The Rose Center for Earth and Space is the centerpiece of the Northside project, which redefines the image of this venerable cultural and academic institution for the 21st century while respecting the historic architecture of the designated landmark. Along with the Arthur Ross Terrace, the Weston Pavilion and the renovated Theodore Roosevelt Park, The Rose Center completes the Museum’s north side. The iconic sphere, housed within a glass cube, contains the state-of-the art Hayden Planetarium and Big Bang theater, whose program describes the origins of the universe. The building itself is designed as a learning tool, as a visible expression of the science it contains. Its extraordinary curtain wall, structural system and lighting, its use of materials and color, its open planning and singular and striking volumetric expression all reveal to the visitor an iconic example of building technology and science that makes this new building a worthy complement to the existing Museum and an effective expression of the institution’s scientific and educational mission.