Descending from summit to depth
The route follows a gradient from Alpine ice to prehistory.
Libens libenter — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Collezioni MUSE, copyright Archivio MUSE — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Collezioni MUSE, copyright Archivio MUSE — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Collezioni MUSE, copyright Archivio MUSE — CC BY-SA 4.0
A science museum in the city of Trento in northern Italy, opened in 2013 in a building designed by Renzo Piano, and counted among the finest science museums in Europe. The display idea is architectural: the building is open inside around a central void five storeys high, and you descend it from top to bottom so as to follow a gradient from the summits of the Alps — ice and rock — down through forests, then lakes, then the depths of prehistory. Mounted animals hang in that same void as though in flight. The top floor is a tropical glasshouse with a controlled climate and living plants and animals from the forests of Tanzania, tied to an actual research programme the museum runs there. The display is highly interactive and aimed at families, and its scientific content is nonetheless serious. Trento is about ninety minutes by train from Verona, and the museum deserves at least half a day.
The route follows a gradient from Alpine ice to prehistory.
Living plants and animals from the forests of Tanzania.
A central space five storeys high.
Le Albere district, Trento
Yes if you have children or teenagers — it is close to the best thing in northern Italy for them. Without children the museum is still very good, but the priority depends on your interests. Trento itself is a handsome city with a cathedral and the Buonconsiglio castle with its frescoes, so the trip combines both. The train is direct and frequent.
A modern quarter of Trento designed in full by Renzo Piano on the site of a former factory, holding the museum along with housing, offices and a park on the bank of the Adige. The design is environmentally oriented with solar panels and water systems, and is an example of reusing industrial land in a mid-sized European city. Walking through it after the museum makes a pleasant half hour.
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