The Biodiversity Garden
Exhibition
Through interactive exhibitions, the museum SparkOH aims to arouse the curiosity and questions of children about science. In 2021, the museum has decided to set up an outdoor exhibition on the theme of biodiversity. The garden was designed by Bloc Paysage (landscape architects) and the museography of the playful and educational panels was created and illustrated by Klär.graphics. The collaboration led to several participative workshops in order to integrate the museum team and the public in the creation of the garden.
client
SparkOH! (previously Le Pass)
collaboration
project scope
- Co-creation workshop with landscape designers and the museum team
- Visual identity of the exhibition
- Illustrations and collages
- Layouts for panels
- Coordination with the printer
Co-creation workshop with Bloc Paysage and the SparkOH team to define the locations of the panels
Cocreation workshop
The project being in collaboration with different stakeholders, we set up a co-creation workshop with Bloc Paysage, the museum team and Klär.graphics in order to be all on the same wavelength. This workshop allowed us to discuss the plan of the garden, the locations and types of panels, the contents (texts and visuals). An ideal moment together to start a collaboration.
In order to bring participation with the public of the museum, we set up some elements of signage to be made by the children during training courses (prints and stencils on concrete). Bloc Paysage organised a week of participatory work with families to create furniture such as willow huts and gabion benches. An exhibition where everyone had a hand in it!
Map of the garden and its different zones
Collage representing the “observatory” area
Animal footprints made on concrete by children during participatory workshops
Dibond panel with cut-out that can be found by following the animal prints (4 paths)
Challenges
In collaboration with the printer, we tested materials, folds and prints to find the ideal format for the panels. The first challenge was to be durable outdoors, the second was to remain legible and beautiful while being trilingual. For the zone entrance signs, we opted for a triangular totem shape that can be turned around.
Totem d’entrée dans la zone “potager”
Cartels didactiques pour découvrir les plantes potagères
Images resources
For collages representing various themes, I mixed photography, motifs and illustrations. A significant portion of the resources used came from the Biodiversity Heritage Library. Indeed, the BHL boasts an incredible collection of over 2 million free images. They come from scans from encyclopaedias, herbariums and other biology and botany books. Well labelled, these images made it possible to be specific in the species that we chose for illustrations, which is necessary when working for a science museum!
Collage representing the “flower meadow” area
Collage representing the “pond” area
Claire knows how to find aesthetic, practical and original solutions. She is flexible, available and respects deadlines. It is always a pleasure to work with her!Sarah de Launey, museographer at SparkOH
Stencil on concrete as part of a tree of life, made with children during a course at the museum
Visible ground through windows on which we’ve put transparent sticker with information about life underground
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