Junya Ishigami . + Polytechnic Museum
For many years the historical building of the Polytechnic Museum has been a place of attraction for science and technology lovers from all over the country. A Two-stage international competition for the Polytechnic Museum’s historical building’s architectural concept development took place in Moscow in 2011. On October, 2011, the concept by Junya Ishigami (Japan) created in collaboration with the ARUP company was announced to be the winner of the competition.
The project of the award-winning architect intends to restore the historical architecture as close as the original state in order to optimize the possibilities and assets of the existing museum. In the meantime, the building is supposed to be turned into the modern architecture that shows the vision for the future. The aim is to realize those two directions without compromising. This is achieved, in particular, through dividing the new museum in two types of area: one is the immense and flexible area called ”Museum Park”, and the other is a historical area restored to the original condition called “Classical Museum”. The renovated Museum will facilitate the exchange of ideas and knowledge, hosting spaces for innovators—scientists, technologists, product developers—to engage with the public. It will combine the great stories of Russian scientific and technological history with the types of engagement that inspire as well as inform, that allow visitors to grasp the abstract made concrete, and leave them with the feeling that discovery extends into everyday life.
