From cave to agora: Research-exhibition-education spatial innovation in science museums from the perspective of the space production theory

This study theoretically synthesizes Lefebvre's subject-object triadic dialectics of space to form a spatial framework based on the triad of "perceived spatial practice," "conceived representations of space," and "lived representational spaces." This framework is applied to science museums: relations within the scientific community are positioned as spatial practice; the museum's exhibition space serves as the representation of space; and the visitor's psychological and cognitive space constitutes representational space. Analyzing the tripartite functions of science museums (research, education, exhibition), the paper examines the coupling and symbiosis between the science center as a representation of space and the world science center as spatial practice. It explores how makerspaces in science museums adapt to and shape the subjectivity of contemporary visitors. It explains the spatial representation of immersive exhibition spaces in science museums and the representational space they create for the visitors. As a conclusion, it proposes that science museums, as representations of space, should vividly reproduce the spatial practices of the scientific and technological fields to stimulate visitors' representational spaces. This will clear the pathway "spatial practice-representations of space-representational spaces," enabling visitors to actively re-engage with spatial practice and participate in the science that is in the making.