MSI – Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago

The Museum of Science and Industry (MSI) in Chicago, with a gross floor area of 400,000 square feet, is one of the largest museums of science and technology in the world.

The museum, open to the public since 1933, is housed in the neoclassical Palace of Fine Arts, built for the World’s Columbian Exposition on the Lake Michigan waterfront in 1893 after a design by architects William Gladstone Merchant and Bernard Maybeck.

The Museum of Science and Industry holds a permanent collection of over 35,000 artifacts displayed  – together with videos, description panels, hands-on exhibits, and interactive installations – in various thematic galleries dedicated to science, technology, transport, medicine, and engineering.  Of the impressive ensemble of objects on view, a German U-505 Submarine, a Pioneer Zephyr train, a Boeing 727, and a Stuka dive bomber deserve a special mention for their rarity and historical significance.
The museum also features complex multimedia experiences, such as a coal mine reconstruction, You! dedicated to the human body, the dynamic video Earth Revealed and the interactive installation Science Storms, both focused on natural phenomena.

The program of activities and events of the MSI comprises temporary exhibitions, guided tours, family activities, and special events, The museum also includes the Center for the Advancement of Science Education, an educational facility especially addressed to children, schools, and educators.
The building of the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, fully accessible to people with disabilities, also contains an auditorium, an Omnimax Theater, four shops, a restaurant, a café, and an ice-cream parlor.

Photos: Cover by Joe Ziolkowski, 1 and 2 by JB Spector, 3 by Scott Brownell; all images courtesy of Museum of Science and Industry – Chicago