The City of Kaunas in Lithuania has launched an anonymous one-stage design contest for the planned National Science and Innovation Centre of Lithuania, known as Science Island.
The competition, developed with Malcolm Reading Consultants, encompasses the design of the €25m (US$27.5m, £20.8m) centre and an urban integration plan for with its proposed home on Nemunas Island – located close to the city’s historic Centras district and cultural institutions including the Lithuanian Zoo, the the Lithuanian Aviation Museum and the Museum of the History of Lithuanian Medicine and Pharmacy.
Science Island will celebrate achievements in scientific thought and breakthroughs in technology, and aims to inspire visitors to support innovation. It will focus particularly on environmental themes and ecosystems, and this should be reflected in the design of the 13,000sq m (140,000sq ft) centre.
Kaunas Mayor Visvaldas Matijošaitis said: “The architectural quality of the new centre is of great importance, given Kaunas’ exceptional architectural heritage, and this must respond to the challenges facing the planet: integrating the very latest environmental thinking.
“We’re seeking a design that communicates the Science Island vision and crystallises the emerging identity of Kaunas – one of the Baltic’s key knowledge and cultural hubs and an increasingly popular visitor destination.”
The deadline for submissions is Wednesday 14 September, 2016. Three winners will be selected through the competition, each receiving €15,000 (US$16,500, £12,500), before Kaunas City Municipality selects one team to develop their concept.
The final winner is expected to be announced in November 2016. Construction is likely to begin in early 2017, and the centre is scheduled to open the following year.
The project will be managed by Kaunas City Municipality in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Science, and municipal Departments of Education, the Education Development Centre and other educational institutions and non-governmental organisations.
Other important cultural projects in Lithuania include
a new building for its Modern Art Center (MAC) and
a winter sports venue in Vilnius, both designed by Daniel Libeskind.
