Architect Renzo Piano has signed the design of the Science Gateway at CERN in Geneva, the world's largest particle physics laboratory. The new center for science education, which opened on Saturday, October 7, is designed for audiences ages 5 and up, and is inspired by the tubular structure of CERN's accelerators, "but also by a space station", said Piano, who added, "There are five areas designed to host exhibitions, laboratories, a modular auditorium that can be configured as needed, a shop and a restaurant". With its total area of 8,000 square meters, the center becomes "A place of exchange and knowledge where researchers and children, visitors and physicists, tourists and scientists, all united by curiosity and a thirst for knowledge of the Universe, will meet," as said by the Genoese-born archistar. The total cost of the Science Gateway was about 100 million euros, funded entirely through donations. The largest donor is the Stellantis Foundation, which contributed 45 million euros. Other donors include Lego, Rolex, Solvay, and a Carla Fendi Foundation. The auditorium was named after Sergio Marchionne, the FIAT manager who died five years ago.
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