The dream of József Öveges; a Palace of Miracles opened in Pécs too by the name of Lab-Interactive House of Playful Science.
INTERACTIVE SCIENCE
Please do touch the exhibits!!!
The most renowned, unforgettable legendary figure popularizing natural sciences – primarily physics – in Hungary was József Öveges, whose cherished dream was to establish such an institution in the country where visitors have the chance to do experiments to their liking and „touch science”. József Öveges even had a name for this imaginary building: The Palace of Miracles.
14 years after he passed away the Palace of Miracles Interactive Scientific Playhouse opened its gates to the public in the organisation of the Eötvös Loránd Society of Physics (ELFT) in Budapest in May 1993. Since then several interactive playhouses have been organised in other Hungarian cities like Debrecen, Eger, Szombathely, Győr and Szeged.
The Institute of Physics at the University of Pécs along with the physics teachers of elementary and high schools in the city have long cherished the idea of setting up such an institution in Pécs too. With the help of donations from József Janszky academic and Zoltán Sebestyén physics teacher we established the Pécs Palace of Miracles Foundation in 2007. Its curators are influential figures at the University of Pécs, the Eötvös Loránd Society of Physics, the Pécs Academic Committee, the cultural management of the Municipality of Pécs and the Paks Nuclear Power Plant who provide the wide professional background.
In 2008, Zoltán Sebestyén physics teacher, winner of the Rátz Tanár Úr (Professor Rátz) Lifetime Achievement Award, received a prize with his work entitled „Pécs Palace of Miracles” in the civilian initiations tender in 2010.
We were in search for a venue and the right operational frameworks with the cultural and educational management of the city of Pécs. Eventually the final push came with the Pécs2010 European Capital of Culture programme.
During the reconstruction works carried out on the area of today’s Zsolnay Cultural Quarter the old laboratory building of the factory – which was used for testing high-voltage porcelain insulation – came up as a possible venue. For a few years a civilian art group by the name „LABOR” (LAB) operated here successfully.
This is how the Zsolnay-LABOR Project started and with the support of the Zsolnay Heritage Management some experts – several of whom are older than others but they are all young at heart − put together the first 30 pieces of experimental games and objects by the end of 2011.
Have fun while getting educated.
The creators: Ferenc Kaposvári, Mátyás Kiss, Géza Makkai, András Mérő, Imre Sánta, Zoltán Sebestyén, János Szász, Roland Told
