ce060603.xml
24 April 2008
Construction of the Coop Himmelb(l)au designed € 100 million Musée des Confluences, Lyon, France is scheduled to start this month. The 26700 m2 science museum, which takes its name from the River Rhone and the River Saone at whose confluence it will sit, is also known as “The Crystal Cloud of Knowledge”. Two buildings in one, a museum and an ‘urban leisure space', the scheme is part of efforts to regenerate the old industrial areas of Lyon. Visitors will enter through a glass atrium, the crystal part of the project and itself connected to a park. This area will feature the lobby, ticket halls, restaurants, cafes and a library. The cloud half of the project will house the museum, a mix of permanent exhibition spaces and interchangeable spaces for traveling exhibitions. Over 500000 people per year are expected to visit once it is complete in 2008.