Check out the designs for Lithuania’s new ‘science island’

Plans for Lithuania’s new nature-inspired National Science and Innovation Centre have been unveiled in the country’s second city of Kaunas.

SMAR Architecture Studio won the right to oversee the €25 million ($29 million) tech hub — also known as Science Island — with a design that will see the museum to “spill out” into the surrounding park.

Located on the Nemunas Island in the Nemunas River, the 33-hectare site is due to open in 2021, a year before Kaunas begins its tenure as European Capital of Culture 2022.

“Our proposal for Science Island follows the island’s topography to find a deep connection with nature and with the city,” said Dr Fernando Jerez, Founder and Creative Director of SMAR Architecture Studio. “On the roof, circular access points will work as public stages and natural seating areas, our aim being that the museum spills into the landscape and the park comes into the building.”

“The existing landscape gives shape to the Innovation Centre, which is topped by a sloping and reflecting upper disk: a landmark for the city. This will be a new sun for Kaunas, a bright, shining sun — evidence that Science is always awake, searching for new answers.”