The Search for More: A Space Center Built on Curiosity and Kinesthetic Learning

There are plenty of museums where you sit, read a placard, and move on. The Search for More rejects that model entirely. Designed as a space center organized around the principle of "learning by doing," the project sequences visitors through a progression of increasingly immersive encounters: from interactive ground-floor exhibits, to a holographic solar system on the second level, to a rooftop observation deck equipped with telescopes. The architecture doesn't just house education; it choreographs it, using spatial compression and release to drive independent curiosity forward.

Conceived by Sarah Vanderpool as a shortlisted entry for Moontrip 2019, the project responds to the competition's call to mark the 50th anniversary of a landmark scientific achievement. Rather than producing a static monument, Vanderpool proposes a building that acts as a narrative vehicle, guiding visitors from terrestrial knowledge upward toward the vastness of space. The result is an architectural sequence that treats the sky itself as the final exhibit.

Concrete Cantilevers Grounding a Skyward Journey

The exterior elevations reveal a muscular, grounded presence. A cantilevered concrete roof extends over a generous lawn, sheltering the entrance and establishing a horizontal datum that contrasts with the vertical ambitions of the interior program. The angular concrete facade reads as geological, almost monolithic, its surface set against textured cloud cover in the renderings as if the building were already in dialogue with the atmosphere above it.

Vanderpool's formal strategy is clear: two orthogonal programmatic bars punctuate a dynamic, curvilinear vertical core. The bars contain the exhibition and educational functions, while the core serves as a transitional space that physically elevates visitors toward the sky. The weight of the concrete envelope makes the eventual arrival at the glass ceiling and open rooftop deck feel earned, not given.

A Section That Digs Down Before Looking Up

The building section is the most revealing drawing in the set. It exposes a two-level interior connected by stairs, with programmatic space extending below grade to accommodate a pool or reflective water feature at the lowest point. This subterranean extension is a smart move: it gives the building a sense of depth and interiority before the upward journey begins. The visitor's path moves from below ground level through compressed gallery spaces before ascending into volumes with increasing exposure to natural light and sky.

The section also clarifies how the glass ceiling operates. Positioned at the apex of the curvilinear core, it draws the observer's gaze directly upward, framing the sky as an architectural element. The rooftop deck above marks the terminus of the spatial sequence, designed to host telescopes for witnessing celestial events like meteor showers and eclipses. Learning here is not symbolic; it is literal, optical, immediate.

Angled Walls Shaping the Interior Experience

The interior perspective shows two figures navigating a gallery defined by angled dark walls that tilt inward, creating a sense of directed movement and controlled compression. This is where the kinesthetic learning principle becomes architectural: the walls don't just display content, they physically guide bodies through space. Interactive displays along these surfaces promote visual and tactile engagement, and the second floor hosts a holographic solar system allowing hands-on interaction with astronomical concepts.

The distinction between indoor and outdoor programming is deliberate. Interior spaces handle the technical and interactive functions, including holograms of planetary systems and a model moon crawler. The outdoor areas, by contrast, serve as contemplative retreats. This separation acknowledges that immersive learning requires both stimulation and stillness, and the architecture provides clear spatial registers for each.

Exploded Axonometric: Layering Program and Cosmos

The exploded axonometric drawing pulls the project apart into its constituent spatial layers, annotating each with its programmatic role. Celestial imagery appears below the building mass, reinforcing the idea that the architecture sits between earth and sky, mediating between the tangible and the cosmic. The drawing technique itself communicates Vanderpool's ambition: the building is not a container but a sequence of thresholds, each one bringing the visitor closer to an unmediated relationship with space.

Why This Project Matters

Space centers and science museums too often default to spectacle, relying on large screens and passive viewing to convey wonder. Vanderpool's proposal inverts that logic by making the building itself the primary pedagogical instrument. The spatial sequence, from below-grade depth to rooftop openness, enacts the very process of discovery it aims to teach. Architecture becomes curriculum.

As a response to the Moontrip 2019 brief, The Search for More takes a meaningful position: commemorating scientific achievement not with a static memorial but with a living environment that generates new curiosity. The rooftop deck, pointed at the sky with telescopes in hand, is the project's most honest gesture. It says that the 50th anniversary of looking upward is best celebrated by continuing to look.

View the Full Project

About the Designers

Designer: Sarah Vanderpool

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Project credits: The search for more by Sarah Vanderpool Moontrip 2019 (uni.xyz).