THE MIND MUSEUM
Taguig, Philippines
FIRM Lor Calma & Partners
TYPE
Commercial › Exhibition Center
Cultural › Museum
STATUS
Built
YEAR
2012
It is a 5,000 square meter exhibit area located in a12,500 square meter JY Campos Park in Bonifacio Global
City. It is the first world-class science museum in the Philippines. It is designed by Lor Calma & Partners, along with
the contribution of an architectural firm based in the United States.
The Mind Museum's mission is to initiate and bolster science engagement in elevating aspects of individual,
community and national life to inspire solutions to real-world problems.
The 7,600sq m (81,806sq ft) building, which contains five galleries across two levels, features a futuristic and
organic design inspired by cell growth and molecular structures.
Project Proponents:
- Bonifacio Art Foundation, Inc. (BAFI)
- Bases Conversion Development Corp.
- Ayala Land, Inc
- Property Owners of BGC
The museum was designed by architect Ed Calma, from Lor Calma & Partners. Th design of the structure was
inspired from cellular structure and growth and had a solar reflective exterior, natural wind ventilation and rainwater
flow drainage.
With assistance from a firm based in the United States, which did the master plan of the museum, Filipino designers,
scientists and fabricators did 90 percent of the museum's exhibits. The designers included designers and faculty from
the College of Fine Arts of the University of the Philippines and the University of Sto. Tomas.
The goal of the Science Museum is to convey important and accurate science principles through the use of
interactive, multi-media and multi-sensory exhibits firmly based in a story context. Current story topics include The
Universe, Life, Nature, The Atom and Technology.
Each of the major exhibit galleries, or “spheres,” includes an iconic “centerpiece” surrounded by 25 to 30 exhibits
embedded within the overall gallery aesthetic and/or architecture. Corridors connecting the five spheres provide
further opportunities for interpretation and immersion within the various story themes.
JRA provided master planning, conceptual and schematic design for this innovative project.
A. A Grass roof provides insulation against the scorching sun for the classrooms and offices housed below. The rest
of the structure's aluminum facade effectively reflects the sun's rays.
B. Calma's team studied and took advantage of shade created by adjacent buildings. A glass facade was built on the
shaded northeast side, and a curved external wall shields waiting visitors on the sun-soaked side.
C. The aerodynamic roof allows for efficient rain collection and prevents wind tunneling by diverting gusts upward.
Its fluid shape echoes "a stone that's been weathered by the forces and becomes smooth," Calma says.
D. A neighboring 8,600-square-foot park offers visitors the chance to learn about sun, wind, water, and plants while
interacting with exhibits designed by landscape architects and artists.
Summary of Issues and Concerns:
- Interactive and Informative Attractions
- Fun & Enthusiastic Exhibits
- Awkward Atmosphere
- Inaccessibility of Attractions
- Poor Maintenance of Restrooms
- Poor Maintenance of the Park
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The Mind Museum's proponent, Bonifacio Art Foundation, Inc. (BAFI), worked with architecture firm Lor Calma &
Partners led by Ed Calma, seasoned engineers, and LEED consultants to make The Mind Museum more efficient in
using resources and preserving the environment. The sustainable features of the facility include the following:
Water and energy efficiency
The Mind Museum uses collected rainwater and condensate water for its cleaning, thus saving over 70% of potable
water use for sewage conveyance. It also saves 22% more energy than an ASHRAE (American Society of Heating,
Refrigeration, and Air-Conditioning Engineers) compliant building due to its efficient HVAC (heating, ventilation, air-
conditioning and cooling) system. Its lighting system is 95% LED, the most cost-efficient and environment-friendly
lighting available today.
The museum also uses built-in solar-assisted air conditioners for its offices and solar panels to help light a good
portion of the facility.
One of the attractions of the museum is the botanical garden. It has non-invasive species of flora that improves
water absorption on the ground, which in turn helps prevent flooding.
Eco-friendly building materials
Products with high recycled content were used in major materials, like steel and other metal requirements. Supplies
for landscaping were sourced locally, hence reducing the environmental impacts brought by transportation.
The museum used paints and adhesives with low VOC (volatile organic compounds) to improve indoor air quality. It
likewise has a materials recovery facility to properly dispose biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste.
Moderate daily temperature
To avoid direct sunlight and heat island effect (HIE), The Mind Museum was designed with curved down roofs and
slanted walls. A portion of the museum’s roof is covered by vegetation for added insulation against heat. Majority of
the site’s pavement is made with highly reflective materials to diminish HIE within the museum and nearby areas.
In an official statement, Rick Fedrizzi, President, CEO & Founding Chair of USGBC, said that: “The green building
movement offers an unprecedented opportunity to respond to the most-important challenges of our time, including
global climate change, dependence on non-sustainable and expensive sources of energy and threats to human
health. The work of innovative building projects such as The Mind Museum is a fundamental driving force in the
green building movement.”
The Mind Museum opened to the public in March 2012 and has so far accommodated about 300,000 visitors.
Reflecting the principles of sustainable architecture, The Mind Museum, is truly a Science exhibit in itself—certainly
worthy of the LEED Gold certificate. (PR)
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Almost all the exhibits in The Mind Museum are originally designed by Filipino artists and fabricators who worked
closely with scientists here and abroad to execute science principles or facts clearly and beautifully. Of these,
around 20 were conceptualized, designed, and built solely by MVCB, while dozens more were built based on the
designs, or in some cases, mere sketches of exhibit ideas. The Mind Museum‘s soft opening in December 2011
paved the way to its much-anticipated public opening in March 16, 2012.
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The space-age design of The Mind Museum is the brainchild of a team of architects from
Lor Calma & Partners, led by renowned architect Ed Calma. The inspiration behind the
building's futuristic, yet organic look was based off of cell growth and molecular
structures.
Mirroring the functionality of nature, some features of the building's innovative and
sustainable design include: slanted exterior walls to minimize the entry of sunlight, a
specially curved roof for more efficient rain collection, and strategic orientation to utilize
the shadows of adjacent buildings, all of which contribute to more energy efficiency. Ed
counts the form and location of The Mind Museum as his favorite things about the
museum; he believes that it has an interesting place in "a sea of box buildings and it
celebrates the terminus of the [Bonifacio] High Street axis" – a combination that is sure to
awe visitors.
Ed was drawn to The Mind Museum by the idea that it would influence a generation of
Filipinos to see science and art in a different light. In particular, he hopes that the
museum will help people to see the connection between the two fields, as well as remove
the intimidating edge from science.
Location:
Main Galleries
The exhibition concept envisioned for the science museum is unique and Filipino. The
Mind Museum will present science through five main stories, taking off from our culture’s
resonance with storytelling. The exhibition spans the entire range of nature's elements,
gleaned from the galleries, namely: Atom, Life, Universe, Earth, and Technology.
Visitors can relax in a glass-encased café that will give them a view of the Science-in-the-
Park. Themed as Nature’s Artful Play, this will be an extensive outdoor park where
children and adults can continue their learning experience from inside the museum to the
inter-active exhibits in the park.
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THE MIND MUSEUM AUDITORIUM
The Mind Museum Auditorium serves as a great venue for lectures and seminars, as well as small-scale conferences,
business presentations, and any other gatherings that may require a speaker and an audience, really. The projected
presentation materials can be sizeable up to 160 inches, which can then be seen from anywhere in the room.
Since the Mind Museum Auditorium features stadium seating, all of the participants will get an excellent view, no
matter where they decide to sit. All of the seats have their own swing-up writing tables, as well, making them
conducive to note-taking.
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The Mind Museum's exhibition takes off from a narrative that presents science in over 250 interactive exhibits
through five interconnected stories. The galleries span nature in scale, from the smallest of things to the largest, and
everything in between. The exploration also continues in Science-in-the-Park outside. We also have a Botanical
Garden as a venue for other educational programs.
Atom Gallery: The Strange World of the Very Small
The Atom Gallery is the gallery with the most number of interactive exhibits. It contains the very elemental forces
that are so familiar that we take them for granted like gravity and electromagnetism. It also presents the
counterintuitive quantum world that resembles nothing in everyday experience, yet serves as the basis for much of
the technology of today.
Life Gallery: The Exuberant Varieties of Life
The Life Gallery showcases the exuberance of a living planet in all its forms. It features the various habitats and the
astonishing number and variety of organisms that thrive on our planet.
Earth Gallery: Nature Across the Breadth of Time
The Earth Gallery features the first permanent T. rex exhibit in the country along with other unique exhibits that
focus on the forces at work in shaping and reshaping the Earth.
Universe Gallery: The Beginning and Majesty of the Cosmos
The Universe Gallery showcases humankind’s wondrous fascination with outer space. It features exhibits that show
how all of life, as we know it, found its atomic beginnings in the stars. It enfolds visitors in the fundamental elements
at play in the cosmos.
Technology Gallery: The Showcase of Human Ingenuity
The Technology Gallery is the largest of all the galleries. It is the only exhibition space on the second level,
overlooking the other four galleries. This gallery presents technology not as a mere tool, gadget or industrial
advancement but as means to flesh out human values and to help us become better humans.
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