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Sarner helps to educate on climate change

Norway - Sarner, renowned for creating visitor attractions and = engineering AV systems around the globe, has just completed another = major=20 commission in Norway. 'Our Fragile Climate' is a new visitor attraction = at the=20 Norwegian Glacier Museum in Fjaerland.

Sarner produced a powerful design concept aimed at visually = communicating the=20 effects of climate change on our environment. Michael Bennett, lead = designer and=20 creative director at Sarner, commented on the scale of the project: "Our = brief=20 was to provide a unique experience to the visitor, highlighting the = current=20 issues of global warming. We have delivered a highly creative solution,=20 supported by the latest technological advances, to portray the full = story of how=20 our climate has changed - from the creation of earth through to the = potential=20 hazards we may be facing in the future."

Sarner's educational showpiece delivers a highly interactive = experience as=20 visitors travel in time and journey through six zones that demonstrate = the past,=20 present and future effects of climate change on our world. The exhibit=20 culminates with an evocative narration by Sir David Attenborough in a = powerful=20 video production in which he concludes, "We still have time to act to = make=20 changes that will secure the life of this planet. This is the only home = we=20 have."

The exhibition, which has been created within a new extension to the = museum=20 designed by the acclaimed Norwegian Architect Sverre Fehn, begins in the = past=20 with 'Earth Creation'. Here visitors witness the dramatic creation of = the earth=20 four billion years ago with meteors crashing above their heads and = molten lava=20 flowing beneath their feet. The ground shakes as an earthquake tremor is = felt,=20 and the audience see the earth forming. From this, visitors move forward = in time=20 to 40 million years ago when great mammals roamed the earth - this is = 'Tertiary=20 Jungle', where visitors get to experience the greenhouse effect in a = hot, humid=20 jungle surrounded by strange animal sounds. Flat screen monitors = continue the=20 story using CGI animation sequences enhanced by dramatic lighting = effects. Then=20 the earth grows colder, as it did 20,000 years ago, and visitors walk = through an=20 air curtain to 'The Last Ice Age'. In this room lighting is key to = create a=20 shimmering luminosity that depicts ice and freezing cold temperatures, = while CGI=20 animation communicates the physics of how the orbit and tilt of the = Earth=20 created the ice age. Visitors even get to experience a real piece of = glacier=20 ice.

The doors then open onto 'The Present', an architecturally theatrical = room of=20 glass and mirrors that looks directly out onto the spectacular Fjaerland = scenery=20 and actually places the visitors within nature.

The last room prior to Sir David Attenborough's narration is 'The = Future,=20 Man's Influence', which is split into three areas. The first, set in = 2040, shows=20 the potential impact that man could have on Earth with a futuristic = style news=20 studio for the climate channel. The second part, a disaster scenario set = in=20 2100, portrays what will happen if nothing is done to change the future = and=20 features a dramatic sculpture of a family of climate refugees as its = centre=20 piece. The final part of 'The Future' depicts an uplifting scenario of = how=20 things could be in 2100 if we change for the better with an interactive = floor=20 projection of a desert changing to water - a real hit with younger = visitors.

This unique visitor attraction took nine months to create and build = and was=20 officially opened by the former US vice-president Walter F. Mondale. = Since the=20 exhibition opened, the Glacier Museum has seen a 40% increase in visitor = numbers, the majority of which are tourists to the area. 'Our Fragile = Climate'=20 was originally produced in just three languages but the museum has = recognised=20 the need to increase this and has recently commissioned Sarner to = produce the=20 exhibition in another six languages.

(Lee Baldock)

(10 April 2008)

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