Location / Kaunas - Lithuania Year / 2016 Program / Museum Size / +9,000 SQM Client / City of Kaunas Status / Competition Entry Collaborator / SHAU - Florian Heinzelmann, Daliana Suryawinata, Rizki Supratman, Aditya Kusuma, Yasser Hafizs, Ryan Azhar

The city of Kaunas in Lithuania is one of the fastest growing cities in Europe, who aims to advance its position by providing a sciences museum in Nemunas Island. The island has a vivid greenscape, while the cityscape is full of expelled landmarks. The sciences museum is not only provided for exhibitions, but also research and studying. In response to that, the first design principle is enhancing the existing landmarks, and the second is sustaining building programs and performances. Kaunas Sciences Museum works as the antithesis of the existing landmarks. The museum contains five areas, which are The Lobby, Temporary Exhibition, Planetarium, Nature Gallery, Machine Gallery, Human Gallery, and Back of The House. All of them are hidden under the island’s surface and covered with greenery. That was done to preserve the cityscape as well as the natural landscape of Nemunas Island. To signal its existence, however, the main collection of every area is located in the void and tall enough to emerge from the green surface.