Science Museum of Rome
Studio Transit’s Science Museum in Rome has been conceived to convey the idea of a science “made by people and for people” and is articulated on an architectural dimension and a content dimension, which describe science as an activity “made by people”, and a second content dimension that transmits a science “for the people”.
The cardinal principle is that the Science Museum is the architectural embodiment of the scientific method, which is indeed the selection process through which what is formed in the scientist’s mind meets the experiment to eventually become part of the building of science; but it is also the thought process made up of attempts, of the sedimentation and maturation of ideas, which results in the scientific hypothesis.
Date 2023
State Competition
Location Rome, Italy
Category Culture & Religion
The architecture, through an orderly, incremental and modular exoskeleton becomes a sign that tells the story of the scientific method, its life and rigor, the people who animate it and their paths.
It incorporates the two content dimensions of scientific thought:
1. the virtuous relationship between science and art in the creative phase of the formation of concepts
2. the relationship between science and technology that impacts people’s lives.
The first shows the contribution of individual imagination, a central aspect of the scientific enterprise “made by people”; the second illustrates how science materialized in technology transforms our relationship with the world and the environment, a central aspect of a science “for people”.
The story that unfolds from the complex chosen for the headquarters of the MSR is nourished by materials and construction techniques that photograph moments in history.
The brick, the steel, the concrete speak of successive developments and transformations, generating environments which, detached from their original function, are charged with the poetry of space. In the wake of the use of the material as a witness of its time, the new architecture manifests itself with a choice of sustainability: wood.
The perspective of the entrance that innervates the system, the large rooms punctuated by the cadence of the covering sheds, the score of the fronts that surround the complex, are conceived as founding elements for the articulation of the new architecture.
The experience opens with a promenade that is both an atrium and an urban path, a forum and a secret garden, a place for storytelling and resting, a playful moment and knowledge. It represents a new space for sharing the city and at the same time an ever-changing manifesto of the essence of the MSR.
Places tell about themselves, their history and evolution. Listening to their story and grasping their essence is the condition to comprehend their process of becoming.
This vibrant center consists of two experiential moments: the first is the Garden of Knowledge made up of four exhibition units which, in line with the philosophy of the project, will reveal the interweaving between the free construction of representations and the methodological rigor in scientific thought.
It will therefore be possible to compare the analogical representations of concepts of scientific investigation such as space, light and colour, time, movement, and those given by poetry, literature, the figurative arts, cinema and dance, as forms of knowledge in positive tension with the scientific method.
Through the infinite mirror technique it will be possible to discover the genesis of eight fundamental formulas for science, their technical and technological impact on history and the way they’ve influenced and characterised the individual’s daily life and social complexities.
It is the story of how the extraordinary manages to relate to the ordinary by transforming it.
The Forum represents an ideal seam between the physical architectural element and its complementary vitalism made up of meetings and flows of people, a dynamic synthesis of all the generative processes underlying every hypothesis or theory before their scientific scrutiny.
The second element is an Agora which will host meetings and events, with the contribution of scientists, communicators and researchers who will provide critical information on the latest trends in science and technology. The conversations will revolve around virtuous circle between science, techniques and technology in cases taken from ancient, recent and current history, characterizing the MSR as an ideal showcase for the ecosystem of Italian scientific research.
At the center of the Agorà an installation of superimposed semi-transparent screens (see-through led) inspired by the golden section, evoke the harmony of forms in nature and in art, citing the complexities and the evolution of the scientific method, that process of sedimentation of human knowledge. A switchable cover dedicated to insights and events which will project contents aligned with the Museum’s agenda.
Emotion, light control, freedom from constraints, flexibility are the four informing canons of the design of the exhibition spaces which, in line with the “in progress” criterion of the entire project, put themselves at the service of the science stories that will evolve in time with the space.