La Casa de la Ciencia (''The House of Science'') in the city of

Seville Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...

, Spain is a centre for popularizing science. Along with a museum, the building houses the Andalusian headquarters of the Spanish National Research Council ( CSIC). CSIC is the largest public institution devoted to research in Spain, and the third largest in Europe. The building was opened to the public in 2008, with the goal of sharing knowledge acquired through scientific research. La Casa de la Ciencia aims to be a bridge between the scientific research community and the public, sharing contemporary scientific research and information on environmental issues. The museum achieves these goals by putting on various types of events, including exhibitions, conferences, seminars and workshops. The museum contains three permanent exhibits, one temporary exhibit and a planetarium.

History

The museum is housed in the Peruvian pavilion (''Pabellón de Perú''), a building of great beauty that was built in the

Maria Luisa Park Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial * 170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 * Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, ...

for the

Ibero-American Exposition of 1929 The Ibero-American Exposition of 1929 (; ) was a world's fair held in Seville, Spain, from 9 May 1929 until 21 June 1930. Countries in attendance of the exposition included: Portugal, the United States, Brazil, Uruguay, Mexico, Peru, Argentina, C ...

. In addition to being home to the offices of the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas en Sevilla ( CSIC), the building also house the Peruvian Consulate. For twenty years the building was the headquarters of the Biological Station of Doñana and in April 2008 the city council of Seville provided a grant to renovate the building to create La Casa de la Ciencia. In April 2008 the city council of Seville provided a grant to renovate the building to create La Casa de la Cienca.

Building

The building was designed by the renowned architect Manuel Piqueras Cotolí (1885 – 1937). Cotoli was born in Lucena, Córdoba but moved to Peru to study and became known for his buildings which blended indigenous and colonial architecture. These buildings include the

Escuela Nacional Superior Autónoma de Bellas Artes The National Superior Autonomous School of Fine Arts (, or ENSABAP) is a fine art school in Lima, Peru. It is located in Barrios Altos, a suburb of Lima District. It was founded in 1918, by President José Pardo y Barreda and Peruvian painter D ...

, Pizarro´s Tomb in the

Cathedral of Lima The Basilica Cathedral of Lima, commonly known as the Metropolitan Cathedral of Lima, and formerly the Iglesia Metropolitana de los Reyes, is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Lima, Peru. It is the seat of the Archdiocese of Lima. Its construction b ...

, and the Archbishop's Palace. The blending of architectural styles is easily visible from the outside of La Casa de la Ciencia, and many parts of the building share similarities with Cotoli’s Peruvian works. A part of the building holds the Consulate General of Peru in Seville. In July 2008 the Peruvian ambassador to Spain signed a 75-year renewal of the assignment by the City of Seville of the Pavilion of Peru to the Republic of Peru and to the CSIC. The CSIC had undertaken to provide a exhibition space open to the public dedicated to the extension of science in

Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...

Exterior

The building lies on the Avenida Maria Luisa, noted for the Queen's sewing box (''Costurero de la Reina''), a unique building that takes the form of a small hexagonal castle with turrets at the corners, and the oldest building in Seville in the ''neomudéjar'' style. It is between the Seville Public Library, inaugurated in 1999 by the

Infanta Elena, Duchess of Lugo Infanta Elena, Duchess of Lugo (Elena María Isabel Dominica de Silos de Borbón y de Grecia; born 20 December 1963), is the first child and eldest daughter of King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofía of Spain, Queen Sofía. As the eldest sister of ...

, and the '' Teatro Lope de Vega Sevilla'', a small baroque-style theatre that was also built for the exhibition. On one side of the building is the

Guadalquivir The Guadalquivir (, also , , ) is the fifth-longest river in the Iberian Peninsula and the second-longest river with its entire length in Spain. The Guadalquivir is the only major navigable river in Spain. Currently it is navigable from Seville ...

river and on the other,

Parque Maria Luisa Parque is the Galician, Portuguese and Spanish word for "park", and may refer to: * Parque (TransMilenio), a metro station in Bogotá, Colombia * Parque (Lisbon Metro), in Portugal * Parque (Santurce), a subbarrio in San Juan, Puerto Rico * Battle ...

and

Plaza de España (Seville) Plaza de España (Square of Spain) may refer to: In Spain * Plaça d'Espanya, Barcelona in Barcelona * Plaça d'Espanya (Palma) in Palma, Mallorca * Plaza de España, Madrid in Madrid * Praza de España (Pontevedra) in Pontevedra * Plaza de ...

Features

The museum currently has three permanent exhibits open to the public, which showcase the

flora Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for f ...

fauna Fauna (: faunae or faunas) is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding terms for plants and fungi are ''flora'' and '' funga'', respectively. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively ...

and

minerals In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid substance with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed. (2011): M ...

of the region: ''Invertebrates of Andalusia'', ''Geology of Seville'', and ''A Sea of Cetaceans in Andalusia''. The museum also contains Seville's only

planetarium A planetarium (: planetariums or planetaria) is a theatre built primarily for presenting educational and entertaining shows about astronomy and the night sky, or for training in celestial navigation. A dominant feature of most planetariums is ...

. Notable features include a clepsydra (

Water clock A water clock, or clepsydra (; ; ), is a timepiece by which time is measured by the regulated flow of liquid into (inflow type) or out from (outflow type) a vessel, and where the amount of liquid can then be measured. Water clocks are some of ...

) and an

ecosphere (aquarium) The EcoSphere and "Original Ecosphere" are trademark names for sealed blown-glass miniature aquaria formerly produced by Ecosphere Associates, Inc., of Tucson, Arizona, United States. Spherical or ovoid, the aquaria ranged from roughly pool-ba ...

Peter O'Toole Peter Seamus O'Toole (; 2 August 1932 – 14 December 2013) was an English actor known for his leading roles on stage and screen. His numerous accolades include the Academy Honorary Award, a BAFTA Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and four Golde ...

's opening scene in ''

Lawrence of Arabia Thomas Edward Lawrence (16 August 1888 – 19 May 1935) was a British Army officer, archaeologist, diplomat and writer known for his role during the Arab Revolt and Sinai and Palestine campaign against the Ottoman Empire in the First W ...

'' was filmed in basement of the building, now used for meetings by CSIC.

References

External links