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The design for Exploration Place Museum and Educational Center reshapes the river’s edge to create a one of a kind island exhibition pavilion facing a new public park and waterfront promenade.
Exploration Place is located near downtown Wichita at the point of confluence of the Arkansas River and its tributary, the Little Arkansas.
Visitors approach along a bridging walkway to pavilions which appear to float on the water.
Large scale geometric forms create excitement on the skyline.
The gallery interiors ascend from 16 feet at the central spine to upwards of 70 feet. Installations take advantage of these volumes, which allow for multilevel displays.
Running below the two elevated footpaths is a raceway that handles technological connections between the two building bodies.
The entire complex is dramatically lit at night, appearing in the city’s skyline as a floating, twisted plane reflected in the river.
Exploration Place
Visitors to the Museum enter through a pavilion with a vaulted roof and cross a channel to the exhibition pavilion, surrounded by water and dedicated to the human experience on earth. The two wings of the building are unified by the concave and convex geometric roof forms.
More Details
The complex is organized into two parts. The landside pavilion holds the atrium entry, cafeteria, Cyberdome and administrative offices. The island pavilion is separated by water. It fronts on the river bank and holds exhibition spaces, galleries, the auditorium and teaching workshops.
Geometry study.
Museum Entry.
Arching timber beams roof the primary spaces of the Museum.
