Kossmanndejong designed the permanent exhibition of the Groote Museum, a new museum about big questions, in Amsterdam’s oldest museum building. To enter the exhibition is to embark on a personal expedition. As you and your body move through the museum, you continuously compare yourself to plants, animals and microbes. Through assignments, films, sounds, smells and art you experience that you are inextricably connected to the world around you. What makes you who you are? What do you have in common with a salamander? This museum is for anyone who is open to question themselves and their environment.

The Groote Museum stood empty for about 70 years. Its 170 metres of showcases used to contain thousands of biological objects. People in top hats viewed ‘nature’ from a distance, systematically arranged behind glass. It was a balancing act to create a modern, dynamic exhibition that at the same time enhances the original building’s expressiveness. We chose a visual language that represents how our view of nature has changed over the past 150 years. The historical showcases’ glass doors open. Plants and humans go in, and animals step out of the showcases, showing how everything on earth is connected.

The exhibition consists of twelve themes based on body parts. Each has a collection that acts a starting point for associations. A work of art, an interactive display, an animation or a historical showcase full of skeletons represents each theme. Visitors aren’t told what to think or do. They can decide for themselves what they want to explore. Alone, or with help from ‘connectors’ – employees eager to explore with them.

Alexander von Humboldt was one of the last generalists, studying biology, geology, philosophy and science as a whole. His practice inspired the development team, as observing, free association and poetry are key elements in the exhibition. Poetry – in the art and in comparisons, such as a human’s lungs with a tree’s canopy. Free associations – such as a plant’s roots, linked with the ground beneath your feet, representing your ecological footprint. Observation – through the heightening of the senses emphasising how we experience nature with our whole body. A scent tunnel, a fluffy coat, or soundscapes, such as a deafening downpour, force you to consider to the world around you.

One of the challenges was finding the balance between communicating the urgency of climate change while not leaving people feeling hopeless or sounding condescending. Research shows that anthropocentrism – the idea that humans are the centre of the universe – has negative consequences for our planet. The Groote Museum shows that we humans are not at the top of the pyramid, but completely entwined to the natural world around us. We, therefore, focus on the beauty of all forms of life on earth and their similarity us. The museum shows how dependent we are on other lifeforms.