SAFETY. A RISK?

Stapferhaus

On view

How do we balance our need for safety with the urge to take risks? From geopolitical conflicts and artificial intelligence to our private daily routines, this question defines contemporary life. Society demands total protection, yet progress is impossible without daring to fail. At Stapferhaus, we wanted to step away from distant policy papers and bring the conversation back to human scale. The challenge was clear: transform an overwhelming collective debate into an intimate, physical journey where visitors confront their own boundaries.

Location: Lenzburg (CH)
Client: Stapferhaus
Year: 2026

Passing through a camera-lined corridor creates tension from the start.

Upon entering the Testing Centre, visitors check in at individual interactive booths to begin a collective survey on safety and risk.

An introductory film experience activates visitors before they proceed to the lab.

Welcome to the laboratory

Safety and risk are not theoretical concepts. We define them through the boundaries we set every day. Our spatial concept turns the exhibition into an active testing facility. Visitors become test subjects. As a large sliding door opens, an authoritative voice over the speakers greets the group and issues personal safety badges. A shared linear introduction grounds everyone in the core dilemmas before they proceed upstairs, free to choose their own route through the various test zones.

Large projections in the Lab feature portraits of diverse security professionals — ranging from an amusement park inspector to a military cyber commander and a radioactive waste geologist.

At airport-style scanners, visitors examine crates of diverse security objects. From airtags to a Swiss passport; each item reveals the tension between freedom and control, concluding with an interactive vote.

Testing boundaries on a human scale

This marks our fourth exhibition for Stapferhaus. Mutual trust gave us the freedom to take bold scenographic risks. On the top floor, a landscape of contrasting atmospheres tests visitors across physical, emotional, and social dimensions. One room uses audio prompts to provoke interactions between strangers and challenges visitors to step out of their comfort zone. Another offers a quiet, darkened workshop where visitors draw and display their most intimate fears. In the central lab, visitors scan crates with all kinds of security objects to explore their ambiguous stories. Throughout the journey, video portraits of diverse professionals anchor the debate in everyday life.

Testing zone #042 / Comfort zone or thrill?

Testing zone #005 / Fear: protection or obstacle?

In the Vault — at the core of the exhibition — visitors enter a 'blanket fort' to reflect on the fundamental uncertainty of life

Testing zone #238 / Calculation or intuition?

Testing zone #014 / Moving on or staying put?

Collective debate

Every space confronts visitors with a dilemma and an interactive scale to log their stance on their personal badge. In the Situation Room, visitors sit at a monumental conference table to debate and vote on possible crisis scenarios. Developed with researchers conducting a nationwide study on risk appetite, every choice contributes to real data. Visitors leave with a personal risk profile that mirrors their values against the rest of society. The experience transforms a personal experiment into a lasting reflection on how much freedom we are willing to risk for collective safety.

In the Situation Room visitors join an interactive debate

Visitors use their personal badge to vote on various dilemmas throughout the exhibition

Visitors with a big risk appetite can choose an alternative exit from the Testing Centre

A bold visual identity

Beyond the spatial design, Kossmanndejong developed the exhibition’s visual identity and publication. The graphic style draws from security signage, combining bright ‘safety’ orange with a warning triangle that became the exhibition’s main icon.