Making the invisible visible

Invisible Worlds – Reiss-Engelhorn-Museen – Mannheim – Germany

An impressive hands-on exhibition

For the Reiss-Engelhorn-Museen in Mannheim, NorthernLight designed the exhibition “Invisible Worlds”, an impressive hands-on exhibition for children and families. Our eyes are wonderful, but we don’t see everything with them. There is still a lot to discover – in nature, in space, in our bodies and even in our minds.

Experience and discover

Eight worlds on the major themes of “origin”, “life”, “waves”, “thoughts”, “secret”, “earth”, “brain” and “cosmos” invite you to a special experience with exciting and varied hands-on stations. Here, young and old try everything that can be made visible: for example tiny things, sounds or ideas. Visitors experience how a bat finds its way in complete darkness and learn how the brain works. They discover how tiny particles dissolve into thin air before their eyes or how fossilized creatures used to look like and how continents migrate. Children become researchers themselves and try out what nature and people have developed and invented to make the invisible visible.

Invisible Worlds floating in space

The pavillons are designed like literal different worlds, almost floating in space. The outer skins and monochrome colour refers to the different techniques being used to make the invisible visible. Iconic purple heat camera pictures for “waves”, fingerprints under black light for “secret”, a jungle of green leaves and happily floating orange-red liquids that make molecules literally visible. The “brain” world consists of immersive black and white optical illusions and “earth” is a shiny blue globe. In the yellow world of “language” one is greeted by a giant emoji, making emotions visible.
Easy to understand info graphics enhance the experience for the visitor.

Max Pecher, creative lead for the exhibition design, about the design philosophy: “In this way the exhibits become one with the interior in a unique symbiosis and visiting the exhibition becomes a magical journey.”

Workshops, outreach and magazine

Groups from educational institutions and school classes can book additional workshops in the laboratory, and a mobile outreach truck full of experiments will be visiting primary schools in the extended Rhine-Neckar metropolitan region as an ambassador for the exhibition. Invisible Worlds is also featured in a special edition of the educational GEO-lino magazine.

Client

Reiss Engelhorn Museum

Location

Mannheim, Germany

NorthernLight role

Concept and overall design

NorthernLight team

Peter Slavenburg, Hagen Mumm, Maximilian Pecher, Donna Dieperink

Production

Bruns

Digital interactives

YIPP