Jewish Museum Berlin

Architecture of emotions

The Jewish Museum in Berlin is Europe’s largest Jewish museum. The building by architect Daniel Libeskind is one of the city’s iconic landmarks. Its floor plan describes the fractures, distortions and abysses in the history of Judaism and the Holocaust. Our task was to make these tangible in tactile maps.

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A broken Star of David that has become a museum is both a symbol and a room for experience. This space, with all its shafts, crooked walls and unclear paths, leads visitors onto shaky ground. The new tactile maps provide orientation.

To guide guests from all over the world through the multi-storey building with its redesigned permanent exhibition, we first identified important orientation spots in the museum. Together with the Jewish Museum and a focus group, the concept was tested for its practical usefulness before we “inkl. Designers” created the guidance plans.

Today, they fit seamlessly into the design of the rooms and at the same time make the theme of inclusion visible in an aesthetically sophisticated way. The tactile maps provide information in German and English. Their lettering was done in Braille and profile lettering as well as with a high contrast value that is easy to read.

In addition to the floor plans, we designed two tactile paintings for the Jewish Museum. One shows a portrait of Albertine Heine, which was created on the occasion of her marriage to Paul Mendelssohn-Bartholdy. The grandson of the famous philosopher Moses Mendelsohn was secretly engaged to Albertine for a long time; his father rejected the union.

The high-resolution print of the lush motif is covered with transparent acrylic, raised lines make the visible schematically tangible.

The second tactile painting shows a depiction by the artist Jankel Adler on the theme of the Sabbath. The scene shows domestic rest on the weekly holiday.

Tactile Painting Albertine Heine as bride

Photo of a room in the Jewish Museum in Berlin. In the center the painting "Albertine Heine as a bride". The painting hangs on a blue wall. The oil painting shows Albertine Albert in a wedding dress in front of a red, slightly opened curtain. In front of the artwork is the corresponding tactile model including explanation in Braille. Two visitors can be seen out of focus in the background on the left.
Two photos of a room in the Jewish Museum in Berlin. In the center of the left photo the painting "Albertine Heine as a bride" on the wall with tactile model of the artwork and explanation in black letter and Braille in front of it on a table. In the right photo an elderly person in a wheelchair next to the tactile model of the artwork.
Detail photo of the tactile model "Albertine Heine as a bride". Detail of the upper right half with "Albertine" in wedding dress and the acrylic imitated magnificent frame.
Detail photo of the tactile model "Albertine Heine as a bride". Detail of the upper right half tilted to the right. A hand feels the acrylic imitation of the magnificent frame.

Tactile Painting Sabbath

Photo of the painting "Sabbath" by Janker Adler in Jewish Museum in Berlin. The artwork hangs on a glass wall, which stands in the middle of the room. To the left you can see another much smaller painting by the same artist, showing a woman.
Two photos of the painting "Sabbath" by Janker Adler in the Jewish Museum in Berlin. The left picture shows the artwork on a mobile tactile plan. On the right side of the plan you can see the painting to be felt, on the left side the description in tactile letters and Braille. The mobile tactile plan lies on a white bench. On the right side of the plan is a slit for better hand holding.
Detail photo of the tactile model of the painting "Sabbath" by Janker Adler. You can see the right half of the tactile plan with the artwork in acrylic. Two hands are feeling the tactile painting.
Detail photo of the tactile model of the painting "Sabbath" by Janker Adler. You can see parts of the right half of the tactile plan with the artwork in acrylic, as well as parts of the left half with description in tactile letters and in Braille.

Tactile Maps

Photo of an interior of the Jewish Museum in Berlin. The room looks like a hallway. At the end of the hallway is an exhibition wall, on which hang two paintings. In the upper part of the room, near the ceiling, there are several white struts with quotes written on them in blue letters on a white background. On the right side, standing against the wall, you can see a tactile plan, which serves the orientation of visually impaired people in the museum building.
Two photos of the tactile map for orientation in the Jewish Museum in Berlin. The right photo shows a detailed view of the tactile map with its own location marked. The right photo shows a woman feeling the plan for orientation in the museum building. In the background, at the top of the ceiling, white struts can be seen from wall to wall with blue lettering on a white background.
Photo of the tactile map on a table for orientation in the Jewish Museum in Berlin. The tactile map shows on the right side the part of the museum where the visitor is right now. On the left side, smaller, you can see the entire museum building as a tactile plan. On the front left of the table is a cane holder with a number.
Two photos of tactile plans in the Jewish Museum in Berlin. The left picture shows the tactile plan mounted horizontally on the wall. This plan shows a section of the museum as a tactile plan with a stick holder on the left side. On the right side there is a detail picture with the writing: "Your location" in tactile lettering and Braille. The Braille writing is felt by one hand.
Photo of the tactile map in the Jewish Museum in Berlin fixed on a table. The table stands on the left in a corner which it fills completely. To the right of it, the wall ends and gives a view of the exhibition space with exhibits behind it.
Two photos of a tactile map in the Jewish Museum in Berlin on a table. In the left photo, a woman standing at the side of the table is feeling parts of the plan. A cane holder is attached to the left of the tactile plan.

Inklusion in Detail

In the photo, a woman is feeling a tactile plan with both hands. To her right, her cane for the blind is placed in the cane holder. At the back left you can see two people walking into the picture from the left.
Two photos from a tactile plan in the Jewish Museum in Berlin. The first picture shows a blind man's cane in the cane holder in detail. The second picture shows a detail of the tactile plan.
Detail photo of the tactile map in the Jewish Museum for orientation in the museum building in the entrance area.
Detail photo of the tactile map in the Jewish Museum in Berlin with the lettering in tactile letters and Braille "Familienalbum" in German and English
Two detail photos of the tactile plan in the Jewish Museum in Berlin. The left picture shows a small section of an edge of the tactile plan. The right picture also shows only a small section with the lettering in tactile letters and Braille "1. Etage" (1st floor) in German and English.
Detail photo of the upper part of a tactile model. The picture shows the painting "Albertine Heine as a bride" in the Jewish Museum in Berlin
Two photos of the tactile model of the painting "Albertine Heine as a bride". The left photo is a deail photo of the cane holder at the table of the tactile model with number and Braille. The right photo shows the upper part of the tactile painting and two groping hands.
Detail photo of the upper right corner of the tactile model of the painting "Sabbath" by Janker Adler from the Jewish Museum in Berlin
Two photos of the tactile model of the painting "Sabbath" by Janker Adler. The left photo is a detail view of the center of the acrylic tactile model and shows parts of the structure. The right photo shows a woman in the center of the photo sitting on a bench with a mobile tactile painting on her lap. The woman is palpating the center of the painting.
The photo shows a detailed view of the tactile painting "Sabbath" by Janker Adler. Two hands palpate the surface of the painting.

Project Details

Project Scope: Didactic concept for the implementation of the mediation goals for blind and visually challenged people, organization and implementation of focus group work, planning and implementation of the tactile displays including product design and 3D data creation, graphic design, production supervision and monitoring.

Project image Weltstodio Humboldt Forum Berlin

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