Add the Shanghai Natural History Museum to Your Bucket List

By Corina Quinn
Updated: March 07, 2017

Architecture and design fans, take note: It's time for a trip to Shanghai, to visit the Shanghai Natural History Museum. The sprawling, 479,180-square-foot-space is located inside a sculpture park in the Jing’an District downtown. 

Designed by Perkins+Will (the internationally acclaimed firm behind San Francisco’s Ferry Building, Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, and New York City’s Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum), it's designed to evoke harmony between visitors and the surrounding nature, with features like a 100-foot-tall atrium inspired by a nautilus shell, outer walls that allow daylight in while keeping heat out, and a courtyard pond that stores rainwater and cools the building through its evaporation.

Beyond the design, the museum houses impressive collections, including one of the largest dinosaurs in the world, more than 11,000 artifacts from all seven continents, a 4D theatre and a 323,000-square-foot sculpture park. Having just opened in May, its inaugural “Miracle of Life” exhibit, featuring items from China’s paleontological age, runs through March 31, 2017. Get a glimpse here before you go.

Corina Quinn is the digital travel editor at Travel + Leisure. You can follow her on Twitter and Instagram. 

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China: Shanghai Natural History Museum

James and Connor Steinkamp Photography

The sprawling museum rises in a curve inspired by the nautilus shell, and is located in a sculpture park in the Jing’an District in downtown Shanghai.

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China: Shanghai Natural History Museum

James and Connor Steinkamp Photography

Many of the building’s facades depict natural elements. This central wall represents the cellular structure of plants and animals.

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China: Shanghai Natural History Museum

James and Connor Steinkamp Photography

This east living wall signifies the earth’s vegetation and symbolizes the forests of China.

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China: Shanghai Natural History Museum

James and Connor Steinkamp Photography

Perkins+Will devised the outer walls to respond to the sun, allowing daylight in while keeping heat out.

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China: Shanghai Natural History Museum

James and Connor Steinkamp Photography

Native plants covering the roof keep the building cool and collect rainwater.

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China: Shanghai Natural History Museum

James and Connor Steinkamp Photography

The atrium alone is 100 feet tall, and houses one of the largest dinosaurs in the world.

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China: Shanghai Natural History Museum

James and Connor Steinkamp Photography

Temperature indoors stays comfortable with a heating and cooling system that uses naturally occurring warmth, and coolness form below the earth’s surface.

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China: Shanghai Natural History Museum

James and Connor Steinkamp Photography

The stone wall suggests shifting tectonic plates and canyon walls eroded by rivers.

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China: Shanghai Natural History Museum

James and Connor Steinkamp Photography

The museum has exhibits ranging from the African Savannah, Polar Regions, and Tibetan Plateau. There’s also a 4D theatre, and mobile apps can link visitors to exhibits inside.

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China: Shanghai Natural History Museum

James and Connor Steinkamp Photography

Open Tuesday through Sunday, the inaugural exhibit, “Miracle of Life,” displaying Chinese paleontological finds, is on through March 31, 2017.

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