COSMOCaixa

Ilaria RM
10 feb 2019
5 Min. de lectura

“Explore, verify, be surprised”

The CosmoCaixa, a museum of natural sciences, has made this as its motto.

Go there for a visit, and prepare yourself to be amazed by nature, technology, and science – and be a scientist for a while, too!

Many scientific contexts and effects are usually very easy to understand, if you see them in a vivid experiment, for example, from the acoustics, meteorology, physics and other scientific disciplines.

You won't find formulas and mathematical derivations, here you can try everything out yourself and learn directly with your senses.

The museum features a variety of exhibitions, permanent and temporary, that showcase the environment, nature, science, and space.

It also has a bookstore, gift shop, library, teaching center and cafe.

The museum is sponsored and operated by the social Foundation "la Caixa".

The CosmoCaixa’s range is gigantic.

You’ll find many different topics here - from depictions of ancient humans to an indoor jungle with animals, from electrical voltage tests to creating waves and sand storms.

The basic principles of science can be explored in a playful and interesting manner at CosmoCaixa.

No less a figure than Albert Einstein welcomes visitors in the entrance hall of the modernist (the Catalan art nouveau) building that once served as a factory.

Visitors are taken 30 metres down into the 5th basement floor in a gigantic spiral that winds around a tropical tree from the Amazon region, an Acariquara.

The CosmoCaixa is one of Europe's most renowned museums.

The CosmoCaixa is not about looking, it is more of a hands-on museum with many things to try out in every corner.

Different scientific disciplines are being explained didactically and interactively.

You get the chance to explore physical, technical, geological, chemical and mathematical relations all by yourself in hundreds of experiments.

Once you are down in the basement floor, the first thing you see is an escalator that leads to a higher floor.

But the CosmoCaixa wouldn't enjoy such a good reputation world-wide if you could not already see the first attractions: the outside of the escalator is made of glass so that you can look right into it and see how it works.

You probably have heard of the Foucault pendulum back in physics class?

The more than 40 m long thread pendulum with a heavy iron ball demonstrates the earth's rotation.

The pendulum moves and below it the earth rotates while the pendulum keeps swinging in a straight arc.

This way, every couple of minutes the pendulum knocks over one of the little steles that are arranged around it in a circle.

An original bob of the kind that Foucault used is exhibited as well.

In the lowest hall in the basement visitors can try out experiments from a wide range of scientific disciplines. In a vivid way you learn which kinds of waves exist and which kinds of waves there are in the sea. A wave simulator illustrates how waves form the shores. Or you might want to produce a sand storm and see how sand dunes develop and move.

Or you produce a tornado the eye of which you can even touch with your hands!

There are many more interesting experiments with water and lots of optic and acoustic experiments.

The next section is all about geology.

A model shows how the shape of a volcano develops.

On the “mur geològic", the geological wall, you can examine different types of rocks, such as folded rock formations that can also be found in the Alps.

In addition to that, there are numerous experiments that demonstrate how the respective rock formations develop.

Anyone who wants to find out more about our cosmos can look up to the stars at the planetarium (an extra fee is charged). Ask about show times at the information desk.

On the spacious outside grounds you can picnic or experience some more physical experiments.

The largest one consists of two satellite dishes, about 80 m away from each other, which show how easily sound waves are transmitted: one person talks into the satellite dish on one end and the other one can hear the words despite the distance between the two.

For good reasons the museum enjoys an excellent reputation.

Not only children will enjoy the experiments.

The museum is really worth a trip, but you should arrange enough time for it (at least 2 to 3 hours).

Apart from a planetarium for grown-ups, there are many child-friendly activities, too (however, the activities are offered only in Spanish or Catalan).

For instance, there’s the family science laboratory named “Click”, or an area called “Toca, Toca”, where you can experience the flora and fauna of different areas of the world first-hand, by touch! *These activities can be booked at the entrance for an additional fee.

The history of the Cosmo Caixa

The historic part of the building in which the museum is located was built between 1904 and 1909 by the architect Josep Domènech i Estapà, and was initially used as housing for blind girls.

It’s a beautiful work of modernist architecture, with its simple red bricks and the wonderful, decorative mosaics.

In 1979, the building was expanded, and opened to the public in 1981 as a science museum called “Caixa”.

In the following years, further extensions became necessary, until the museum had to be completely re-designed.

The new part of the building, made of glass and located underground, was created by the architects Esteve and Robert Terradas.

Built for 100 million euros and opened in 2005, the CosmoCaixa has a total exhibition space of 50,000 m² (one of the largest museums in Barcelona and in Spain) and was named “European Museum of the Year” in 2006.

Summing up and concluding, CosmoCaixa includes:

Flooded Forest A flooded forest which allows visitors to experience wet and dry environments of an Amazon rainforest.

Ceiba trees are reproduced based on molds created by museum staff in Parà, Brazil.

More than 100 living species are represented including birds, insects, frogs, piranhas, capybaras, and alligators.

Geological Wall Large cuts of geological formations are displayed along a wall showing erosion, volcanism, faults, sedimentation and related processes.

The cuts of rock on display are primarily from Catalonia including potassium salt from Sùria, sandstone from Berga and Mallorca, volcanic materials from Garrotxa Volcanic Zone Natural Park and limestone from Besalù.

The Hall of Matter The Hall of Matter covers evolution starting with the Big Bang.

It is broken into four sections: the origin of matter, the first living organism, the conquest of "symbolic intelligence", and the birth of civilization.

The exhibit touches on gravitational wave, chaos theory, biology, mobility, neuron, intelligence and human evolution.

Clik and Flash One of three interactive based exhibitions for young children, Clik and Flash uses games to encourage children to learn about science.

The space is split into two rooms; Clik uses play, observation and deduction through smell, touch and sight and Flash uses technology to showcase exploration, environments, construction and electricity.

Touch, touch! Touch, touch! houses living creatures from around the world and the Mediterranean.

Museum staff and scientists present animals and plants from three environments.

Bubble Planetarium An astronomy based exhibition for children ages 3–8.

Opening hours: Tuesday - Sunday: 10:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m., Closed on Monday

Price of admission: 4 Euro, free admission for children under the age of 16 (not for school-classes) + first Monday of a month.

Entry to the museum is free for students under 18. Free for Caixa clients (each Caixa client, beside entering for free, can take inside up to 5 people for free as well). *Planetarium & Toca Toca have apart tickets and prices.

Current exhibition: Roboter. Humans and the machines