h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

All these old buildings! Nothing wrong with that of course. I nominated a somewhat old building earlier. But here's a modern marvel for a change.

The Rose Center for Earth and Space is part of the American Museum of Natural History in New York. It is home to the New Hayden Planetarium (the most advanced in the world) as well as other exhibits and programs about, well, you can guess from the name I think.

But we're talking about the building here, not necessarily what's in it. And this one is striking. Maybe shocking, particularly given that it's surrounded by much more traditional older buildings. One look and you know its purpose, which has been true of planetariums (planetaria?) before, of course, but never quite like this. You see, the building is a clear glass cube with a large sphere suspended in the middle inside.

The interior of the sphere is part of the building's space (the planetarium and its one-of-a-kind projector are inside it). Most of the sphere is above the highest floor level, thus creating an effect something like a planet inside a glass box. Another floor level is entirely beneath the sphere, and a walkway between levels spirals down around the bottom of the sphere, with exhibits all along it.

Now this is a building I haven't yet seen in person, but the effect is unmatched. Instead of creating a buidling that simply serves the purpose of an exhibit hall and planetarium, the creators of the Rose Center have given us a building which celebrates and broadcasts its purpose in the most complete way possible.

(Note, this one does cost to get in, normal museum admission which includes the entire rest of the American Museum of Natural History is $10.)