The Tech Interactive

The Tech Interactive in San José, California, is an interactive science and technology center that invites visitors to take part in hands-on experiments, labs, and design challenges. Designed by Mexican architect Ricardo Legorreta, the building spans three floors and houses, among other things, an IMAX dome theater that has been showing both entertainment and educational films since 1998. Architectural highlights include the multistory sculpture "Origin" inside a cylindrical tower and the rolling-ball sculpture "Science on a Roll" by George Rhoads. Quotes from Silicon Valley pioneers such as Bill Hewlett and Gordon Moore are engraved on the facade. The history of the site goes back to the late 1970s, when the first planning began. After a temporary exhibition in 1990, the current building opened in 1998. Since 2019, the institution has been called The Tech Interactive. In addition to its regular exhibits, the center offers programs such as "The Tech Challenge," an international engineering competition for students, and the "Tech for Global Good" initiative, which focuses on technological solutions to societal problems.