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Discover the Museu | Know the Museu

Know the Museu

Locations

The Science Museum has a building area of over 42,000 square metres, of which 26,000 square metres are for exhibitions. The building is on three floors. The ground floor includes the so-called Calle Menor, which houses the main services open to the public (ticket offices, restaurants, shops,...), and access to the Santiago Grisolía Auditorium and the Salón Arquerías where all kinds of congresses and events are held. The Calle Menor is open free to the public and is the venue for a number of exhibitions throughout the year.

Planta primera

On the first floor of the Museum the public can find workshops and interactive science exhibitions, where they can experiment with fun modules as "Kiddies Corner", "Play. Science and music", "Viral" or "Science Theatre". The first floor affords access to the Calle Mayor, which houses an artistic representation of DNA in the form of a sculpture 15 metres in height and the Foucault Pendulum, which at 34 metres is one of the longest in the world. Visitors can also admire the impressive glass surface of the Museum, with over 4,000 panes, and the view of the Turia Garden from the outside terraces.

 

SECOND FLOOR

The second floor is devoted to the exhibition "The Legacy of Science". A chronological sequence based on audiovisual material reveals the life and evolution of the research of three outstanding Nobel prize winners: Santiago Ramón y Cajal, Severo Ochoa and Jean Dausset. Part of Ochoa's legacy in the form of his personal and scientific archive can also be seen, together with his library of over 1,200 volumes. And the Santiago Grisolía exhibition.

THIRD FLOOR

On the third floor of the Museum the public can explore the impressive "Chromosome Forest", with over 2,600 square metres devoted to the biggest milestone in modern science: the sequencing of human DNA. There is a large-scale reproduction of the 23 pairs of chromosomes of the human species. Around each one 127 interactive modules have been developed that are related to the specific genes of each one and their operation.

 On this floor also include the "Zero Gravity", created jointly with the European Space Agency, the Space Simulator, an interactive module that reproduces by means of the simulation of movement three stages in the preparation of the space launch to the International Space Station.

ARCHITECTURE

The exterior of this museum captivates the visitor in its own right. The building is magnificent in its proportions and organic shapes and houses a multitude of activities and initiatives related to the evolution of life and scientific and technological dissemination.

The Science Museum Príncipe Felipe, the work of the Valencian architect Santiago Calatrava, is unique in the world for the geometry of the building, its structure, the materials employed and the constant presence of nature within it.

In the Museum building, architecture, engineering and art have a close relationship, both with the world of science and technology and with several basic principles: simplicity of approach and elegance of architectural forms. Hence, in the Museum building, the contents and the container achieve an overall coherence.

The Museum has a personality of its own, in the modern architectural style that turns the containers of museums into parts of the collection or contents of the same. The huge size of the museum allows it to house various types of activities at the same time, as opposed to smaller museums that have a function limited to a particular field of science or nature.

  • 20,000 square metres of glass with over 4,000 panes.
  • 42,000 square metres of built-on surface area, of which 26,000 square metres are exhibition space; the total surface area is the largest in Spain.
  • It is surrounded by a surface area of 13,500 square metres of sheets of water.
  • It is 220 metres long 80 metres wide and 55 metres high.
  • 58,000 m³ of concrete and 14.000 tons of steel used in its construction.