“CENTRE FOR PROMOTION OF SCIENCE“ Belgrade,Serbia. Architectural European Competition

team: Eirini Xanthopoulou Ioanna Aggelopoulou Iraklis Romanopoulos Haris Laspas
publication

The main building mass of the Centre for Promotion of Science is placed in the NE side of the site on an axis that displays the tower of Science Institute, creating on the one hand a powerful limit to Bulevard Arsenija Carnojevica to protect the Centre from the noise that is caused by the motorway, and on the other hand the exploitation of natural lighting with expansive openings to the South.
The hub for the movements of building, the point where admission to all the functions of the building happens (lobby +73.00) is placed on the NW side of the building zone of the Centre for Promotion of Science and includes the Planetarium, which is visible from everywhere and completes the basic composition.
This arrangement creates a welcome reception to the city of Belgrade and the rest of Block 39, which is emphasised by the creation of the inclined square that gently slopes down to the main entrance leading visitors to the heart of the building which reflects the scientific knowledge.
The inclined “Science Square” functions as the main space for relaxation and an open space at the entrance and simultaneously as an outdoor exhibition area for the Centre for Promotion of Science. All exhibition spaces are contained under “Science Square” (+67.00). A central element of the solution is the interruption of the NE boundary of the building and its perforation from an outdoor pedestrians passageway. This passageway has as starting point the pedestrian approach from E-75 (+74.00) and ascending penetrates the foyer, offering a view on the one hand of the inside of the Lobby and on the other of the Science Square. The specific penetrability and presence of the passageway signals intensely the entrance to a “mysterious” space of knowledge, stimulates the curiosity for the buildings and intensify the desire to discover its contents. Visitors that approach the Centre for Promotion of Science by road are led via a vehicle ramp in the North corner of the site (+77.00 from Boulevard of Arts) into the underground garage.
Great importance is given to the spacial appointment of four basic operations: the Exhibition space, the Planetarium, the Science Club and Conference Centre, which are identifiable from any exterior point of the Science Square but also from the interior of the Lobby.
Supporting interdepartmental communication and interactivity between science and art, a new spatial background for the public life of the city is proposed with basic elements: outdoor expansions, direct access, connection between different spaces and functions, and architectural elements of the existing architecture, which are incorporated in the proposal and are placed in new perspectives and new functionality. Such elements are: breakthroughs through the buildings that work as passages and entries, open roof surfaces, and open-plan floors.