| The Geode is placed on a strech of water in the huge Parc de la Villette. But what is a geode? There are several definitions, but let ' s keep the simplest one. With its spherical shape, this building with its exceptional architecture represents an evocation of the eath. It mesures 36 metres in diameter, the equivalent of a 12-storey building. Adrien Fainsilber, the architect of the Cité des Sciences et de l ' Industrie, imagined and designed the Geode. The sphere itself, as well as the interior and the cinema, are the work of engineers and, above all, inventors. It is Gérard Chamayou who will create this unique sphere in the world. The design was inspired by an ognion, ie. by creating a succession of layer on a framwork (made up of frames of triangular tubes ), which ensure in turn fire protection, thermal insulation, sound insulation, waterproofing and a secondary structure on which the ' mirror skin ' rests. This skin consists of 6433 preformed stainless steel triangles of 137 different size. Each triangle is a portion of a sphere that has been stamped and polished separately. The direction of polishing of each triangle has been calculate so that the light is reflectted in the same way (called ' polarisation ' ) on the whole surface of the sphere. As a result, if you look at the sphere on a clear day with clouds of idefinite outline, you will see that the image reflected on the geode has a purple sky where the clouds are extremely precise. |
