Museography of the new Mining Museum of the Union by Rocamora diseño y arquitectura

Project description by Rocamora diseño y arquitectura

The Mining Museum of La Unión values the scientific and historical aspects of mining activity in the municipality, and collects the history of mining from antiquity to the last years of activity in the 20th century, showing its importance and influence on the landscape. , in the society and the mineralogical values of the Union territory.

The exhibition discourse is developed from an immersive museography that is committed to an experiential type of didactics. In addition to the mining process, the discourse delves into the social landscape of the time, in the appearance of this population and in the structuring of classes, in the political and union development around this industry, as well as its reflection in the urban fabric or in the architecture of La Union.

The tour begins on the ground floor, with a reception space where the last original winch from the Sierra Minera de La Unión is exhibited, with a span of more than 15 meters and over a hundred years old, rescued from the mountains and restored. by the General Directorate of Cultural Assets.

The visit continues in the basement and offers a circular tour of the different themes and areas, with a central setting of a mining operation with the contribution of real material. This floor does not have natural light, seeking the sensation of immersion, of living the mining experience, where the general lighting is entrusted to the residual light of showcases for objects and to the exhibition graphics, formed from backlit light boxes with textiles. forms containing the information. This lighting situation coexists with the guarantee of adequate conditions for the display of the exhibited collection and optimal temperature control according to the demand of the exhibited pieces in each case.


Museography of the new Mining Museum of La Union by Rocamora diseño y arquitectura. Photograph by David Frutos.

An opening under the historic winch connects both floors and allows staging the rise and fall of the vats that transported water or mineral based on a reliable reconstruction.

The exhibition colonizes a space of almost two thousand square meters that offers a unique and first-hand experience about the history of the Mining Industry and the important activity that has been carried out in this municipality for more than 2,000 years through unique pieces, original elements of Union mining integrated into the scenery, photographs, plans, posters, and audiovisuals, as well as a collection of 200 minerals.

An immersive museography, with historical and scientific rigor, with a great didactic and informative load, which includes the gender perspective in its discourse, recovering the role of women in the mining environment. An exhibition discourse that not only exhibits the history of mining from a scientific and industrial perspective, but also encourages commitment to the environment, recovering the serious events of the Portmán disaster, and places the main focus on the social landscape and on the role of women in the productive and transforming process of this society.