Plans are in place to build a modern science center named after medieval astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus.

TheCopernicus Science Center, which will serve both professional skygazers and the general public, will rank alongside the Museum of Contemporary Art and the Polish Jewry Heritage Museum as one of Warsaw's major attractions in a few years.

The building, designed by Jan Kubec's RAr-2 Architectural Laboratory, is an unusual interplay of architectural oddities enclosed in a relatively simple block constructed using the most modern technology.

But there is more to the project than interesting contemporary architecture. Half the area, including part of the roof, is to be given over to park land, the idea being to complement, rather than dominate, the landscape.

The site of the center dictated the technology used in its construction. Brackets will have to be built along the Wisłostrada tunnel to support one of the building's overhead L-shaped wings, and concrete grillage bearing the weight of the entire building will rest on these foundations. The ceiling will be supported by four 130 m steel girders, giving the center 5,200 square meters of floor space on which to stage exhibitions without any additional foundations.

The wing parallel to the Wisłostrada tunnel will be built using traditional steel construction. This will house the administration center and other offices as well as several rooms set aside for educational purposes.

The building's height has been limited to 12 meters except for the planetarium's viewing platform, which will sit 16 meters above street level. The planetarium has been designed as a boulder giving it some peculiar elevations. The special red raster glass covering its surface has been designed to prevent light from being reflected. The building will be specially lit so as to be visible at night.

The main building's elevations are likewise anything but typical. The exterior will be made from a newly developed fiberglass-reinforced concrete. The windows will sit in the cracks between the irregular, vertical concrete sheets giving the surface a bouldery appearance and the eastern facade will have a crevice resembling a cave entrance. The design is both highly original from an aesthetic standpoint and eminently practical in that it regulates natural light and drains rain water from the roof.

This tectonic nature of the facade extends to the roof. A garden will be laid with plant-lined craters leading into the building. Access is via special ramps hidden in the facade. Again, aesthetics go hand in hand with functionality as the craters have been designed to ventilate the building, thereby minimizing the number of vents. Copernicus will be able to "breathe" thanks to craters that work like the pores of the skin, and the interior temperature will be regulated by small crevices in the building's northern elevation and by fissures in its facade.

Half the 4-hectare Copernicus site will be taken up by gardens and special self-cleansing water tanks known as biotops. The building has been designed to blend in with the natural environment by "flowing" into the Vistula River by way of terraces. A marina and an amphitheater will also be constructed.

Ecological technologies like these were a criterion of the design competition, and the panel was duly impressed. The Copernicus Science Center will further strengthen the ties between science and art by having a gallery built near the main building.

All this has been set to a strict timetable. Construction is being put to tender in August, and a decision is expected in the third quarter of this year. The builder will be given 16 months to construct the section above the Wisłostrada tunnel and 23 months to finish the job. Copernicus should open to the public by the end of 2009.

Meanwhile, Warsaw is hosting a variety number of programs designed to promote science among local residents. One such event was an exhibition entitled "Experiment!" at the Palace of Culture and Science in July. The exhibition was staged as a laboratory in which viewers could learn to build batteries from fruit and check whether sweetened water is a better electrical conductor than vinegar. The secrets of lightning were discovered, and astronomical shows answered perennial questions such as "Do stars shine during the day?", "Why do they twinkle?", "Why is the sky blue?" and "Why does the moon have phases?"