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.

The overview

The Living Planet exhibition is an extensive multi-floor educational journey designed to show visitors exactly how interconnected and fragile our ecosystems really are.

Scaling across two floors and showcasing more than 800 animal species, the exhibition ditches traditional, dusty natural history tropes. Instead, it weaves a dense web of ecological connections through interactive screens, large-scale projections, and immersive environments, proving that heavy scientific data can be turned into a hands-on playground for the public.

  • 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.
  • Taxidermy dingo displayed on a white platform, surrounded by bears and wild cat specimens in an open exhibition space.
  • 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.
  • Woman wearing a face mask pointing toward an animal specimen while two young children lean over a low railing in a gallery filled with large taxidermy mammals.
  • A cheetah and an African wild dog stand side by side on a display platform, surrounded by various birds and mammals.
  • Teenage visitor wearing a mask and green checkered shirt, engaging with an angled touchscreen among mounted animal specimens.
  • 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.
  • Mother and young child standing in front of a deer specimen while the child gestures excitedly, with other visitors and animal displays in the background.

The work

I ran the experience framework, UX/UI strategy, and the entire visual and multimedia layer for the space. My primary battle was architecture: I had to design a structured interaction system that logically linked massive volumes of digital scientific data to the actual physical specimens sitting in front of the visitors. When you are dealing with hundreds of species across screens, projections, and tactile stations, you cannot guess. You iterate, and test until the interaction flow is completely bulletproof.

I spent a year and a half coordinating multidisciplinary internal and external teams across the Benelux region, balancing high-level art direction with down-and-dirty production. To make things even more interesting, the delivery phase hit right during the start of the COVID-19 lockdowns, which was a completely unprecedented situation. Navigating those insane operational constraints meant completely rewriting our workflows on the fly to ensure we actually delivered a world-class exhibition on time.

  • Two young children exploring a yellow circular hands-on table with small animal models, including one placed on top, tactile elements, and circular openings.
  • A woman seated at a circular yellow interactive station using a touchscreen surrounded by animal figures, with mounted taxidermy animals in the background.
  • Child interacting with a touchscreen embedded in a curved table showing a game about identifying camouflaged animals, with taxidermy specimens displayed nearby.
  • Adult and child interacting with a yellow circular hands-on table featuring small colored blocks inside a transparent dome, within a gallery of taxidermy animals.
  • Two children examining yellow hands-on tables with circular openings and small animal models placed inside.
  • Visitors gather around a large immersive projection showing abstract, colourful nature imagery and a white branching structure in the center.
  • Wide view of a museum gallery with circular display platforms presenting taxidermy animals, interactive screens, and low yellow tables integrated among the specimens.
  • 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.

The result

  • Directed the experience framework and UX/UI strategy for a multi-level natural science exhibition.
  • Engineered a logical interaction system connecting digital data points to hundreds of physical specimens.
  • Led cross-border teams through an intense 18-month, content-heavy production cycle.
  • Validated layout flows across screens, projections, and installations through aggressive prototyping.
  • Embedded inclusive design principles to make complex biodiversity data accessible to the general public.
  • Survived the ultimate stress test, delivering a world-class space despite sudden lockdown constraints.
  • 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: Museum + Studio Louter

© Studio Louter. All rights reserved.

Explore the next project or drop me a message.
A person’s hands holding a smartphone in a red case, displaying the Badge Academy app splash screen with the Dutch Police logo, bold yellow title, and illustrated cast of characters.

Badge Academy

Dutch Police, Amsterdam (NL)