Taguig’s science museum inspired by cell membrane Marge C. Enriquez Philippine Daily Inquirer
October 20, 2009
MANILA, Philippines—Can kids be blasted from the rowdy gaming sessions at Internet cafés, be herded into an educational tour of a museum and be mesmerized by its 200 exhibits?
The people behind the future The Mind Museum at Taguig (TMMaT) think so. But unlike the stodgy, hands-off museums of the past, the country’s science museum aims to be an inspired funhouse of discoveries, involving hands-on learning concepts.
Soon to rise at the JY Campos Park in Bonifacio Global City, The Mind Museum at Taguig will be the climax of Bonifacio High Street.
“We’re the only country in Asia that does not have a world-class science museum. Now is the time,” declares Manuel Blas II, TMMaT’s managing director and chief fundraiser.
Initiated by the Bonifacio Arts Foundation Inc. (BAFI), the P1-billion project will rise on a 12,000-sq m lot. TMMaT is envisioned as a scientific amusement park of sorts where interactivity will abound. The building itself will have 7,000 sq m of exhibition space allocated to themes on the earth, universe, atom, life and technology.
Cell membrane building
The building, designed by architect Eduardo Calma, was inspired by the cellular membrane, the biomorphic structure of which is derived from its response to its environment. Hence, there are no sharp corners, just a series of Calma’s trademark overlapping curves.
“People think it looks like a spaceship but it’s actually an organic form,” says Calma.
Mechanical work aside, the shell meets Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards.
“The orientation of the building in relation to the sun and wind is optimized as it faces the east and northeast. You get maximum wind through the covered roof. The sun doesn’t hit the glass. The building envelope is insulated from the heat and the cool interior will not dissipate. There are grid lines embossed on a continuous expanse of metallic roof. We use metal so that it doesn’t absorb heat. It gets hot during the day, but at night it releases heat, not like concrete or stone which retain heat. There is rain harvesting for gray water to be recycled for toilet flushing and irrigation,” says Calma.
An intersecting roof defines the outdoor plaza. “It’s a nice termination of Bonifacio High Street. As a covered space, thousands of kids can assemble here even when it rains.”
The two floors are open plans. “At the introduction hall, a robot will explain how you should view the exhibit. But you can go to any gallery and make your own story. The exhibits are not linear in flow. On the second floor, there are technologies, classrooms and changing exhibits,” explains Calma.
Centerpieces
TMMaT’s curator Maria Isabel Garcia points out, “If you spend a minute in each of the exhibits, the tour will take some three hours. We consulted scientists to develop the objectives of each exhibit. You don’t come as a blank slate. You explore what you’re curious about. If you don’t have the time, there are centerpieces that give you a summary of each major gallery.”
For instance, the Atom Centerpiece holds three-dimensional screens that show how electrons behave. At the Life Gallery, neurosurgeon and St. Luke’s medical director Joven Cuanang spearheaded the construction of the giant brain. Nature’s Hourglass at the Earth Gallery holds a mini-theater that evokes a time machine. The Spaceshell at the Universe Gallery will be a cozy planetarium lined with big mattresses visitors can lie on and use to contemplate the universe or watch films about outer space.
The Avenue of Life is an escalator shrouded by mesh structures with videos of deserts, hydrovents, temperate, tropical and polar environments provided by the National Geographic Channel.
The T-Rex exhibit lets children play paleontologist. And then there’s the futuristic What is on Mars exhibit.
The second floor will be devoted to the applied sciences or what we know of technology.
During TMMaT’s launch at the NBC Tent in Bonifacio Global City, Blas reported that BAFI has already raised 83 percent of the target and needs to get 17 percent or P150 million.
“Any size of the donation will help us,” he urges.
“Donors get naming rights on the exhibit and gallery. We have the Founders Wall on which the corporate logos and names will be placed in perpetuity. As long as this project is in place, there will be people who will believe in what we believe in,” says Blas.
