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COI-005 / University hill

Chemistry Laboratory and Science Museum

Largo Marquês de Pombal, Coimbra

Chemistry Laboratory and Science Museum · Archive photograph
Chemistry Laboratory and Science Museum · Archive photograph · Photographed on 2025-07-06
Photo source and licence

Threeohsix · CC BY-SA 4.0

Original photograph page ↗

Cropped preview; see the original photograph. The photograph does not confirm the venue’s present condition.

01 / Building stories

Read a building, discover a way of living.

The university’s former chemistry laboratory was restored as part of the Science Museum. Its portico and teaching spaces give form to experiment, demonstration and observation.

You need not arrive with answers. Notice how a question can be made visible to several people: that too is part of learning.

What to notice

Read the axis from the portico; inside open galleries, notice demonstration and audience positions without touching non-interactive instruments.

Documentary source ↗

02 / I Ching reflections

Meng · Begin with not knowing

Meng makes not knowing a beginning. In a laboratory or a debated site, ask a question you can check against evidence. Curiosity needs sources and a willingness to recognise provisional limits.

Start with the architecture

Read the axis from the portico; inside open galleries, notice demonstration and audience positions without touching non-interactive instruments.

Bring the question into everyday life

Write one observation and one uncertain explanation. Look for information that could change your judgement. Reformulating the question can also deepen understanding.

Try an observation here

Pause, record one observed detail and respond to the question below. Notes can hold doubts and different opinions; leave out other people’s private information.

When did you last say “I don’t know”?

A contemporary cultural reading by Xiaoxiong inspired by the I Ching. The connection with the building is an editorial perspective, not the architect’s intention or a documented historical influence. It is not fortune-telling.

03 / Nearby life

A nearby table

Dining map records within three kilometres in a straight line of the reference point. Walls, railways and slopes may lengthen the journey. Check the entrance and whether the business is open.

This selection covers the current municipality. Near hills, rivers and municipal boundaries, plan transport using actual roads.

The map may omit businesses. Records do not confirm trading status, menus or bookings. Records with an address are shown by default; you can include the others.

04 / The travellers’ Bench

Sit for a while. Leave an observation.

When did you last say “I don’t know”?

Open this building’s Bench →