MUSE

Renzo Piano's angular building for MUSE, Trento's science museum, echoes the jagged profile of the surrounding Dolomites, and the displays follow the same idea. The galleries are arranged by altitude. Visitors begin on the top floor among glaciers and high peaks, then descend through Alpine habitats, geology and the region's prehistory to dinosaurs on the lowest level. Mounted animals hang in the tall central void, keeping them in view from every floor.

Alongside the natural history galleries are hands-on exhibits on sustainability, technology and mountain science. A tropical greenhouse recreates a rainforest from the Eastern Arc Mountains of Tanzania.

The museum, signed as Museo delle Scienze, opened in 2013 as the successor to the city's older natural science museum. It stands in Le Albere, a district Piano also designed on the site of a former Michelin factory. It draws more than half a million visitors a year and is especially popular with families.