jangled nerves

Knorr-Bremse is a leading global manufacturer of brake systems for rail and commercial vehicles with headquarters in Munich. For many years, the corporation has also maintained its own in-house company museum. The »Forum« exhibition centre on the former BMW production site at Moosacher Strasse had felt rather outdated for some time, however, in particular because the two company divisions – rail vehicles and commercial vehicles – were still treated as entirely separate entities. In the new museum design, revamped by jangled nerves, these two entities have deliberately been unified. Moreover, the forum has been realigned in order to dedicate attention to topical issues such as urbanisation, digitalisation and demographic change, as well as their implications for the future of mobility.

The two-story forum is divided into three main areas: the atrium as a place of dialogue for events and brand presentations, and two further, directly adjoining, one-story exhibition areas. Content is structured in a new way, with »people« and »goods« as the two main transport issues addressed by Knorr-Bremse. The two company divisions, rail vehicles and commercial vehicles, are thus combined in the new presentation. This approach is designed to emphasise important synergies and above all to highlight Knorr-Bremse’s extensive technical knowledge.

The atrium and the two exhibition areas are characterised by a distinct design idiom. This enables visitors to gain a quick and clear overview of all the individual topics on display in the forum. Knorr-Bremse can therefore offer guided tours tailored to specific target groups, as well as individual tours.

In the Portfolio section of each exhibition area, Knorr-Bremse products are presented in original size on themed islands. In each case, one product with particularly high requirements and corresponding relevance represents one vehicle type, while a miniature model of the vehicle type is located in close proximity. At the same time, the product is exemplary of the respective product and application type. In this way, vehicle-specific solutions can be presented, highlighted and elaborated in detail. The exemplary display of particularly innovative and high-performance products from Knorr-Bremse maintains its high significance for the entire product family.

In front of a row of windows, the Horizon section frames the respective exhibition area spatially and contextually. It serves to broaden the perspective, while also presenting additional topics related to the vehicle models on the opposite Portfolio side and the products presented there. Content includes physical foundations, product and developmental narrative strands, and current Knorr-Bremse research topics. In addition to a textual and graphic representation of the topics, above all Horizon offers space for media implementation and hands-on exhibits.