Architecture

Musee de Confluences 

Lyon, France - "To the untrained eye it may look like Battlestar Galatica has landed in the French city of Lyon, but this exists in reality, not science-fiction, as a spanking new museum - Musee de Confluences. Designed by techno-futurists, Coop Himmelb(l)au, the museum is intended to be a landmark building for what has been dubbed "the confluence area" of Lyon.

This is a newly declared urban zone that stands where the River Rhone and River Saone meet. With a budget of 267 million euros, the building will be dedicated to examining scientific culture in modern society and charting the age of reason. One of the issues science has had, particularly through the 20th century, is connecting with social issues and overcoming the idea of science for science sake that has led to complicated ethical problems. It's hoped this building will forge a local connection in Lyon between scientists and wider society.

The architects have designed the building to look not look a space ship, but as a that hovers above ground level although the angular sides and metallic skin have more than a little resemblance to a space ship. Supporting the cloud will be a series of columns, whilst marking the entrance to the museum will be a glazed surface some have compared to the exhaust fumes of a spacecraft. The 44 metre tall building is already under construction and should be completed externally in 2013."

 All via SkyscraperNews