ARCHITECTURAL FOCUS
area and a modular room - Additional facilities : reception , services , administration , and logistics - A roof terrace overlooking the Grenoble basin and its surrounding mountains - The facility is designed to welcome around 57,000 visitors per year , including 20,000 school children .
The planetarium Circular and inclined at 10 °, the space can be accessed via a vision adaptation waiting area and an acoustic airlock . With a capacity of 80 , including 4 for people with reduced mobility , it is equipped with reclining seats , providing a 360 ° view of a semi-spherical screen , 13 meters in diameter . It is lined with a circular technical gallery and a data centre .
The permanent exhibition The architectural team called on the Montrealbased digital studio CREO to create the Cosmocité scenography . To meet the numerous requirements of this ambitious project , CREO put together a multidisciplinary design team , who worked in close collaboration with the project ’ s Grenoble-based scientific committee , as well as with Centre de Culture Scientifique , Technique et Industrielle de Grenoble .
Cosmocité ’ s highly interactive exhibition is designed to answer fundamental questions such as : Is the Earth unique ? Is it possible to predict everything ? Spread over two floors , it covers everything from the birth of stars to the causes of earthquakes . In addition , a 14-metre-high Foucault pendulum spans the building to demonstrate the Earth ’ s rotation .
A bioclimatic design The building has been designed to balance the space of the west-facing garden with that of the eastern forecourt . The hall and staircase are glazed to capture free energy from the sun , and to encourage the public to use the staircase to climb to the upper floors . However , this solar energy is controlled by screen-printed glass to prevent overheating .
To the west , the building opens onto the garden and the Vercors landscape , while the cantilevered planetarium hall shelters it from the summer sun .
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