HEALTH FIRST

Stapferhaus

On view

Health is part of everyone’s life, but it does not mean the same for everyone. It’s personal, layered, sometimes sensitive. How do you turn such a complex theme into something light, inviting, and even playful? Together with Stapferhaus, we set out to create an exhibition that doesn’t lecture or overwhelm, but sparks curiosity. One that doesn’t feel medical, but human. Most of all, we invite visitors to explore: what does health mean to you?

Location: Lenzburg (CH)
Client: Stapferhaus
Year: 2024

988visitors visited the exhibition in one day: a museum record!
807school groups visited the exhibition in the first half year
13kgof grasshoppers were consumed in the first half year (and 85kg of chocolate)
600m2of printed carpet was used in the Treatment room

Outside view of exhibition waiting room.

Inside the waiting room, a woman looks at the clock while a man sits down on a waiting bench. — Waiting Room – Tension builds while you wait for your time to go into the exhibition.

Making it personal

Health First is like a therapeutic session. You journey through the different stages of a health check-in, from diagnosis and treatment to discharge. Big double ‘hospital doors’ inbetween the areas mark the transition moments of stepping into a new world. Questions bent from a single piece of iron crown each space, posing an open invitation to find your own answer.

In a pathway between warm beige curtains, a woman dances in an elegant move that is mirrored in silhouette on the curtain. — Examination – A winding path through a dreamscape of curtains stimulates your senses. Add your heartbeat to the soundscape, or test your lungs to make the curtains move.

A woman stands in a pathway of curtains on both sides. She blows on an interactive on the right. When she does that, wind blows the curtains upward on the right.

People sit in a circular space on a bench between curtains. Above them hangs a question, 'How are you?', bent in iron. A small text is projected on the floor. — Checking in with that one question: 'How are you?'

A wide shot of a room where different tables and chairs form places to sit down opposite a video portrait. The walls are covered in small text of possible diagnoses. — Diagnosis – Sit down for an intimate one-to-one and listen to personal stories about diagnoses.

Floor plan of the ground floor of Health First exhibition in Stapferhaus.

Floor plan of the first floor of Health First exhibition in Stapferhaus.

A lighthearted touch

Playfulness is woven into every step of the exhibition. The unexpected mix of serious topics and light-hearted elements makes the experience human and accessible. Row, move, dance, and operate, or start a story about digital detox by throwing your phone into a safe.

Two women stand in a space that resembles and abstract supermarket, with all different graphic advertisement expressions above them. — Treatment – Explore the plethora of available treatments, shelved like they are on display in a supermarket. A one stop shop for everything you might need, from natural remedies and fitness to surgeries, therapy and wellness.

Two people stand in between rows of big showcases, an abstract and minimal design resembling a supermarket layout.

A girl hugging a life-sized teddy bear under a pink neon sign that says 'give a hug and share the care'.

A sightline into a space with green medical curtains, where two people on opposite sides use a physical interactive that resembles an operation. Above them hangs a sentence bent from iron that says 'Was stent dir zu?'.

Operating the system

In the centrally located Emergency room, we put our current health system on the operating table. Interviews with experts alternate with interactive voting, making the space not just a medical intervention, but a platform for dialogue about the future of our healthcare system.

People stand at different iron desks around an operating chair, with screens behind the chair posing different dilemmas. On their iron desk are three buttons on a medical tool plate, to give your solution to the dilemma.

Words are projected on the operating chair. — Emergency room – Is our healthcare system still sustainable?

Discharge – A soft space to land. Listen to excerpts from maternity and palliative care workers, and notice that the beginning and end of life are very much alike.

Hands-on approach

Kossmanndejong produced a lot of things in-house to realise a great design on a challenging timeline. From the bent iron lettering to the lamp shades in the cafe and a variety of graphic designs: we do-it-yourselved a lot right from our studio in Amsterdam.

Visitors receive a notebook to keep track of personal insights and answers to the questions in their exhibition journal. It is a tangible reminder of the exhibition and provides space to reflect further on what health means to you personally even after your visit.
We made the lamp shades for the museum restaurant from synthetic plaster that is normally used to make a cast when you break your arm. The material dries in seconds after dipping it in water, especially on our sunny balcony.