Macao Science Center

That stunning silver cone rising from Macao's waterfront is the Macao Science Center, and even before you step inside, there is a story here that connects this small city to some of the greatest architecture of the twentieth century. This building was designed by I.M. Pei, the legendary Chinese-American architect who gave the world the glass pyramid at the Louvre in Paris, the Bank of China Tower in Hong Kong, and the East Building of the National Gallery in Washington. Pei was born in Guangzhou, not far from Macao, and this was one of his final major projects. It opened in 2009 when Pei was ninety-two years old, and you can feel a lifetime of wisdom in every curve. The building's most striking feature is its asymmetric conical shape, which spirals upward like a strand of DNA, the double helix that carries the code of life. That spiral is not just decorative. Inside, a sloping gallery ramp winds continuously through the building's fourteen exhibition galleries, so you move through the museum in one flowing journey from top to bottom, much like visiting the Guggenheim Museum in New York. The galleries cover everything from space science and robotics to environmental sustainability...