by Russell Boniface
Associate Editor

Summary: Downey, Calif., soon will be proud home to the new 18,000-square-foot Columbia Memorial Space Science and Learning Center. The center will honor the memory of the Columbia Space Shuttle crew who died on February 1, 2003. The center also will serve as a tribute to those who have worked in the aviation and aerospace industry in Downey over seven decades. Arquitectonica will design the project and Los Angeles-based Tower General Contractors won the contract to build the center. The facility will include historical displays and interactive learning experiences. The silver, S-shaped design, made of glass and steel, evokes the experience of moving through space. The center will break ground next month and is expected to be completed on the five-year anniversary of the tragedy, February 1, 2008.

The Columbia Center is partially funded by NASA and its Jet Propulsion Laboratory, part of the California Institute of Technology. Both organizations will provide historic documents and photographs for the new center, which, in addition to memorializing the Columbia crew, will feature historical displays of the men and women of aviation, operate a space shuttle flight simulator in a Space Science Discovery Zone, and offer interactive experiences for students, including a Mars Robotics Lab for designing and programming robots. As well as being a NASA site, Downey has been home to Rockwell Aerospace, which designed the Apollo capsules, and Rocketdyne, which designed the original Saturn rockets. Both later developed space shuttle engines. Hughes Aircraft also flourished in the region. All later were integrated by Boeing.

The glass and steel design evokes the experience of moving through space

Forward, upward design expresses space flight
Arquitectonica wanted its design for the Columbia Center to express aviation, space exploration, and the ambition of astronauts. The curved design employs silver metal cladding, forming a sideways, almost-S shape. Sloping glass marks the entrance to the building, and arching glass will be along the curved base at the right, set-back portion of the structure. The curved roof will arc intermittedly, as if “swooshing.” This form will appear to propel itself forward and upward, rising as visitors approach the entrance through the plaza, as if opening the plaza space under it and inviting the visitor in. The plaza also serves as a gathering place, encouraging discovery and participation, and will be surrounded by green landscape.

The curved roof will arc intermittedly, as if “swooshing”

“It is a sleek, forward-thinking, lateral design that is spacious inside,” says Alex Guerrero, executive vice president of Tower General Contractors. Once inside a double-height lobby, visitors will be in an open, dramatic space and see the Space Science Discovery Zone, where the shuttle flight simulator will be located. The circulation path will carry visitors throughout the Discovery Zone, providing opportunities to interact with center exhibits. A large, open stair will connect the two floors, encouraging visitors to explore deeper within the center.

A living tribute
“Four years ago, I remember how I felt when the space shuttle malfunctioned,” reflects Guerrero. “I was numbed by it. When I heard the president cleared the way to build this, we became fascinated. The Columbia Memorial Space Science and Learning Center will be a tribute to space exploration, astronauts who lost their lives, and a learning center for future astronauts.” Guerrero says that his firm is proud to remember the Columbia crew, and that Downey, with its 70-year legacy of aviation and aerospace history, is the appropriate site. “Downey has been a hotbed of the aerospace industry,” he notes.