SKIN – Pavilion of Knowledge

The Pavilion of Knowledge is a science and technology museum in Lisbon, offering exhibitions and educational programmes that invite visitors to experience and discover the physical world. An environmental design project called SKIN was developed for the multi-purpose foyer – a texture that is perforated into the metal walls and thus creates interplay of acoustics and lighting within the interlaced rooms of the museum space. Its theme, ASCII (the American Standard Code for Information Interchange) is an analogy to the museum’s intent of sharing information. Both the texture patterns and the acoustics vary due to the creation of different densities with bigger and smaller cuts, so that the sounds that enter into the space through openings in the window areas of the rear rooms are filtered to different degrees. The white LED lighting between the wall and the SKIN was balanced with natural light. Statement by the jury »The translucent ‘skin’ for the Pavilion of Knowledge embodies in a sensational way what environmental design can achieve and how light, space and symbolism can merge into playful interaction. It manages to convert plain information into an aesthetically exciting experience and to convey the message of the museum in a sensual manner.«