Espai Cràter

Espai Cràter explains the volcanoes of La Garrotxa and the world, as well as the relationship between volcanoes and their environment. It does this interactively using various exhibition languages: audiovisuals, immersive experiences, photographs, and video mapping. It also has a 15 m2 model that explains the formation of La Garrotxa, gaming options and a big lapilli slope proving we are inside the Puig del Roser volcano and allowing us to see inside it.

THE BUILDING, PART OF THE VISITOR EXPERIENCE

Toni Casamor and Anna Codina, from VOL Studio Architecture, designed the building. Half buried and within a volcano, the idea is that it should also form part of the experience. Visitors can see inside the Puig del Roser volcano in the expositive room.

The Espai Cràter is a building with accesses and routes suitable for everyone, with four differentiated rooms. The Cambra room currently hosts the permanent exhibition on volcanology and society, where the volcanoes of La Garrotxa can be experienced in a global context. The Magma Room, idea of hosting a wide variety of cultural and business events, has capacity for 110 people. It boasts unbeatable acoustics, high-definition projection, and a streaming broadcasting service. The Bufador Room is the place where most of the educational activities go on, with direct access to the exhibition room. Finally, the Zona Sísmica, on the first floor, is the creative laboratory.

The facilities are completed by the entrance hall, the non-gendered toilets, the souvenir and local products shop and the urban park of 3,000 m2 above the building. In this large open space, visitors can also see a drystone wall, a technique declared by UNESCO to be Intangible Cultural Heritage.

In accordance with the philosophy of the project to tackle global challenges with effects at local level, Espai Cràter is a sustainable building largely using geothermal energy. It has 17 wells 100 m deep, and it consumes no fossil energy to operate.

EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCE ACTIVITIES

As a socio-educational space, Espai Cràter is committed to opening to people and groups in the city, taking an active part in its development and creating a valuable, inclusive educational approach. So, it has developed a Socio-educational Project with the UdG (Universitat de Girona) and environmental education companies in the area that has laid the basis for the educational activities guide.

Espai Cràter is offering thirteen integrating educational activities for different educational levels helping students to discover and love the world around them to learn to take care of it. The different approaches are designed to generate a positive experience, stimulate curiosity, and achieve knowledge through observation, experience, and experimentation. The aim is to awaken a scientific spirit of research among students.

RESEARCH, KNOWLEDGE, AND DEVELOPMENT

As a scientific space, Espai Cràter wants to become a leader in the field of volcanology, creating alliances with education centres, institutions, and organisations to promote projects and activities. The first step has been signing an agreement with the CSIC (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas) and with the UAB (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona).

A PROGRAMME FOR THE WHOLE COMMUNITY

Exhibitions, audiovisuals, debates, and workshops – the Espai Cràter designs a programme in which the diverse approaches, forms of participation and languages are the keys to reaching the whole community. That means full commitment to creating and promoting the socio-cultural aspect of this public space.

ESPAI CRÀTER: A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF LIFE

Espai Cràter is a contemporary project working in an innovative, experiential, and participative way to tackle global challenges with effects at local level. It is a local facility that generates value for the county of La Garrotxa, developing economic, social, and ecological sustainability. Espai Cràter welcomes ideas that help to preserve our landscape, understand the world better and create a better society.
Full information can be found at: www.espaicrater.com or on its social media profiles (@espai_crater).