ARCHSTRUKTURA among 5 finalists.
The volumes of the museum premises are strung upon a "diaphragm pivot", its nucleus being the circular yard territory.
The whole project is based on the idea of the famous spiral ramp that was once so successfully used in New-York's Guggenheim Museum. In this case, however, the ramp is not on the outside but on the inside, or, to be more exact, the spiral of the ramp unwinds indeed like a spring - inside of it, there is a yard followed by the petals of the museum halls.
At night, the yard glows on the dark, accentuating its role of the main axis of the museum.
The inclination of the ramp is no more than 5%, so one will have no difficulty moving either up or down the ramp. For the shortcut, a panoramic elevator is provided.
The exhibition spaces are situated in the upper helix of the spiral and are in fact autonomous transformer volumes. They reflect principles of a theater stage, that can be transformed for any kind of decorations.
The middle helix of the spiral houses the laboratories: while ascending or descending the ramp, the visitors could take a peek at the scientists' work. The bottom helix includes the public spaces.
Near the entrance, there is a cafe, a grocery store, and a movie theater.