Het Hornemann Huis - Immersive museum experience

Project description

How can we create an immersive experience for Het Hornemann Huis that mainly focusses on Gen Z visitors?

Context

Het Hornemann Huis is Eindhoven's Holocaust memorial centre and a museum about the story of the Hornemann family.
The Hornemann's were a Jewish family that lived in Eindhoven. During the Second World War, anti-Jewish measures forced them to wear the yellow star and they were expelled from their home. Father Flip was deported to Camp Vught, while mother Bets and her sons initially went into hiding. Later, they went to Camp Vught. After nine months, the family was deported via Westerbork to Auschwitz. Both parents died during this time, Bets from typhoid fever and Flip from cold and malnutrition during transport. The sons, Edo and Lex, were sent on to the Neuengamme concentration camp, where they and other children were subjected to cruel medical experiments. The brothers, together with 18 other children, were hanged and their bodies were burned in Neuengamme.

Results

Why should gen-z care?
Generation Z is growing up in uncertainty: digital overload, global crises, and fading trust in institutions.
But gen-z is also the generation that demands action to be taken.

Soon there will no longer be survivors left to tell the story. The responsibility now shifts to them - to us - to keep the memory alive and make it matter.
* If Gen Z doesn’t carry that responsibility, who will?
* If there is no hope, why care to be better?

This exhibition gives them both: a sense of duty and a sense of possibility.

By focusing on Education, Hope, and Reflection we create a journey:
from understanding to connection to action.

History is at risks to be forgotten, we help people remember and give an understanding of why it still matters today.When hate feels loud, we make hope louder. And when people feel powerless, we remind them:

It shouldn’t matter who you are... but it matters who you choose to be.

Principles:
Education: We start with history. We teach visitors something real, the stories and facts of what happened. We have the responsibility to make sure their memories are not forgotten.
Hope: In today’s world, we see the rise of hate and polarization. That’s why telling these stories matters more than ever. It’s about hope for a kinder future and a reminder that we all belong.
Reflection: Afterwards, visitors are asked to look inward, where they can reflect and take action. A generation is not only defined by what it goes through, it is equally defined by what it chooses to do with it.


Our role is to make sure GenZ show up to see it.
We’re create impact that starts outside and continues inside.

From the outside world → into the museum → into long-term awareness

About the project group

We are three students within the Immersive Experiences Advance semester.
We have been working on this project for around three months, roughly four days a week.