The Computer Museum, located at the School of Informatics Engineering (ETSINF) of the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV), is strengthening its mission to preserve and promote technological heritage through two new initiatives that bring the history of computing closer to the university community and the general public: an outdoor mural dedicated to the evolution of the field, and a revamped exhibition on the Turing Award winners.
A Mural to Increase the Visibility of the Computer Museum
Located on the exterior façade of Building 1G, the mural serves as an invitation to discover the Computer Museum and the heritage it preserves. This artistic intervention extends the history of computing beyond the museum’s walls, integrating it into the everyday spaces of the School and sparking the curiosity of those who pass through its facilities.
The project is the result of a collaboration between the Computer Museum and the UPV’s San Carlos Faculty of Fine Arts. The selected design was created by **Alba Granell Mateo**, a student in the Master’s program in Artistic Production at the Universitat Politècnica de València.
The initiative was developed as part of the course *Painting and Environment* (*Pintura y Entorno*), taught by professors Juan Canales and Álvaro Porras. During a visit to the Museum, the students explored its collections, finding inspiration for their artistic proposals within the technological heritage on display.
The composition offers a visual journey through various stages in the history of computing—from the massive computer systems of the early decades to the arrival of computers in the home. This narrative reflects the profound transformation undergone by technology and its gradual integration into daily life. Furthermore, by highlighting the women involved in the early days of computing, the mural helps to acknowledge their vital role in the development of the field. The mural thus serves as an outreach tool that reinforces the Museum’s visual identity, raises awareness of its existence, and encourages people to learn about the equipment, stories, and technological advancements that make up its collections.
The Turing Award Exhibition: Icons in the History of Computing
The second project involves the renewal of an exhibition dedicated to recipients of the Turing Award—one of the most significant international honors in the field of computing, often regarded as the equivalent of a Nobel Prize for this discipline.
The new visual design was created by illustrator and designer **Diego Mir**, who developed a fresh look for the exhibition panels and the classroom doors in the 1G building. His work combines illustration and infographics to showcase the individuals honored with this award, making their contributions to the development of computing more accessible to the public.
A standout feature of this design is the use of portraits constructed from zeros and ones—a direct reference to binary code that links the visual treatment of the images to the very foundations of computing. This approach transforms the depiction of these key figures into a graphic expression intrinsically tied to the discipline itself.
Integrating these panels onto classroom doors allows the exhibition to become part of the daily paths taken by students, faculty, and staff at the School. In this way, these influential figures in computing gain a presence within the academic environment, helping to highlight the history and progress of a field that is constantly evolving.
The Museum of Computing as a Space for Preservation and Outreach
Both projects share a common goal: to bring the history of computing to life through new visual languages and to expand the ways in which its heritage is communicated. While the mural invites people to discover the Museum from the outside, the Turing Award exhibition focuses on the individuals whose contributions have shaped the development of this science and technology. These initiatives strengthen the presence of the Museum of Computing within the daily life of the ETSINF and highlight its role as a space for the preservation, research, and dissemination of technological heritage. Furthermore, the collaboration between art, design, and computing demonstrates that the history of this field can be communicated in ways that are diverse, accessible, and engaging for various audiences.
In this way, the Museum of Computing continues to contribute to preserving the memory of technological evolution and fostering an understanding of a history that helps shed light on both the origins of computing and its influence on contemporary society.
