Innovation at the World Expo 1851 – now
In the context of the 34th World Expo opening in Milan this spring, Het Nieuwe Instituut approaches this phenomenon from different perspectives with three exhibitions between April 26 and August 23, 2015. From the at times extremely sober and at others downright over-the-top pavilions the Netherlands has put together over the last hundred years, to the great influence of glass on our progress, and a glimpse into a future with living machines.
GLASS. Engine of progress
In conjunction with the first World Expo in London in 1851, The Crystal Palace was built. This almost completely transparent exhibition hall, which boasted gigantic dimensions for that time, forms the starting point for the exhibition GLASS. Glass is the oldest man-made material. The nearly invisible material makes the smallest cells visible, but also brings the most distant distances closer by. On the basis of the lens, the test tube and fibreglass, the exhibition shows how glass has been the engine of progress for centuries.
Exhibition ‘GLASS. Engine of progress’
Het Nieuwe Instituut
Museumpark 25, Rotterdam
April 18 through August 23, 2015
