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BUILDING |
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Exploration Place
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DESIGNER |
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DESCRIPTION |
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 Exploration 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.
 Visitors 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. |
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LOCATION |
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| Continent |
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North America |
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| Nation |
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 United States |
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 Kansas |
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Sedgwick |
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| Town |
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 Wichita |
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| Address |
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300 N. McLean Blvd.
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| Website |
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MAP |
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TYPOLOGY |
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Main |
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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
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Additional |
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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
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LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE AND NATURAL ENVIRONMENTS | Landscape architecture
Private gardens
Playground parks
Waterfront
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CHRONOLOGY |
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Project |
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1996
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Realisation |
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2000 |
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BIBILIOGRAPHIC REFERENCES |
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| 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 |
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CLIENT |
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| Exploration Place, Inc., Wichita (President: Al DeSena, Charman of Board: Phil Frick) |
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AMOUNT |
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DIMENSIONAL
DATA |
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| Surface |
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| sq.m. 9,290 (sq.ft. 100,000) |
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STRUCTURES |
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Ove Arup & Partners, Los Angeles (design)
Dudley Williams & Associates |
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LANDSCAPE DESIGN |
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STAFF |
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| Project |
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| Moshe Safdie and Associates |
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| Associate architect |
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Schaefer Johnson Cox Frey and Associates
Sam Frey, Joe Johnson, Erik Lindebak, Vern Miller |
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| Project management |
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| Design team |
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| 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 |
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| Systems |
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| Ove Arup & Partners, Los Angeles (design) |
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| Mechanical engineer |
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| Hydraulic engineer |
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| Electrical engineer |
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| Stefan Voegeli & Associates |
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| Civil engineer |
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| Mid-Kansas Engineering Consultants |
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| Geotechnical |
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| Terracon Consultants, Inc. |
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| Lighting engineer |
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| Systems Design Associates, Inc. |
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| Graphics and signage |
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| Acoustical consultant |
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| Theatre consultant |
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| Artistic and multimedia installations |
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| Evans & Sutherland (CyberDome Theater) |
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| Museum project |
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| Exhibition design |
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Leathers and Associates (playground)
Balck River Design (retail shop) |
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| Planning and organization |
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| Roofs consultant |
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| Simpson, Gumpertz & Heger |
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| Quantity surveyor |
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| Vermeulens Inc., James F. Vermeulens |
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| General contractor |
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| Dondlinger & Sons Construction |
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| Developer |
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| Martin K. Eby Construction Co., Inc. |
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CREDITS |
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Photos © Moshe Safdie and Associates
Text edited by Moshe Safdie and Associates
Courtesy by Moshe Safdie and Associates
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