In March 2009 the Leonardo da Vinci National Museum of Science and Technology in Milan reopened its i.lab Al di là degli Oceani (Beyond the Oceans), which was donated to the museum by De Agostini in 2003. De Agostini undertook this project because it fully corresponded to the idea and commitment the Group had had for many years in the children’s publications sector – knowledge and learning through experimentation and games.

“Beyond the Oceans” is a phased project which is centred on reconstructing the Trinidad, the flagship in which Ferdinand Magellan completed the first round-the-world voyage in 1520.

The installation was renovated in the first few months of 2009 and relocated in a new area. The new space has required a number of structural modifications to the vessel, which has nevertheless retained all its original features, and hence the educational activities offered have also had to be reworked. The new installation has been taken care of by the museum with renewed cooperation from De Agostini.

The reconstruction of the Trinidad is not intended as a technically exact reproduction of the original; it is rather a metaphor created to show a typical carrack of the 1500s, where highly realistic elements – shape, dimensions, the mast and rudder – have been inserted within a steel skeleton that makes the installation secure and accessible. Led by actor-animators, the public become the ship’s crew and are involved in activities from life on board, discovering the captain’s secrets, calculating the vessel’s position using the navigation instruments, setting the ship’s course using maps of strange and exotic places and mutinies, all the while sailing the Spice Route.

Leonardo da Vinci Museum of Science and Technology Via San Vittore 21, 20123 Milan.
Tel. 02 485551
http://www.museoscienza.org/dipartimenti/trasporti/ilab_oceani.asp