Outdoor exhibitions: challenges and chances
With this session we want to encourage other science engagement organisations to make a big move - a move outside! Given the pandemic, this seems like a logical step, but there are challenges when planning and constructing outdoor exhibits. Outdoor presentations need special requirements as they are exposed to the elements 24/7; maintenance is completely different and much more demanding, but they create experiences for everyone in different ways. Dealing with natural phenomena is almost logical outside, and historical topics can be staged at their original locations. In addition, visitors can experience them spontaneously, providing a wide audience. There are so many examples of acquiring knowledge outside: during a picnic, at a festival, in museum gardens, or while taking a walk. We will present and discuss some of them - from permanent to temporary and from rooftops to lakes.
Session speakers
Manager of exhibition and programs
During corona summer phaeno has moved more than 30 of its indoor exhibits outdoors which were accompanied by shows, and temporary events like foodtrucks, soap bubble events - giving the whole a spontaneous fair character. The lively atmosphere morphed public urban space with the science center and the outside was telling about the science content of the building. The success and the different social behavior after covid19 raise the question wether and how to transform the temporary exhibits into a permanent installation with rather sculptural, all year exhibits.
Archimedes Exhibition Gmbh
Julia will shed light on the current trend of urban design by sharing some of her latest projects for museums and cities from Beijing to Bochum. This involves concrete best practice examples like wind sculptures or city trails as well as different approaches how to exhibiting outdoors. This can be the starting point for a discussion on general questions about how and where we can bring scientific and other relevant topics into public space and which obstacles we have to deal with.
Head of Exhibition and Education
The new Technorama Outdoors, covering an area of almost 15,000 m², brings major forces of nature to life for visitors to experience directly in their natural environment - outdoors. It is designed to be a natural alternative program to the interactive experience in the exhibitions and labs. You can explore an attractive experimentation landscape under open skies in an interplay of natural experience, experiments, recreation, and relaxation.
Armin will share their key learning points and how the unexpected facilitates beauty and wonder.
Our roof is the highest city square in the Netherlands. It includes a large terrace, beautiful views of the city of Amsterdam, and the interactive open-air exhibition Energetica, completed with a spectacular water cascade.
The roof is up for renewal in 2024. The pivoting question will be if an outdoor exhibition will return, and if so, whether it will be the same or another one. I’d like to discuss the challenges and benefits of the current exhibition and brainstorm about future ideas.
Outdoor space offers museums and Science Centres an environment and arena to show phenomenon that might be difficult to make accessible in an indoor environment. I will talk about how during the pandemic we chose to develop our outdoor area within the area of sustainability and SDGs. Our plan is to elaborate this further during the coming years.
During periods of the pandemic and the partial lock-down, our 6.000 sqm outdoor area was the only space we could have open for our visitors offering them a safe environment. Normally our park is open May-September, which we could extend significantly.
