Exhibition Design shortlist 2014

Danish National Maritime Museum, by Kossmann.dejong

Kossman.dejong created the Danish National Maritime Museum displays in an underground space surrounded by a former dry-dock. The galleries have irregular shapes, with continuously sloping floors and ceilings. Narrow spaces are used to evoke the oppressive wartime atmosphere, while the wider, open spaces evoke the sea or contemporary globalisation. The exhibition also uses 3D film installations and portholes transformed into showcases.

Masterpieces of Chinese Painting 700-1900 for the Victoria & Albert Museum, by Stanton Williams

The V&A exhibition gathers together the finest examples of Chinese paintings from a 1200-year period. The design had to respond to two main types of artwork – hanging scrolls displayed vertically and hand-scrolls displayed horizontally. Some scrolls measured up to 15m-long when laid out. Long horizontal display cases accommodated the hand-scrolls, while vertical display cases were integrated into the walls. The exhibition also aimed to evoke Chinese architecture through the use of courtyards, thresholds and vistas across rooms.

Wonderkamers 2.0 for Gemeentemuseum The Hague, by Kossman.dejong

Wonderkamers at the Gemeentemuseum in The Hague, The Netherlands, is designed as a display specifically aimed at teenagers. Kossmann.dejong updated the design it originally created in 2005. The refurbished Wonderkamers exhibition is designed as a physical and virtual 3D game. Each room is designed around a specific theme, and the centrepiece Miniature Museum lets children design their own virtual museum room, using hundreds of miniature artworks from international artists.