The Moving and Connecting Gallery
Location
Ottawa, CanadaClient
Canada Science & Technology MuseumSurface area
25,000 sq ft / 2 307 m²Completion date
2017
When the Canada Science and Technology Museum (CSTM) was forced to close its doors in 2014 due to structural problems, it meant that the beloved fifty-year-old national institution needed a total transformation. Reopened in a new building in November 2017, the new museum features five main galleries across 80,000 sq ft.
GSM Project was engaged to work closely with the in-house project team, curators and educators, to bring the Moving and Connecting Gallery to life, the largest of their new exhibit spaces. The three exhibitions in it showed how Canadians contributed to the development transportation, sound and steam technologies. In turn, visitors learned how these technologies impacted and shaped the country and culture we know today.
Partners
Awards
Award of Outstanding Achievement in Exhibitions 2018, Canadian Museums Association Awards Gala
Accessibility Certified Gold rating under the Rick Hansen Foundation Accessibility CertificationTM (RHFAC) program
This first of the three exhibitions examines the relationship between technology and nature, and how that relationship has shaped Canada — especially in the context of social activities. With everything from the bicycle to the canoe to more specialized developments like an adaptive rock-climbing device, this exhibit explores a range of technologies from different — and often under-represented — perspectives.
This second exhibit demonstrates the glamour and power of steam transportation in Canada from 1900 to 1960. Visitors discover historic institutions like the Empress of Britain and the Canadian Pacific Railway, as well as the stories of the people — immigrants, workers, and travellers — who depended on the ships that criss-crossed the oceans and the locomotives that united the country.
The final exhibit space showcases some of the most important and inspiring inventions in audio technology: from early scientific instruments used to measure sound, to iconic sound technologies that influenced how we listen to music. On display are some of the most impressive artifacts in the museum's sound collection; meanwhile, visitors can try their hand at electronic instruments, play DJ on a giant interactive record, explore an immersive soundscape installation, and experience the stillness of the Quiet Cube — a special room designed to eliminate echoes.
One of the main objectives of the exhibitions has been to create an experience that serves Canada’s diverse and evolving population, both young and old and from a wide range of cultural and linguistic backgrounds, offering a universal hands-on learning experience, completed with multi-user games and immersive spaces exploring the scientific concepts and highlighting the impact of Canadian inventions.
Summary
GSM Project designed and built the three permanent exhibits of the Moving and Connecting Gallery at the Canada Science and Technology Museum. Our team imagined an award winning gallery with highly interactive installations, both mechanical and digital, illustrating and illustrating the complex and intangible scientific concepts of sound, steam and outdoors.