SCIENCE CENTRES
Waschk and Boris’ mission is to entertain while also being able to teach, explore and explain
as a fully educational facility, thereby sanctioning any number of school visits. But families are also buying in. “Kids love it, so we’re having a lot of repeat visits,” says Waschk. “And people stay all day.”
EXPLORADO While the Duisburg attraction gave Blueprint the chance to create a prototype for its planned rollout, the company’s next move – the acquisition of Earth Explorer from previous owner Merlin Entertainments last June – was a no-brainer, says Waschk: “Earth Explorer made perfect sense, as it was close to the product we’d have wanted anyway.” Nor did the fact the attraction had
faltered under Merlin, with disappointing visitor numbers, dampen their enthusi- asm. “When it started [in 2004], it was pretty successful,” points out Waschk.
“But you have to change concept, and Merlin never touched anything in the building after opening, apart from adding one ride. From Merlin’s perspective, [after their takeover by Blackstone] they were able to buy much bigger brands so their focus was simply on that... they just had much better opportunities with Lego and Tussauds.” Even with such little attention,
38
visitor numbers dropped only to a certain level and then stabilised, he adds. Once the attraction’s refurbished it’ll
be renamed Explorado, not least to alert the public to the fact there’s a new offer. In addition to the updating of the original exhibitions – structured around the ele- ments of fire, water, earth and wind – this summer will see the launch of a Science of Soccer exhibition to tie in with the World Cup in Brazil. Visitor numbers for 2014 are estimated at 100,000. Also on the cards this summer is
another Explorado project, albeit under a different guise. From 19 June to 17 August, Blueprint will be working with the University of Münster, Germany to host an Explorado Adventure Campus: an open-air play and learning park close to the city’s schloss (palace). Staffed by university students, this mobile science centre serves a dual purpose – it takes advantage of the busiest 10 weeks of the year for science centres in Germany and also tests the potential for a permanent Explorado offering in the local market. As the company continues to grow the
Explorado brand, says Waschk, it will do so through a combination of these temporary exhibitions and permanent
Read Attractions Management online
attractionsmanagement.com/digital
sites. Markets they’re currently explor- ing include Berlin, Hamburg and Munich, plus Poland, Hungary, Austria and the Netherlands – but wherever they end up,
‘edutainment’ will remain the key. What they mean by this, says Waschk,
can be perfectly summed up in one of the most popular exhibits at Odysseum: the astronaut’s toilet. “The European Space Agency is based in Cologne, and if you ask [those scientists about space travel], they’ll talk about the high-tech stuff. But if you ask ordinary people what they want to know, it’s things like how do astronauts comb their hair or use the toilet?” To demonstrate this, the company’s
installed an original astronaut’s training toilet in Odysseum – visitors sit to test their positioning while a camera inside takes a picture to show them how they’ve done. “You see people there, being a little shy, then someone tries it and everybody’s laughing and really getting the point of how it works,” says Waschk.
“And that’s the core message in every planning discussion we have – we ask, will it be fun getting the point? It’s not only about learning; it’s about the fun of learning. That’s where we come in.” l
AM 2 2014 ©Cybertrek 2014
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88