CCSTI de Grenoble, Scientific and industrial culture center in Grenoble, France
La Casemate occupies a casemate built in the 1830s under General Haxo's fortification of the Bastille hill, a pale grey stone structure of large rectangular blocks with a curving facade. Round-arched openings line the lower level, deep recessed doorways with dark glass panes; above, six smaller arches hold slatted windows behind a white metal railing. A stone staircase climbs the right side, and the entrance arch is marked "CCSTI" and "ENTRÉE".
The center opened in 1979 within a former military fortification built in the 1830s, establishing itself as France's second scientific cultural institution at that time. Following a fire in 2017, it underwent complete renovation and later expanded its operations.
The name La Casemate comes from the military bunker built by General Haxo. Since 1979 the site has hosted a Fab Lab where the public can design and build objects in different materials, and it publishes the online science news platform Echosciences Grenoble.
The building stands on Place Saint-Laurent, beside the Porte Saint-Laurent, at the foot of the Bastille hill. The entrance marked "ENTRÉE" sits in one of the ground-floor arches, reached past the stone staircase on the right of the facade. The Fab lab occupies part of the centre, so workshops and machine use are arranged separately from exhibition visits.
The center manages the Cosmocité planetarium in nearby Pont-de-Claix, extending its reach beyond Grenoble itself. This connection reveals how the center's network stretches out to bring science exploration to surrounding areas.
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