The building is unique due to its very futuristic design, resembling a landed flying saucer. It was designed by architects Leo de Bever and Louis Christiaan Kalff, [2] while the exhibition it housed was conceived by James Gardner. De Bever and Kalff only got two demands for the design of the building, it had to be "spectacular" and it had to be possible to hold exhibitions in the building. [2]
Its concrete dome is 77 metres (253 ft) in diameter and is held in place by 169 kilometres (105 mi) of reinforcing steel bars.
In the 1960s and 1970s the Evoluon attracted large numbers of visitors due to its innovative interactive exhibitions. When competing science museums opened in other cities, the number of visitors declined and the original museum closed down in 1989. The building was converted into a conference centre which opened in 1998.
In the UK the Evoluon is chiefly remembered from Bert Haanstra's wordless short film entitled simply Evoluon, commissioned by Philips to publicise the museum, and shown as a trade test colour film on BBC television from 1968 to 1972.
In October 2013 the Evoluon was used to stage four 3D-concerts by the German electronic band Kraftwerk, each before an audience of 1,200 spectators. Key band member Ralf Hütter handpicked the venue for its retro-futuristic look. Bespoke 3D-visuals of the saucer section of the building descending from space were used in the live rendition of their track Spacelab. [3]
On September 24, 2022, the Evoluon reopened to the public with the RetroFuture exhibition. [4]
Eindhoven is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, located in the southern province of North Brabant, of which it is the largest municipality, and is also located in the Dutch part of the natural region the Campine. With a population of 246,443 on a territory of 88.92 km2, it is the fifth-largest city of the Netherlands and the largest outside the Randstad conurbation.
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Frederik Jacques "Frits" Philips was the fourth chairman of the board of directors of the Dutch electronics company Philips, which his uncle and father founded. For his actions in saving 382 Jews during the Nazi Occupation of the Netherlands in World War II, he was recognized in 1996 by Yad Vashem as a Righteous Among the Nations.
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Leonardus Lodewijk Josephus "Leo" de Bever was a Dutch architect best known for his works in the city of Eindhoven, which included the Evoluon which he created together with Louis Kalff, the Catharina Ziekenhuis and Eindhoven Airport.
The following is a timeline of the history of the municipality of Eindhoven, Netherlands.
Media related to Evoluon at Wikimedia Commons