A new multimedia science centre will merge science and the arts - offering a great day out for all the family, writes CLAIRE O'CONNELL
A NYONE WHO HAS been in charge of kids in bad weather will appreciate the value of a good day out indoors. So it's welcome that a new centre is on the horizon to cater for families who want to have fun and learn some useful information along the way.
Exploration Station: Ireland's National Centre for Science and Discovery aims to encourage people to link science to their own lives, explains executive director Jane Jerry, who has worked with children's museums in the US and has been involved in the Irish initiative since 2005.
"Along the way, we adopted a really strong science focus. We want to have the best features that you would have in a science museum and a children's museum," she says.
The Office of Public Works says it is working towards opening the new centre by 2011, near Heuston Station, in Dublin. And the spiral-themed building has been designed with science in mind by OPW architect Ciarán O'Connor, explains Jerry.
"I said to him early on it would be wonderful if you could embed some scientific and mathematical principles into the building design itself, so he looked and the spiral shape appears in many different ways throughout nature," she says. "You find it in the DNA molecule, water going down a plughole, the solar system, the seed layout in a sunflower and the Nautilus shell."
The eye-catching building will host a series of exhibit zones with themes such as Boyle's Kitchen, Bodyworks and an area for investigations into areas such as forensics or archaeological digs. The tricky part will be to keep visitors of all ages engaged, so the emphasis will be on open-ended, hands-on experiences according to Jerry.
"Sometimes centres have very set exhibits where you might turn a crank and something happens within the box. But what you often see is the pinball effect of running to one machine and turning the crank and something happens and then you just go off. That's a big challenge - how do you go beyond just hands on and get to minds on, brains on, and then hearts on, presenting them with the big science challenges, the big questions."
Exploration Station will offer engaging activities such as artwork with natural materials and building robots, ball runs and "Rube-Goldberg" machines, according to Jerry.
It's also important that children learn about how scientific principles are used, she adds. "You might have something that helps you understand gravity, and then you could link that to a gravity feed for getting fresh water and show how important it is to have fresh water and how many people in the world don't have fresh water."
Keeping the exhibits fresh over time also takes some planning, and Jerry is working closely with the California-based designers, Gyroscope, to ensure that visitors are not left wanting.
"One of the challenges that all science centres have is that you spend a lot of money building big, permanent exhibits: then how do you refresh them, have changing activities so people will want to come back?" she says. "And how can you be sure you are on the cutting edge of new technology?"
One approach will be to use theatres and gallery spaces, which can host a variety of changing exhibits. "A strong part of this is the fusion of art and science," says Jerry. "We love the idea of integrating drama, poetry, music and the visual arts. It's endless the places you can go when you put science and art together."
Staff, including volunteers, will also be on hand to help visitors get the most out of exhibits, and already the initiative is building links with local communities, she explains.
Since the project was announced in 2003, many funders have come on board, including Allied Irish Bank, the Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment and the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism.
And Jerry hopes the end result will provide a centre that not only links into the school curriculum, but which all family members can enjoy, and which complements existing centres. "We are really excited about a continuum here in Ireland, starting with Imaginosity and Exploration Station and then the Science Gallery," she says.