Living Computers: Museum + Labs

Pioneer Square, International District & SoDo

LoginSave

Founded by Microsoft co-founder, Paul Allen (1953–2018), this place will evoke heavy nostalgia in anyone who can remember the world pre-internet. Hosted in a nondescript commercial building in industrial SoDo and little known even among locals, it’s well worth checking out for its host of antediluvian computers with their blinking green cursors and black, app-free screens. Some of them are large enough to fill an average-sized student bedroom.

Friendly guides give regular tours and you’re welcome to ‘play’ on many of the exhibits.

Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

  • 458119129 Building Exterior; Color Image; Concepts; Consumerism; Customer; Editorial; Famous Place; Horizontal; International Landmark; Market; Outdoors; People; Photography; Pike Place Market; Seattle; Shopping; Travel locations; USA; Walking; Washington State; June 17, 2011: a crowd of people at Seattle's Pike Place market.

    Pike Place Market

    1.86 MILES

    A cavalcade of noise, smells, personalities, banter and urban theater sprinkled liberally around a spatially challenged waterside strip, Pike Place Market…

  • The Space Needle and the Experience Music Project, Seattle, Washington.

    Museum of Pop Culture

    2.77 MILES

    The Museum of Pop Culture (formerly EMP, the "Experience Music Project") is an inspired marriage between super-modern architecture and legendary rock-and…

  • Museum of Flight

    Museum of Flight

    4.75 MILES

    Even people with absolutely no interest in aviation have been known to blink in astonishment at Seattle's Museum of Flight, which takes visitors on a…

  • West Point Lighthouse, Discovery Park, Seattle, Washington. (Photo by: Greg Vaughn /VW PICS/UIG via Getty Images)

    Discovery Park

    6.17 MILES

    Hard to beat on a sunny spring day, this former military installation has been transformed into a wild coastal park, laced with walking trails and…

  • Olympic Sculpture Park.

    Olympic Sculpture Park

    2.53 MILES

    This ingenious feat of urban planning is an offshoot of the Seattle Art Museum and it bears the same strong eye for design and curation. There are dozens…

  • UNITED STATES - 2012/01/01: USA, Washington State, Seattle Center, Chihuly Garden And Glass Exhibit. (Photo by Wolfgang Kaehler/LightRocket via Getty Images)

    Chihuly Garden & Glass

    2.75 MILES

    Opened in 2012 and reinforcing Seattle’s position as a leading city of the arts, this exquisite exposition of the life and work of dynamic local sculptor…

  • Space Needle

    Space Needle

    2.74 MILES

    This streamlined, modern-before-its-time tower built for the 1962 World’s Fair has been the city’s defining symbol for more than 50 years. The needle…

  • Hiram M. Chittenden Locks on Lake Washington

    Hiram M Chittenden Locks

    6.51 MILES

    Seattle shimmers like an impressionist painting on sunny days at the Hiram M Chittenden Locks. Here, the fresh waters of Lake Washington and Lake Union…

View more attractions

Nearby Pioneer Square, International District & SoDo attractions

2. King Street Station

1.13 MILES

One of the pillars upon which Seattle built its early fortunes, the old Great Northern Railroad depot, was given a much-needed face-lift in the early…

3. Seattle Pinball Museum

1.16 MILES

Got kids? Got kid-like tendencies? Love the buzzers and bells of good old-fashioned analog machines? Lay aside your iPad apps and become a pinball wizard…

4. Union Station

1.16 MILES

A landmark that has benefited from restoration fever is Union Station, the old Union Pacific Railroad depot (1911) that sat unoccupied between 1971 and…

6. Hing Hay Park

1.19 MILES

If you need a tranquil spot to rest while wandering the ID, Hing Hay Park lends a little breathing space to this otherwise austere district. The…

8. Waterfall Park

1.23 MILES

This unusual park is an urban oasis commemorating workers of the United Parcel Service (UPS), which grew out of a messenger service that began in a…