MU-CH: Europe's First Interactive Chemistry Museum Opens in Settimo Torinese

The MU-CH (Museo della Chimica), Europe's first interactive museum dedicated to chemistry, opens to the public on July 1, 2022, in Settimo Torinese, near Turin. Housed in the former Siva paint factory where Primo Levi worked as a chemist, the museum is a project by the Municipality of Settimo Torinese and Fondazione ECM, designed by Gruppo Pleiadi and realized by ETT, with funding from Italy's National Plan for Social and Cultural Redevelopment of Urban Areas. The museum targets children aged 4 to 13 and features an experiential journey from the stars to a Chemistry Bar, along with workshops and scientific shows. The Siva factory's office building, preserved intact, hosts the museum across two floors: ground floor services (reception, bookshop, conference room, C-Lab, reading room with planetarium) and first-floor permanent exhibition with analog and digital experiments. The Chemistry Bar, styled as an 1980s American bar, serves chemical reactions instead of cocktails. The project also involves the Centro Internazionale di Studi Primo Levi di Torino for the recovery of the former Siva factory, where Levi authored 'Se questo è un uomo.' According to Alessio Scaboro, scientific creative director, the museum aims to make Settimo Torinese the capital of chemical culture in Italy. Silvano Rissio, President of Fondazione ECM, emphasizes the museum's dynamic and engaging approach, rooted in Levi's legacy.