Large, larger, legendary

How do you make 33 exhibits across 10 galleries abroad during Covid?

The museum of science and technology is the largest of its kind in the world, with over 30 different permanent exhibitions. The museum signed YIPP in 2020 to design and develop its multimedia installations for phase one of the two-phase modernisation.

Client and Location

Deutsches Museum - Munich (DE)

Open Since

2022

Square meters (m2)

25.000 m2

Our Role

Design, development and installation of interactive exhibits, including the implementation of an external CMS.

Working in batches!

We started this project in the summer of 2020, as the world entered lockdown. While the concepts had been developed before the pandemic, most of the design and production took place under constantly changing conditions.

Over the next two years, we worked towards the opening in July 2022. The scale of the renovation, combined with the number of partners involved, led to several delays along the way.

In total, we developed 33 interactive exhibits across 10 galleries. Each installation was created in close collaboration with a dedicated curator, resulting in an intensive process with around 30 museum experts who remained involved from concept to completion.

To manage this complexity, we structured the project in batches. Progress was shared online for review and scientific validation, while in-person sessions were organised whenever possible. This meant regular trips to Munich to meet curators, discuss individual exhibits, and align on content and interaction in detail.

Brewing beer and more

The museum's treasure are its vast collection of technical machines, equipment and vehicles. A lot of our exhibits add a digital layer of information and explanation, to bring the large collection items to life and make them more accessible for visitors. We enable visitors to browse through the large collection of engines mounted on a wall, the 50+ items of optical equipment they house, you can admire historic books like the Guthenberg bible. To many machines we added animations, to explain the process that happen inside them, invisible to the human eye like the large beer brewing vessles. To enable curators to change content, most of the interactives are linked to a backend CMS.

Behind the scenes

Test setup at our office

We tested the readability of the LED panels at our office. See the result of the full wall sized periodic table in the photo slider below.

"Testzentrum" at the museum

Having a global pandemic break out in the midst of a project didn’t help. To deal with the corona protocols, such as a travel bans, we set up a user testing facility inside the museum, featuring computers and screens resembling the final hardware. Remote access allowed us to demonstrate digital prototypes while Zoom helped us give demos, and the München-based team tested the prototypes in the testing environment.

Installing on-site

We installed in several batches during Covid restrictions in Munich in 2021 and 2022.

Keeping an overview for the team

We kept track of each individual exhibit on a large MIRO overview. Each team member could check the progress, hardware specs, location on the construction site and next steps here.

Divided over some 25,000 m2 of exhibition space, we created 33 interactives for 10 permanent areas. Themes range from agriculture to atom physics, health, optics, and even airspace.

Want to know more?

Our project manager Anna would love to tell you more about this project! Send her an e-mail at anna.heimbrock@yipp.nl

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