Museum of Tomorrow 3.21

The Museum of Tomorrow is a science museum in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It was designed by Spanish neofuturistic architect Santiago Calatrava, and built next to the waterfront at Pier Maua. Its construction was supported by the Roberto Marinho Foundation and cost approximately 230 million reais. The building was opened on December 17, 2015 with President Dilma Rousseff in attendance.The main exhibition takes visitors through five main areas: Cosmos, Earth, Anthropocene, Tomorrow and Now via a number of experiments and experiences. The museum mixes science with an innovative design to focus on sustainable cities.Funded by the Rio city government with support from sponsors, the building attempts to set new standards of sustainability in the municipality. Compared with conventional buildings, designers say it uses 40% less energy, and the cooling system taps deep water from nearby Guanabara Bay. Its solar spines and fan-like skylight have been designed so that the building can adapt to changing environmental conditions.The museum has partnerships with Brazil’s leading universities, global science institutions and collects real-time data on climate and population from space agencies and the United Nations. It has also hired consultants from a range of related fields, including astronauts, social scientists and climate experts. It sits waterside in a port area that was left abandoned for decades, and is now being renovated with new office blocks, apartments and restaurants. The museum is part of the city's port area renewal for the 2016 Summer Olympics.