Nature Station
The idea of a train with passenger carriages that would travel across all of the Brazilian ecosystems came out of a partnership between Universidade de São Paulo (USP - University of São Paulo) and Fundação O Boticario de Proteção a Natureza (Boticario Foundation for the Protection of Nature). To further this aim, a closed competition was organised so that the project could be put in place. The chosen site was the area which of former textile weaving shed in the Rua Guaicurus area in São Paulo. Since the end of the 1980s, the area has been used as a youth science centre known as Estação Ciencia (Science Station), an organ of the Pró Reitoria de Cultura e Extensão Universitária (Directorate of Culture and Extramural Activities, USP). The chosen project for both construction works and exhibition content also came from a partnership, in this case between the architectural practices Brasil Arquitetura and Apiacás Arquitetos with the exhibition curated by Isa Grinspum Ferraz and Helena Tassara.
Even though the project brief suggested building a replica of a train which would be constructed in wood to contain the content, we thought that it would be best if this new space, contiguous with the sheds, were treated as a small museum which would contain the new exhibition along with all of the necessary support equipment including the controls for: lighting, audio, temperature and smell. For this reason, instead of a simple copy of a train, we opted for a construction that would not try to hide its construction techniques, although we remembered that this space would have an educational character. Thus we appropriated the language of an object that is often found in railway stations: shipping containers.
Consequently, the project resulted in five ‘prisms’, each with an area of around 50m2 constructed using a steel structure with steel shutters. Each ‘prism’ is supported on a concrete base which also serves as a container for its infrastructure. The ‘prisms’, or carriages, are linked by steel walkways which also act as emergency exits.
Based on the overall exhibition concept, in the first carriage visitors are introduced, by means of an audio visual projection shown on the floor, to questions of the formation, diversity and interaction of the global ecosystems and specifically those of South America where the ecosystems extend beyond the boundaries of Brazil.
From this point onwards, the exhibition is a ‘journey’, during which each ecosystem is represented by a complete space demonstrating its specific characteristics including its biodiversity and unique environmental interactions. This content is spread across four further carriages, each of which represents two ecosystems: Carriage 02 – Coastal Zone and Amazônia; Carriage 03 – Pantanal and Cerrado; Carriage 04 – Caatinga and Mata Atlântica; Carriage 05 – Araucárias Forest and Pampas.
The space reserved for each ecosystem has the intention of provoking a sensory and emotional experience for the visitor, stimulating them to reflect, exchange information and understand. To that end, each space contains a combination of exhibition installations such as display cases, video screens, audiovisual projections, panels, sounds, smells and different temperatures which are presented in unexpected way. These installations are based in a selection of the strongest and most symbolic elements of each ecosystem.
The separation of ecosystems within the same carriage is done by a display board that contains a video screen in which the ecosystem are identified geographically, displaying its area and name. The separation of the carriages is already made clear by the open walkways which are content neutral areas, giving a break in the ‘journey’ and also providing emergency exits. Finally, in the last carriage, the visitor concludes their ‘journey’ revisiting some of the most characteristic images of each ecosystem. In this space, the visitor also enters into contact with some of the actions being taken to preserve these ecosystems.
