A new “science gallery” will open to the public in Melbourne on 20 July.
The 3,500 square metre space, designed by Smart Design Studio, is purpose-built to inspire young adults through art, science and innovation. It is housed at the University of Melbourne’s newly completed Melbourne Connect precinct, designed by Woods Bagot, Hayball and Aspect Studios.
The gallery is the first in Australia to join the global Science Gallery Network, which are a collection of museums embedded in universities intended to engage 15- to 25-year-olds in STEM subjects and pathways.
Smart Design Studio created a flexible exhibition space, designed to minimize down time between exhibitions, as well as minimize waste.
Science Gallery Melbourne by Smart Design Studio.
Image:
Peter Casamento
A system of large screens hanging from a gridded ceiling enable the exhibition space to be configured to accommodate a variety of spatial sequences and installation.
A magnetized steel floor allows for the floor coverings to be easily changed to create different appearances and experiences.
The design creates a flexible, agile modular system, that avoid the use of traditional plasterboard walls and stud framing which are both labour and material intensive to construct and cannot be easily recycled.
“Science Gallery Melbourne invites visitors to an experience that is at once playful and contemplative; to engage deeply or just hang out,” said Smart Design Studio in a statement. “The gallery is inspiring and delightful, a canvas on which to write a new story of science colliding with art and innovation. The architecture of Science Gallery Melbourne enables the curation of a program of events, exhibitions, lectures, and happenings where the gallery will be perceived as always being open and accessibly by the community.”
At the entrance of the gallery, a digital media exhibition is integrated with the architecture through a series of touch-enabled screens behind 226 Venetian glass bricks.
The entrance to Science Gallery Melbourne includes a digital media exhibition integrated into the building.
Image:
Toby Welch
The project, led by Dr Niels Wouter, creates an ever changing canvas for digital data and interactive media. The inaugural display, The Digital Birthing Tree created with Wergaia/Wemba Wemba digital producer Susie Anderson, aims to connect First Peoples’ knowledge and the local area’s colonial history.
The entrance to Science Gallery Melbourne includes a digital media exhibition integrated into the building.
Image:
Toby Welch
Rose Hiscock, director of Museums and Collections, said, “Science Gallery Melbourne provides a contemporary, playful and welcoming space for young people to explore issues, ideas and the great challenges of our time. As a new home for STEM engagement, we aim to show that anything is possible when science and art come together.”
The inaugural exhibition, Mental: Head Inside, features more than 20 projects that challenge stereotypes surrounding metal health.
Source: Architecture - architectureau
