Living planet

Understanding biodiversity and ecosystems through playful investigation.

Museum of Natural Sciences, Brussels (BE), 2020

Wide-angle view of a gallery filled with taxidermy animals arranged along curved white arches, showcasing biodiversity across species and environments.

Overview

The Living Planet exhibition takes visitors on an educational journey through the diverse ecosystems that make Earth such a vibrant and interconnected planet. Spanning two floors, the exhibit showcases over 800 animal species, highlighting the delicate relationships between them and their environments. These connections can be explored through interactive screens, projections, and immersive activities where visitors can gain a deeper understanding while having fun.

  • Family of four gathered around a touchscreen in the natural history gallery, as the mother points toward a taxidermy animal in the exhibit, surrounded by a diverse array of mounted species.
  • Teenage visitor wearing a mask and green checkered shirt, engaging with an angled touchscreen among mounted animal specimens.
  • Young woman pointing toward a group of taxidermy animals while standing next to an interactive screen displaying species-related content.
  • Young boy in a red t-shirt looking up in awe, surrounded by taxidermy animals in a white exhibition space.
  • Close-up of a touchscreen interface titled “Vivre sur la Terre” (“Living on Earth”) with a visual network of animal images and taxidermy specimens in the background.

Contribution

I was responsible for the visual, multimedia, and AV design of the exhibition, with a focus on making complex scientific concepts accessible and enjoyable for everyone. Rather than simply presenting information, my focus was on creating an experience that encouraged visitors to explore and learn through an immersive and learn-by-doing approach.

  • Visitor reading and interacting with a digital screen exploring weather phenomena, next to a pelican holding a fish and other mounted animals.
  • Close-up of a touchscreen showing post-wildfire regeneration scenes with the text “Entdecke, wie sich die Natur nach einem Brand wieder erholt” (“Discover how nature recovers after a fire”), with a porcupine specimen in the background.
  • A woman seated at a circular yellow interactive station using a touchscreen surrounded by animal figures, with mounted taxidermy animals in the background.
  • Close-up of a touchscreen showing a Dutch-language interactive explaining how oceans produce oxygen, with visuals of phytoplankton and coral reefs.
  • Curved wall projection displaying four large interactive touchscreens, each in front of a section of animated visuals representing different ecosystems, such as grasslands, forests, and ocean life.

Key achievements

  • Connected hundreds of specimens to interactive content
  • Ensured narrative cohesion across two exhibition floors
  • Turned natural science into a playful learning experience
  • Worked with EU teams in a renowned national institution
  • A woman stands in a dimly lit gallery space, interacting with a touchscreen in front of a natural history exhibit featuring an elk and a scenic tundra backdrop, with wolves and other animals displayed behind her and in the background.
  • Close-up of a horizontal touchscreen showing an interface with a rainforest image, a location map, biodiversity stats, and a finger selecting one of the circular data points.
  • A woman engaging with a large digital table displaying an interactive globe, surrounded by nature-themed projections of underwater vegetation and marine life.
  • A woman standing in an immersive room with walls covered in large-scale projections of forest and mountain environments, surrounded by vivid color and light.
  • Immersive installation showing high-resolution projections of a chipmunk on one wall and a grazing reindeer on the other, wrapping around freestanding structures in the space.

Credits

Role: Art Director | Lead Designer
Employer: Studio Louter
Client: Museum of Natural Sciences
Photography: Studio Louter

© All rights reserved to Studio Louter

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Get in touch! A man in a blue shirt using a tactile interactive station, with buttons and dials, in a gallery filled with historic scientific tools and instructional displays.

Herman Boerhaave

Rijksmuseum Boerhaave, Leiden (NL)