Museum of Weather

Anthro-obscene: Museum of Weather

Fall 2019: Professors Matt Huber and Dana Cupkova

What does it mean to capture weather?

Situated on Six Mile Island on the Allegheny River in Pittsburgh, this weather museum plays with the impact of the Anthropocene on weather. With the anthropocene came new ways for weather to occur, explored through developing four thermal mass systems. Inspired by how cubist paintings show the same object from different perspectives in one painting, the landscape takes users through different weather conditions woven into the landscape, to the centerpoint where the perspective at that point allows all the conditions to become visible simultaneously.

The shape of the site blurs the transition from concrete building to earthen landscape so that the idea of natural and built space is drawn into question. Four types of water ‘bubbles’ innovate upon the idea of water walls, creating zones where the users are able to witness the impact of climate on interior environment, and understand the energy effort of thermal comfort in an increasingly volatile climate.

Site Analysis

These site studies guided the program layout of the final design, often to highlight the intersections between two weather conditions and flow across the site to mirror the natural erosion over time.

The transit analysis provides a user’s journey to the island, and where they may be coming from in the city. The routes diagrammed show the paths taken for an easy day trip for someone: not too long for young children, and accessible by bus within a 10-ish minute walk on sidewalks. This provides insight into the user demographics (income, disability, age) as well as how tired they may feel by the time they enter the site.