RAA and LEVA Collaborate on The Whale’s New Visitor Experience

September 2, 2026

LEVA joins Ralph Appelbaum Associates (RAA as they shape The Whale, the new knowledge and experience center in Andenes, Norway. Opening in 2027, The Whale will explore whale life, ocean conservation, and humanity’s relationship with the marine environment.

Designing an Emotional Visitor Experience

Italian creative engineering company LEVA is developing two permanent installations for the attraction. Meanwhile, RAA and Tamschick Media + Space (TMS) are leading the exhibition design. Together, the companies are combining exhibition design, spatial storytelling, custom engineering, and digital technology.

RAA’s experience design expertise supports the team’s goal of making complex scientific ideas clear, emotional, and memorable. As a result, visitors will discover stories about whales through movement, light, media, physical forms, and carefully planned spaces. In addition, technology will support the narrative without becoming the main attraction.

Bringing Whale Stories to Life

First, LEVA’s large kinetic display will explore the diversity of whale species. The installation will feature original artwork by nature artist and scientific illustrator Rachel Ivanyi. By combining physical movement with curated visual content, the team will make whale biology engaging and accessible.

The second installation will examine industrial whaling and its impact on whale populations. In this experience, scientific research and historical data will be presented through light, physical form, and spatial choreography. Therefore, the reflective environment will encourage visitors to consider the changing relationship between humans and whales.

Making Knowledge Memorable

“Museums should not simply be places where information is presented. They should be places where knowledge is experienced and where visitors are moved emotionally. Technology should never become the story, but it can help make the story unforgettable. Some of the most powerful experiences are not digital at all, but physical and mechanical, allowing visitors to see patterns, relationships and change unfold before their eyes. At The Whale, we are exploring new ways of making complex scientific data and ideas intuitive and visually compelling, bringing together artists from all over the World, the designers from RAA and technical specialists from LEVA to create entirely new forms of storytelling.”

— Hanne Strager, Director of Exhibitions, The Whale

Ultimately, the project will transform scientific knowledge into an emotional and memorable spatial experience. Designed by Dorte Mandrup, The Whale is scheduled to open on June 4, 2027.