A Space Shuttle standing upright inside a building is already an extraordinary sight. What makes the Samuel Oshin Air & Space Centre in Los Angeles even more remarkable is the structure built around it: a sweeping steel diagrid that rises nearly 200 feet, creating a vast, column-free volume without competing with the spacecraft at its centre.
Designed by ZGF Architects, the 200,000-square-foot centre extends the California Science Centre with a new destination dedicated to aviation and space exploration. Its defining architectural gesture is a curved steel diagrid, weighing approximately 2,000 tons and formed by intersecting diagonal members. By pushing much of the structural expression towards the perimeter, the system leaves the interior open around Space Shuttle Endeavour in its full vertical launch configuration.
The geometry is as much about precision as appearance. Endeavour, together with its external tank and solid rocket boosters, occupies an immense vertical volume within the building. Constructing the enclosure around such a significant aerospace artefact demanded careful coordination of structure, construction sequencing and protection. The result is a building where the engineering works quietly in the background, allowing the shuttle to remain the visual focus.
Beyond Endeavour, the centre brings together galleries devoted to aviation and space, supported by a collection of aerospace artefacts and interactive exhibits. Yet the building itself becomes an exhibit of another kind. Its curved steel frame demonstrates how structural systems can accommodate demanding geometry while creating generous, uninterrupted spaces.
With the centre expected to open to visitors in the later half of 2026, the project offers more than a new museum experience. For the steel construction industry, it points towards a broader shift in architectural thinking, where complex structures must negotiate geometry, volume, visibility and experience simultaneously. Here, steel does not simply enclose a remarkable object. It creates the space that allows the object to command it.
