L’Espace des Inventions opened in 2000 in Lausanne. Since then, their mission is to inspire vocations and to awaken young people’s interest in science and technology. These are 2 key elements to our modern culture that should educate future generations.
They are located in a very special building, constructed for the National exhibition of 1964. The roof is a giant solar dial and the space is located at the bottom of an amazing park called the Youth valley. The main surface is about 250m2. Generally L’Espace des Invention hosts different ephemeral exhibitions dealing with a science or technical theme. Visitors are stimulated and exposed to experiences thanks to observation and manipulation. L’Espace des Inventions welcomes over 23’000 visitors each year. Right now you can discover an amazing exhibition called Medieval Factory. It is displayed until December 2016 and visitors will discover, understand and manipulate catapults, medieval engines, learn more about the first printing techniques, etc.
Medieval Factory, history in the making.
The Middle Ages is a period of European history between the 5th and 15th centuries. What else do we owe to this time sometimes known as the Dark Ages, other than castles and knights? It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and merged into the Renaissance and the Age of Discovery. The Middle Ages is the middle period of the three traditional divisions of Western history: classical antiquity, the medieval period, and the modern period. The medieval period is itself subdivided into the Early, High, and Late Middle Ages. Population decline, counterurbanisation, invasion, and movement of peoples, which had begun in Late Antiquity, continued in the Early Middle Ages. The large-scale movements of the Migration Period, including various Germanic peoples, formed new kingdoms in what remained of the Western Roman Empire. Although scientific research and progress did not exist as we know it, numerous significant technological innovations did take place during the second part of the Middle Ages. Many of those inventions still make our lives easier to this day. Some inventions, such as the compass and gun powder already existed in the Far East before being brought to Europe. Nonetheless, the Middle Ages was a more creative period than it often appears to be. This exhibition is an opportunity to discover some of them by learning about the history and the technology of the inventions, as well as some hands-on experience.
The all purpose of the Espace des Inventions is the fact that you can experiment by yourself. Learning by doing! So exhibitions generally proposes experiments in which visitors will have a complete immersive action and potentially trigger future vocations. During the Medieval factory exhibition there is one amazing experience: the Catapult shooting. You can learn how catapults worked and why they were built that way. Then children (and grown up people as well) can try to shoot with the catapult. It was very interesting.
The exhibition is in partnership with Chateau de Chillon, one of the most preserved castles in Europe. Chillon Castle is a true architectural jewel located in the most beautiful setting imaginable – on the shores of Lake Geneva, right at the foot of the Alps. This monument with over 1’000 years of history, has always inspired artists and writers, from Jean-Jacques Rousseau to Victor Hugo and Lord Byron, from Delacroix to Courbet.
If you wish to learn more about the exhibition, do not hesitate to visit the official website here:
http://www.espace-des-inventions.ch
José Amorim
Info sourced at the visit of Medieval Factory exhibition. All content is copyrighted with no reproduction rights available. Images are for illustrations purposes only.
