Shiga Prefectural Lake Biwa Museum Phase 1 Renewal

[Project Summary]
Linking displays with landscapes, fields, lifestyles, and thoughts Twenty years have passed since the museum opened, and the "relationship between the lake and people," which has continued since the museum's opening, has been further deepened through displays.
concept design connects displays with the landscape, fields, life, and feelings, and focuses on the progress and changes over the past 20 years in each habitat, as well as the relationships with people, to truly present Lake Biwa today through experiences, dioramas, and live animal rearing.
The "Living Creatures Collection" in displays Room C features specimens of creatures that live in Lake Biwa and its watershed, creating a space where you can experience their beauty and diversity at a glance.
In the aquarium displays room, underwater creatures are visualized, which stimulates interest in living creatures. With the addition of the popular Baikal seal and the "micro aquarium" which handles tiny creatures, this new form of museum exhibit has attracted many visitors and researchers.

[Customer Issues]
To mark the 20th anniversary of the museum's opening, displays have been completely renewed and the aging facilities have been updated.
The museum's mission was to fulfill the role that the original Lake Biwa Museum aimed to play, and then to make a new start as an evolved comprehensive museum that would be widely loved and utilized by the people of the prefecture.
As for the aquatic displays, we were asked to displays the Baikal seal, the only animal in the world that lives in fresh water, and to widely communicate its ecology to the local people of the prefecture. The client's request was to create displays that would be enjoyable and understandable for a wide range of people, from children to adults, with Lake Biwa at the center.

[Solution]
In displays Room C, visitors of all ages can experience and feel the nature, ecology, folklore, and creatures of Lake Biwa.
The aquatic displays also focused on extremely small plankton, introducing their shape, ecology, etc. in a lab-style setting, creating displays that is unlike any other in the country.

<Our project members>
[Development, Sales, Project Management] Haruya Miwa
[Research and Planning] Taihei Samejima
[design, layout] Masaaki Mitsunaga, Kaoru Sone, Tadashi Yuasa, Rie Morita, Mina Miyagi
[Sign and graphic concept design] Satoko Hasegawa, Nanae Hori
[Production and construction] Yoshito Inoue, Hayato Ichimanda, Goro Yamano, Ryuichi Shimada
[public relations] Hidetoshi Tsukahara