creative design
SHF 250 Years Young!

SHF 250 Years Young!

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Stiftung Humboldt Forum | 250 Years Young!

“EVERYTHING INTERACTS.” – ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT, FROM HIS TRAVEL JOURNALS, 1803

This project might be the crown jewel in a range of our works for the upcoming Humboldt Forum in the center of Berlin – rendering the multifaceted life of Alexander von Humboldt into a 16minute projection work on the east facade of the Humboldt Forum building itself. From idea, through content research, design and animation development, to final production – all created and produced inhouse at Luxoom – this piece is adventurous yet complex, just like the person portrayed. A worthy contribution to this special anniversary.

115 METERS OF ARCHITECTURAL CANVAS WIDTH

The huge canvas of the east facade has its very own grid of architectural elements that dominate any image projected to it. So, early in the design concept we decided to integrate the facade and make it a vital component of the story. Over the whole show the geometry has impact on the contents – emphasizing, outlining or also clashing with it. Humboldt’s arduous Americas journey for example has to find its way through the grid of windows, rendering the many detours and obstacles tangible for the audience.

TACKLING THE CONTENT CHALLENGE

Besides all the playfulness and complexity of the piece, scientific correctness was a central demand of the Humboldt Forum Foundation. Our content team had to find and check quotes both from Humboldt himself as well as his contemporaries in original letters and materials and research the origins of hundreds of drawings and images. A time-consuming process at first, this fact became valuable because it rendered the production nearly independent from external content contributors and thus made sure a solid result could be delivered in time.

Drone shots courtesy of Neumann & Müller Veranstaltungstechnik.