Energy Junkies

Designed for NEMO’s De Studio in Amsterdam, Energy Junkies is an interactive exhibition that focuses on our reliance on energy. The exhibition aims to highlight the role energy plays in our lives and how seemingly small habits have big consequences for the environment.

As humans living in the modern world, we are all guilty of being addicted to energy. We rely on energy to do everything from staying connected with friends online to boiling water for a fresh cup of tea. While our daily devices certainly bring ease and comfort to our lives, they have serious consequences for the environment. In this exhibition we ask: how can we turn our addiction into healthier habits?
Hands-on and analog-first, the exhibition aims to demonstrate our energy dependency and what it takes to power our every-day habits and gadgets.The highlight of the exhibition is the 12-meter-long, mirrored Tunnel of Temptation, which showcases all the devices in the NEMO collection designed to make life easier, seducing visitors into using energy. Soundscape and screens promoting energy consumption heightens the experience.

Upon exiting the tunnel visitors can select from 3 types of warning messages about the climate crisis: gentle, factual or urgent. A panic button plays a recording of the actress demonstrating a breathing exercise to help the viewer calm down. In the Climate Pharmacy, visitors are encouraged to find ways to counter climate change and select ‘pills’ to help heal the earth. A ‘consultation room,’ meanwhile, lets visitors check their energy habits against the recommended CO2 budget. Before leaving the exhibition, visitors are encouraged to draw their vision of what a healthier, energy-conscious future might look like.  

Keeping the environment first in mind, we designed the exhibition to be carbon neutral, using waste and reusable materials like left-over fabrics, cardboard panels, scaffolding and shipping pallets. 

Client / Nemo Science Museum
Status / Temporary
Size / 660 m2
Year / 2022
Location / Amsterdam (Netherlands)

Production / Fiction Factory, Dutch Steigers
AV / Shosho
Photo / Alessandro Reginato

Our role / Exhibition design, Graphic design
Team / Stefan Fahrngruber, Matteo Renna, Eva Gonzalez