Boasting an iconic lotus-inspired design, the ArtScience Museum at Marina Bay Sands is set to become the heart of the growing ArtScience movement as well as the premier venue for major international touring exhibitions from the most renowned collections in the world.

Featuring 21 gallery spaces totaling 50,000 square feet, the latest addition to Marina Bay Sands will deliver an impressive array of exhibits that embrace a spectrum of influences from art and science, media and technology, to design and architecture.

The brief from the Government of Singapore requested that the program at Marina Bay include an iconic cultural building on the promontory, facing the water.  In response, internationally renowned architect Moshe Safdie conceived of a museum that fosters the interplay of art and science.  “Some see the form of the museum as reminiscent of a lotus flower, others feel it looks like an open palm," said Safdie. “For me, the museum’s design represents the forward looking spirit of Singapore.”

ArtScience museum blueprint

The Museum's showpiece exhibition, ArtScience: A Journey Through Creativity, will feature a series of permanent exhibits that anchors the iconic venue at the forefront of technology, design and culture. The exhibition opens a dialog about art and science and the symbiotic relationship between them.

"Curiosity" is an arrival gallery on the third floor of the Museum where visitors are introduced to a unique space by an ascending "floating" staircase. The gallery challenges guests with questions that have motivated artistic and scientific innovators through time via translucent scrolls hanging from the museum’s voluminous sloping ceiling.

“Inspiration” is an interactive gallery that features six large suspended artifacts representing known inventions throughout the ages that bridge the art and science divide. These include Leonardo da Vinci’s Flying Machine, a Kongming Lantern, a high-tech Robotic Fish, a model of the ArtScience Museum, a molecular model of a “Buckyball”, and an Ancient Chinese Scroll. The gallery also features engaging touchscreen units with information on ArtScience innovations in areas such as architecture, transportation, technology and exploration.

“Expression” is a dynamic multimedia gallery that combines lighting effects, sound and moving images. Visitors will be immersed in the innovation process through kinetic images that follow the journeys of great art/scientists across time and culture. Artifacts representing an array of disciplines light up on cue during the presentation.

ArtScience Museum at Marina Bay Sands will also play host to marquee exhibitions curated by leading museums and collections from around the world.

In the coming months, the museum will launch a speaker series that will bring globally renowned thought-leaders in the field of ArtScience to Singapore to drive discussion and further generate ideas on the subject.

The Welcoming Hand of Singapore

Fondly referred to as “The Welcoming Hand of Singapore” by Las Vegas Sands Corp. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Mr. Sheldon G. Adelson, ArtScience Museum at Marina Bay Sands features ten “fingers” anchored by a unique round base in the middle. The design of each finger reveals different gallery spaces featuring skylights at the "fingertips" that illuminate the dramatically curved interior walls.

The Museum’s dish-like roof channels rainwater through the central atrium of the building, creating a 35-meter water drop into a small, reflecting pool. The rainwater is then recycled for use in the building’s restrooms. Material such as Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer (GFRP), typically used in high-performance racing yachts, which has never been used in a project in Singapore, was used for the construction of this architectural wonder.

Fast facts
- Total of 10 “fingers” that make up the building form plus two bay windows with special views of Singapore and Marina Bay Sands.
- The interiors of the “fingers” are unique gallery spaces with natural lighting from the fingertips illuminating the sculptural interior wall forms.
- Tallest “finger” stands 60 meters above ground.
- Efficient structural design by Ove Arup & Partners made the museum’s complex building design based on spherical geometries, easy to construct. State-of-the-art 3D technology was used to design, engineer and construct the museum.
- The fingers’ primary surfaces are made of special Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer (GFRP), which has never been used in a project in Singapore. The material is typically used in the skins of high-performance racing yachts.
- Total amount of GFRP used – 12,500 square meters.
- Customised bead-blasted stainless steel manufactured in Japan by Mitsubishi Plastics clad the sides of the fingers.
- Total amount of stainless steel cladding used – 5,300 square meters.
- ArtScience Museum contains 5,600 structural steel members weighing 5,200 tons.
- The contractors are Penta Ocean (Japan), DK Composites (Malaysia), Yongnam (Singapore), L&K Engineering (Taiwan), Bi Water (Hong Kong), Alfasi Construction (Australia), Sunray Woodcraft (Singapore).
- At its peak, over 700 construction workers were onsite.

* Main picture courtesy of Marina Bay Sands