“Echo. The mountain calls back”
The Alpine Museum of Switzerland is an innovative, open platform that collects, documents, displays and brings alpine themes to negotiation. It negotiates social topics of today and tomorrow that are relevant for living together: Identity, climate change, sustainable management, processes of change between tradition and innovation, alpine resources and qualities.

The challenge of the exhibition "Echo. The mountain calls back" was the invisibility of the main exhibits: multiple echoes in the alpine landscape: How can we translate the theme of "echo" visually in an exhibition? How can we stage the sonic experience in the exhibition?

The scenography plays with the absence of alpine images. The exhibition presents seven echotopos and seven echo phenomena. The thematic arrangement is taken up in a floor graphic. Two wooden wall panels divide the room into three areas: The first room opens with an acoustic relief model made of echo absorbing insulation boards and an echo speaking tube, which playfully introduces the exhibition.

The second room of the exhibition is a mirrored echo chamber with seven listening stations. It conveys an acoustic image of Switzerland. On the mirrored surfaces are horizontally or vertically mirror-symmetrical terms which do not appear mirror-inverted in the mirror. To round off the exhibition, a peephole wall in the third room randomly illuminates the image- and object-shaped reverberations of the echo in cultural history that has fascinated people since time immemorial.

The love story between Narcissus and Echo is told here. The scientific and touristic discovery of the echo in the 18th and 19th centuries is shown, which made the phenomenon popular for the first time. Today, the principle of sound and echo, of supply and demand, of selfie cult and feedback loops in social media is a global phenomenon. The echo principle is omnipresent, also in the animal world and in many technical applications.

The exhibition sensitises visitors to a phenomenon that cannot be posted on Instagram and at the same time reveals a "different view" of the Alpine world.

Material Used :
1. Construction (Walls and seatings): MDF, Wood-based material
2. Flooring: Polyurethane Adhesive strips, tactile floor guidance systems
3. Wall claddings: Acoustic foam, anthracite BKZ 5.2, Dibond, aluminium composite panels
4. Graphics: Cutting plot, Avery Dennison 800