While cranes and crews are busy outside Union Terminal, Cincinnati Museum Center (CMC) is building something big inside. CMC is inviting budding builders, designers and dreamers to explore the worlds of construction and engineering at Building Big Ideas May 6. Think of this as a Touch a Truck, Cincinnati Museum Center-style!
Whether your child loves backhoes and bulldozers, is fascinated by taking things apart or marvels at superstructures like skyscrapers and bridges, Building Big Ideas is ready to fuel that passion with building and design challenges. Aspiring architects can also meet and greets with experts in their fields and get a firsthand look at how the manmade world around them is built.
Building Big Ideas is too big to contain in just one room, or even one museum. The ideas are big, after all. Experts from around the community will be sharing their expertise and leading activities throughout the Duke Energy Children’s Museum, the lower level and Rotunda lobbies, even the parking lot outside.
As you make your way from the parking lot to the building, stop and visit with Turner Construction Company for a chance to see pieces of heavy construction equipment up close. Inside the Rotunda lobby, explore a 3D model created by GBBN Architects that is helping them restore Union Terminal. Try on virtual reality goggles to go inside the walls of the National Historic Landmark.
Head down toward the Duke Energy Children’s Museum to catch a glimpse of some of the newest technology in engineering courtesy of Xavier University Community of Engineers. Engineers will help you design the strongest bridge, grade roadways and excavate hillsides. LEGO bricks come in handy to demonstrate how historic buildings are put back together, with LEGO bricks serving as the brick and mortar.
Experiment with traditional and unconventional building materials as you erect a spaghetti and marshmallow skyscraper, build a bridge using only straws or LEGO bricks, rebuild a wall using brick and mortar, mix and pour plaster and even control tiny robots while exploring the basics of coding. If that’s not enough, design a catapult and test its might by launching projectiles against a tall tower.
After a temporary closure to accommodate construction activity, the Duke Energy Children’s Museum is reopening May 4. Building Big Ideas will cap off a weekend celebrating the reopening of the Duke Energy Children’s Museum.
Groups participating in Building Big Ideas include:
- Allied Construction Industries, Inc.
- CHC Fabricating Corporation
- Cincinnati Museum Center STEM Girls
- Cincinnati Observatory
- CincyLug
- ESI Electrical Contractors
- GBBN Architects
- Greater Cincinnati Apprenticeship Council
- Greater Cincinnati Association for Women in Science
- IBEW/NECA Electrical Training Center
- Turner Construction Company
- Xavier University Community of Engineers
Get a preview of what to expect at Building Big Ideas in the video below:
Building Big Ideas is free for CMC Members or is included with admission to the Duke Energy Children’s Museum. For more information visit cincymuseum.org/