Prince Salman Science Oasis

Science Communication in Riyadh: The Prince Salman Science Oasis

TRIAD Berlin Projektgesellschaft mbH

The Prince Salman Science Oasis is the consequent continuation of the ancient and rich history of science in the Arab world.

One cannot imagine the history of occidental science without the impressive contributions of Arab scholars. Astronomy, mathematics, and geometry, in their modern outlook, were founded in the Arab Middle Ages and later “exported” to Euro-pean universities where they evolved further. The Prince Sal-man Science Oasis (PSSO) is based on the curiosity of Arab scholars over the ages and the profound roots of science in the Arab tradition. It shows their wide variety of interests as an atti-tude of active involvement, a fascination in confronting the real world that can serve as an example for today’s generations.

The PSSO is a science center project in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, designed by a consortium of Saudi and German compa-nies under the direction of the Arriyadh Development Author-ity (ADA). The project is supported by various Saudi sponsors, including the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), the Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC), the Saudi Telecom Company (STC), Saudi Aramco, and ACWA Hold-ing. The science center houses seven exhibition galleries, a mul-tipurpose theater, a science park, shops, laboratories, and a cen-tral hall with a food court and temporary exhibition areas. TRIAD Berlin was commissioned to design four of the seven exhibition galleries. Each of these galleries approaches a differ-ent topic: space, earth, water, and technology.

92 | 93Special Topics | Science Communication in Riyadh: The Prince Salman Science Oasis

1 | The Prince Salman Science Oasis in Riyadh, architecture by Gerber Architekten International

Project intention

Protecting the natural foundations of life is a responsibility inherent to all human action. Its fulfillment is fostered by knowledge about the world and by the diverse approaches to communicate that knowledge. The PSSO is imparting the fasci-nation of a technological and scientific appropriation of the world. It combines an engaging overall narration with special exhibitions that are ambitious on an emotional as well as a didactic level. Elements of both content and design are employed to provide an astonishing and unique overall experi-ence. Each exhibition offers an individual adventure that will leave the visitors with long-lasting impressions in terms of both didactic purposes and personal experience.

Intercultural cooperation: connecting two cultures

Throughout the whole development and concept phase, the project team was being consulted by Saudi experts to make sure that the concept was thematically coherent, scientifically correct and considerate of religious and traditional concerns, and the content was in perfect alignment with Saudi Arabia’s rich historical and cultural background.

The process of developing the project started with several visits to Riyadh. In late 2010, together with our client we set out on a “learning journey“ throughout Europe to experience some of the benchmark science centers and get an impression of the

newest developments in exhibition design and contemporary science center standards. The first concept structure was pre-sented in early 2011, followed by several workshops and plan-ning phases on site. An experienced and accomplished staff of Saudi consultants was employed to align the project develop-ment with current standards both technically and contentwise.

Engaging in the content: the four galleries

Inside the science center, the visitors are invited to dwell in var-ious engaging and inspiring installations and interactive expe-riences. Every gallery has a central icon that is the highlight exhibit and centerpoint of the narration. While the room stim-ulates the visitors’ senses and attracts their attention visually, the carefully selected interactive exhibits communicate differ-ent topics in an easily understandable and fun way that leaves room for discovery and intuitive comprehension of complex relations and content.

The design concept offers a dramaturgy for the entire PSSO, embedding the galleries in one narrative, zooming in through the dimensions of time and space. Each gallery sets a smaller focus—from the eternity of our universe at the beginning to the microcosm of atoms and molecules at the very end—and thus, lets the visitor “grow” from tiny to giant.

2 | Space: View into the Space Gallery with planet system and spaceship

SPACE exploring the infinite universe

The Space Gallery is designed to mirror the infinite universe. The richly decorated exhibition space creates the illusion of a space eight times as large as its actual size. The walls are covered by a billion of stars, making the audience linger in amazement of our beautiful galaxy. A stunning model of our planet system is hang-ing from the ceiling, giving the visitor an image of distance and dimensions. It is inviting the visitors to learn about navigation, observation, and our solar system. In the center of the exhibition hall, a huge spaceship—the central icon of the gallery—encour-ages the audience to discover adventurous stories related to space travel. The fascination of manned missions through all times and even back in the early days of mankind is as broadly explained and visualized as stunning science fiction fantasies and inspiring visions of scientific progress.

EARTH our fascinating home planet

After travelling into space, the visitors are approaching earth: Our beautiful planet is the central icon of the Earth Gallery. The visitors’ path leads around a giant hemisphere that tells them about the planet‘s surface. They learn about wind, weather, and climate and experience amazing natural phenomena with excit-ing experiments and challenging games. The backside of the giant globe can be entered and gives the visitors the possibility of learning about our planet’s core. A big installation of the earth’s different layers shows how our planet is built and what happens underneath the visible surface. The visitors can explore the earth’s interior and learn all about resources and magnetism. Before leaving the gallery, they climb up a hill that allows them a unique view of the breathtaking beauty of our home planet—an emotional moment of rest and peaceful calmness.

3 | Earth: Bird’s-eye view on the hemisphere, central icon of the Earth Gallery

WATER aquatic beauty and dynamics

The Water Gallery concentrates on topics both above the sur-face and underwater. The first part of the gallery is attracting the audience’s interest to a beautiful coastline scenery with a dockyard and a lighthouse at the beach. The second part of the gallery invites the visitors to literally dive into a deep-sea world and find themselves face-to-face with fish, corals, and a subma-rine. This room plays with the impression of an immersive underwater world using light, sound, and life-sized fish models. The largest exhibit is an exciting water playground with vari-ous experiments on water, its behaviour and its consistency. The visitors can actively learn about issues of fresh water and seafaring, the ocean floor, biodiversity underwater, and deep-sea exploration.

TECHNOLOGY the fascinating world of atoms and molecules

The Technology Gallery introduces the audience to modern technologies such as chemistry, quantum physics, and molecu-lar biology. The visitors enter a room where they feel shrinked to the size of atomic structures. A large scale atom model is the main attraction, expanding into infinity on the walls. Each molecule opens a small world of content with topics like our knowledge of the elements, communication networks, light and laser up to high-tech subjects such as “artificial intelli-gence”, nanotechnology, and bionics.

4 | Water: The water playground, main exhibit of the Water Gallery

The challenge of communicating knowlegde

Saudi Arabia is changing. Its wealth—grown mostly out of oil in the past decades—is a precious property that should be used with lasting effect and an orientation towards the future. Edu-cation and knowledge are the most important instruments for achieving this. In this context, the PSSO is meant to become an eminently attractive institution with international appeal. It is destined to make the audience experience how fascinating and emotionally fulfilling the engagement with our world can be, but also to illustrate the urgency and existential nature of the problems that mankind will be facing in the 21st century.

The PSSO offers an adventurous visitor circuit and provides a learning experience with the aid of interactive exhibits that are closely related to the historical, cultural or technological transfer of knowledge. Instead of simply looking at exhibition pieces or reading inscriptions on historic or cultural knowledge, the visitors are invited to actively discover the presented con-tent in a physical and playful way. By experiencing the pre-sented phenomena with all their senses, the visitors are able to gain a much deeper and more profound understanding of the different aspects of the exhibition. With a very sensitive and empathic approach of presentation, the PSSO manages to attract visitors of all ages and engage their attention.

A broad variety of different interactive exhibits stimulates the audience’s interest and encourages an active curiosity in science, technology, and the environment. All exhibits and phe-nomena on display are embedded in a larger context, connect-

ing them to Saudi Arabia, Islamic heritage, historic scholars, present-day applications, etc. This establishes a direct relation-ship between local every day life, historical legacy and present cultural awareness as well as up-to-date technologies, which is of paramount importance for the economic, social and sustain-able development of the Kingdom today.

M. Sc.

96 | 97Special Topics | Science Communication in Riyadh: The Prince Salman Science Oasis

5 | Technology: The Technology Gallery is dominated by an infinite molecular structure

Dr. Stefan KlessmannManaging Partner TRIAD Berlin