MUSE Easy to read
Easy to understand museum guide
The museum
Since 2013 the city of Trento
has had a new science museum,
called MUSE.
MUSE
is one of the most important
museums in Italy.
The museum
is located in a new area of Trento
called Le Albere.
The area and the museum
were designed
by the famous architect Renzo Piano.
In the area Le Albere
there are many things
like for example:
MUSE, shops,
the Biblioteca Universitaria Centrale,
gardens and houses.
Next to the museum
there is the Palazzo delle Albere.
The Palazzo delle Albere
is a building important
for the history of Trentino.
Many years ago
the Palazzo delle Albere
was the summer house
of the Prince-Bishop.
The Prince-Bishop was in charge of
the church and of the city.
The museum, seen from the outside,
has a shape
that resembles the mountains.
Around the museum
and in the Le Albere area
there are canals and pools
with water.
On sunny days
the water in the pools is reflected
in the glass windows,
that is, you can see
the image of the pool water reflected.
In the gardens,
where there are not houses,
between the Palazzo delle Albere
and MUSE,
there are vegetable gardens
that are also used by schools
for activities.
Behind the vegetable patches
there is a big greenhouse
where plants are grown
at the right temperature
and where the people
who work in MUSE
study and cultivate
many types of plants
that come from all over the world
and especially from
tropical countries.
On entering MUSE
we always find a lot of natural light.
The walls of the museum
are transparent because
there are large windows
that let the light in
and it feels like we are
always outside.
The museum is sustainable
because it was built with materials
that are found in nature
and that do not pollute
the environment.
For this reason, the museum
has received
the Leed Gold Certification
which is an official document.
It says that MUSE
is committed
to consume little energy.
MUSE tells the story of nature from
the perspective of people
and their relationship
with all living things.
The exhibits within the museum
follow two imaginary lines:
the first line is vertical
and goes up from the centre
of the museum
where there is a large empty space.
This area reaches up to the ceiling
and is very high.
This empty space
makes people experience
what it means to go up a mountain
and how it feels to be
many metres above the ground.
In this empty space
some animals species
native to Trentino
are hung from thin steel cables,
for clear viewing.
All the animals
are hung at different heights
according to their habitat altitude.
For example: the eagle is at the top,
while the ox is at the bottom.
The second line is horizontal
following the museum’s floor area.
There are five floors
which we can visit as desired,
that is, going from the lowest
to the highest or vice versa.
Each floor is divided into two zones.
In the first zone
we can have an exciting experience.
The second zone
goes into more detail
according to specific themes:
for example we can watch a video,
read texts and observe exhibits.
The remains are objects
from many years ago
found after long searches.
The exhibits are shown
in glass cases.
The architects and people
working in the museum
decided, however,
to put most of the things
to be seen on tables
without using glass cases
so there are not barriers
between the visitors and the objects.
The animals in the museum
are stuffed using a technique
called taxidermy
in order to preserve
and to show an animal
that died in a natural way.
With this technique
we keep only the skin
of the animal,
that covers an artificial body.
The reconstructed animal
is in a natural position
to give the idea of it still being alive.
On all the museum floors
there are pilots
that is, people who explain to us
what is inside the museum.
On the first floor there are rooms
with glass walls
where we can watch
researchers working.
Researchers are people
who study everything in nature
that we are able to see
in the museum.