the human body yields a circular outline, so too a square figure may be found from it.» – Vitruvius, De architectura 3.1.2-3
The Vitruvian Man has been taken symbolically as a representation of the perfect man. This was our model and tenet for the new Berlin Natural Science Museum. The site area is located in the west of Berlin, in the transition of a huge green area – Großer Tiergarten – to the massive built city. The aim to the Museum was to create a new highlight and landmark on the panorama of the city.
A place to see and be seen
We focused on the two basic forms that Vitruvius related with the human body – the Circle and the Square – from them two towers emerge from the earth all way up to the sky. The topography of the site was modeled giving rise to a new natural landscape – Vitruvius Garten–a lake, a small forest and a valley. In front of it a big wall cuts the valley and that’s where we have the main entrance to the Museum. Vitruvius—the new Berlin Natural Science Museum—combines the exhibition and educational components in an atmosphere of discussion and exchange of ideas. In conclusion, with Vitruvius, we have tried to lead the way to a brighter and stronger future for the new Berlin Natural Science Museum, where man made building become part of the Nature.