Username Password  
  Forgot your password?  
ItalianoEnglish
 
  COME VEDERE L'ARCHITETTURA CONTEMPORANEA HOW TO SEE CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE
COME VEDERE L'ARCHITETTURA CONTEMPORANEA HOW TO SEE CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE
HOME
ARCHITECT | LOCATION | TYPOLOGY | EXHIBITIONS | ADVANCED SEARCH

BUILDING
 
 
Exploration Place
Top
DESIGNER
 
 
Moshe Safdie

Top
DESCRIPTION
 
Moshe Safdie Exploration Place Wichita KansasExploration Place is located near downtown Wichita at the point of confluence of the Arkansas River and its tributary, the Little Arkansas. With a mission to provide scientific and humanistic education meaningful to people of all ages, the center organizes interpenetrating elements of the continuous river’s edge, public park and museum.

Moshe Safdie Exploration Place Wichita KansasVisitors enter through a vaulted pavilion holding the gift shop, cafeteria, Cyberdome, Simulation Theatre and curatorial wing, and cross a channel to the exhibition pavilion, surrounded by water and dedicated to the human experience on earth. The building’s diverse exterior and interior geometries are created by the intersection of the undulating walls and the surfaces of two giant toroids. The “island” exhibition building is generated by a toroid whose center is high in the sky, forming a series of concave roofs, facing skywards, like a giant receptor dish or observatory. The “land” building toroid has its center deep underground, creating vault-like roofs descending into the earth.

Radiating glue laminate beams, acting in tension in the island building and in compression in the land building, have spans as long as 56 feet and, because of their toroidal geometry, all have a constant radius. The gallery interiors ascend from 16 feet at the central spine to upwards of 70 feet. Installations take advantage of these volumes, which provide for multi-leveled displays. The entire complex is dramatically lit at night, appearing in the city’s skyline as floating, twisted plane reflected in the river.
Top
LOCATION
 
Continent
North America
Nation
United States
State
Kansas
County
Sedgwick
Town
Wichita
Address
300 N. McLean Blvd.
 
 
Telephone
+1.(316).263.3373
Website
Top
MAP
 
 

View Larger Map
Top
TYPOLOGY
 
Main
ARCHITECTURE
Buildings for cultural activities
Art galleries and exhibition areas
Conference halls
Education buildings
Children's museums and pedagogical spaces
Other education centres
Buildings for recreational activities
Theatres
Additional
ARCHITECTURE
Commercial buildings
Shops
Bars, cafeterias
Buildings for recreational activities
Auditoriums and music centres
Transport buildings and structures
Garages, car parking, etc.
Urban equipment and structures for public areas
Structures for public areas

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE AND NATURAL ENVIRONMENTS
Landscape architecture
Private gardens
Playground parks
Waterfront
Top
CHRONOLOGY
 
Project
1996    
Realisation
2000
Top
BIBILIOGRAPHIC REFERENCES
 
 
Jacopo della Fontana, "Forme libere/In Wichita", L'Arca 155, gennaio/january 2001 [Mostrare e mostrarsi/To show and to be shown], pp. 36-39
Top
CLIENT
 
 
Exploration Place, Inc., Wichita (President: Al DeSena, Charman of Board: Phil Frick)
Top
AMOUNT
 
 
$ 27.000.000
Top
DIMENSIONAL
DATA
 
Surface
sq.m. 9,290 (sq.ft. 100,000)
Top
STRUCTURES
 
 
Ove Arup & Partners, Los Angeles (design)
Dudley Williams & Associates
Top
LANDSCAPE DESIGN
 
 
Hargreaves Associates
Top
STAFF
 
Project
Moshe Safdie and Associates
Associate architect
Schaefer Johnson Cox Frey and Associates
Sam Frey, Joe Johnson, Erik Lindebak, Vern Miller
Project management
Jim Herold
Design team
Tony D. Pace, Chris Goad, Rainer Goeller, Paul Gross, Michael Guran, Amnon Haviv, Martin Ibarlucia, Peter Jelley, Jeff Jacoby, Ravit Kaplan, Michael Kim, Wendy Kohn, Michael Mac Phail, Philip Matthew, Hugh Philips, Sarah Radding, Bram Radding, Tazalika Te Reh, Steven White, Frank Valdes
Systems
Ove Arup & Partners, Los Angeles (design)
Mechanical engineer
Manson Ward Legion
Hydraulic engineer
S&A Engineering Inc.
Electrical engineer
Stefan Voegeli & Associates
Civil engineer
Mid-Kansas Engineering Consultants
Geotechnical
Terracon Consultants, Inc.
Lighting engineer
Systems Design Associates, Inc.
Graphics and signage
John Roll & Associates
Acoustical consultant
Acoustical Design Group
Theatre consultant
Talking Spaces
Artistic and multimedia installations
Evans & Sutherland (CyberDome Theater)
Museum project
Gyroscope
Exhibition design
Leathers and Associates (playground)
Balck River Design (retail shop)
Planning and organization
White Oak Associates
Roofs consultant
Simpson, Gumpertz & Heger
Quantity surveyor
Vermeulens Inc., James F. Vermeulens
General contractor
Dondlinger & Sons Construction
Developer
Martin K. Eby Construction Co., Inc.
Top
CREDITS
 
 
Photos © Moshe Safdie and Associates
Text edited by Moshe Safdie and Associates
Courtesy by Moshe Safdie and Associates

Moshe Safdie Exploration Place Wichita Kansas



If you haven't already clicked on the photo strip at the top of the page, for the gallery of photos [7 images], enter here
 
 
Contacts    Copyright © 2004 - 2024 MONOSTUDIO | ARCHITECTOUR.NET
 
| Disclaimer | Conditions of use | Credits |
 
       
?>