Life in water

ARTIS Aquarium

On view
ARTIS Aquarium door Kossmanndejong

Water is life, and life is water. We spend the first nine months of our existence in water, and as human beings, we ourselves are made up of seventy percent of it. Yet the world beneath the surface remains largely unknown. In the renewed ARTIS Aquarium, we bring this hidden world closer. Together with ARTIS, we have transformed the 1882 heritage site into an open, light-filled aquarium. A place where visitors can immerse all their senses in the world of water, only to discover that all life on Earth is connected by it.

Location
Amsterdam (NL)
Client
Stichting Artis Natura Magistra
Year
2026
Service
Co-concept, spatial design, interactives concept, graphic design
ARTIS Aquarium door Kossmanndejong
The New Aquarium has become a harmonious whole where historic architecture, heritage, art, and the aquatic collection intertwine, with water as the centerpiece.
ARTIS Aquarium door Kossmanndejong

Water as home

The journey through the building is structured thematically. Visitors begin at the historic statue of the brook nymph, which is surrounded by a subtly lit fountain. Via the monumental staircase, you continue the journey past ‘Waterbody’ by Marshmallow Laser Feast. This artwork portrays global water systems as a single living organism.

ARTIS Aquarium door Kossmanndejong
ARTIS Aquarium door Kossmanndejong

Next, you enter the main hall, ‘Water as Home’, where visitors can marvel at the diversity of aquatic life.

Three-part collage

ARTIS Aquarium door Kossmanndejong
ARTIS Aquarium door Kossmanndejong
ARTIS Aquarium door Kossmanndejong

Everything flows

Leaving the monumental main hall, visitors enter the first room where we designed a blend of narrative space, interactive installations, and aquatic habitats. This mix of disciplines is truly what makes this aquarium so special. Named ‘Everything Flows’, the gallery reveals that there is only one fixed amount of water on Earth, constantly moving across the globe in many different forms.

ARTIS Aquarium door Kossmanndejong

Three-part collage

ARTIS Aquarium door Kossmanndejong
ARTIS Aquarium door Kossmanndejong
Through interactive games, visitors discover that aquatic animals react to currents in exactly the same way we do. This comes to life at the special columns: on one side you do a mini-experiment, and on the other, you see a living animal that connects to it completely.

Connected worlds

Every space offers a unique representation of water, with the triad of water, human, and animal at the heart of each theme. In ‘Connected Worlds’, a large glass partition integrated with an LED wall forms an abstract cross-section of the ocean. Resting on the sea floor is a dead whale: a whalefall. The deep sea begins at a depth of 200 meters and constitutes the largest habitat on Earth. To explore this, visitors can build their own mini-submarine and embark on a journey into the ocean.

ARTIS Aquarium door Kossmanndejong
Here, they learn how the ocean actually functions and discover the sheer richness of deep-sea life. This approach also allows us to display fish species that would be impossible to showcase in real life.

This has become so much more than just an aquarium. Of course, you can marvel at the colorful fish and extraordinary marine creatures, but along the way, you also discover how water literally connects everything on Earth, stretching from the Amsterdam canals to the deep sea.

Anne de Buck, Your Little Black Book
ARTIS Aquarium door Kossmanndejong
In the Amazon region, the open-top aquariums with integrated seating niches make the water feel almost tangible, while an artwork on the glass by Claudia Martínez Garay filters the light.
ARTIS Aquarium door Kossmanndejong
The iconic Amsterdam canal makes a forward-looking comeback, featuring electric transport, abundant greenery, and a specially designed, 3D-printed fish hotel beneath the surface.
ARTIS Aquarium door Kossmanndejong
Our goal is to provide visitors with a clear perspective for action, rather than just information. The 4000 water bottles in this space visualize our daily consumption, much of which remains hidden within our food and clothing. Unlike the crested newt, we as humans actually have the choice to make a conscious change.
ARTIS Aquarium door Kossmanndejong
The fishing industry is also addressed: with a simple fishing rod, you discover stories that prompt you to make more sustainable choices. When is a harvest truly honorable? In a world of overfishing and industrial fish crates, we as consumers navigate the space in between. The fishing rod challenges you: do you keep it, or throw it back?
The issues around water are so huge they can make you feel like you can't make a difference. In The New Aquarium, we want to show you what you can do, no matter how hard it seems. It all starts with making different choices.
Michel

Michel de VaanDesigner

Three-part collage

ARTIS Aquarium door Kossmanndejong
ARTIS aquarium door Kossmanndejong
ARTIS Aquarium door Kossmanndejong
For too long, we have lived with our backs to the river. In this theme, you walk along a poetic illustration of the Rhine, from source to mouth. Here, you see the water, humans, and aquatic life as a single river family. Interactive stations bring the river’s stories to life, showing how everyone interacts with it differently. Leaving you with one central question to think about: why can’t we actually drink water from the Rhine?

Deep dive

The journey ends at a cinematic cube where the ocean explains how it regulates our climate, paired with a dilemma game about CO2 emissions. This layering, along with artworks by artists like Zoro Feigl, transforms the aquarium into a place of change, a space that invites quiet reflection. The blend of different disciplines turns the aquarium into a rich, immersive experience. You dive deep into the story of water and surface with a whole new perspective

ARTIS Aquarium door Kossmanndejong
ARTIS Aquarium door Kossmanndejong
In this exhibition, the invisible is brought to the surface. Featuring a suspended model of a great white shark and a mural on the food chain designed by Joost Stokhof, visitors can peek behind the scenes into the kitchen where the animals' food is prepared.
ARTIS Aquarium door Kossmanndejong

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Marieke

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