Take a deep dive

Take a deep dive
Bringing the world of water to life

The new ARTIS Aquarium is set to open its doors in the summer of 2026. Behind the scenes, intensive work has been underway recently to plan the reopening of this historic building and bring the world of water to life.

Client and Location
ARTIS - Amsterdam (NL)
Open Since
2026
Square meters (m2)
1695 m2
Our Role
Interaction and visual design, concept co-development (with KDJ & ARTIS), software development, testing, installation & support
Exhibition Designer
Kossmanndejong
Fit Out
Bruns
Photography
Jeunique Photography
AV Partners
BIND
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A sensory journey of discovery

Set amidst the historic Artis Zoo, the Aquarium offers a multi-layered underwater world. Once inside, visitors embark on a sensory journey of discovery. Visitors take a deep dive into amazing stories about the species swimming around them. You’ll have the unique opportunity to cast a fishing rod or explore the deep sea in a submarine. You’ll also discover first-hand that you’re made up largely of water, and you can drill into ice, create your own clouds and mix fresh and salt water.

Not just fish

Playful and intuitive interactions are interwoven with more narrative-driven and in-depth experiences, and even ethical dilemmas. Moreover, the interactions are designed in such a way that not only the player, but also visitors watching along over a shoulder, above the crowd, or on large screens, can fully follow and engage with the experience. This makes them particularly well suited for families and larger groups of visitors.

Pump up a cloud
A chicken or cheese sandwich? And more challenging CO2 dilemma's.
Behind the scenes
User testing at our build & play lab
The diving game in a very early stage. We're testing ways to move players' attention from the small screen to the big one and back again.
Interaction ideas for Drinkable rivers
How should visitors move through the landscape of the Drinkable rivers interactives? We sketched out some ideas.
More prototyping
We always have fun building the first prototypes and put in a little extra effort so they don't only work but also look fun. This one is for the fishing game.
Fish on a slide?
To make the ending of the fishing game more challenging, we came up with the choice-slide: will you release or eat your fish?
Testing the water figure at the office
Did you know we're more than 60% water? In this exhibit visitors can play with the liquid body on the screen and learn about the functions of water in our body.

Our blue planet

It was a unique challenge to develop interactive installations that are directly connected to the living underwater world in the Aquarium. Art, interactivity and the natural world come together to convey an urgent message. Our oceans, rivers and lakes are under pressure from pollution, global warming and overfishing. The installations not only highlight the vulnerability of this global network, but also showcase inspiring solutions and the absolute necessity of taking collective action for the climate.

Want to know more?

Our director Wouter would love to tell you more about this project! Send him an e-mail at wouter.vanderzouwe@yipp.nl

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