Fallout: Atoms for War + Peace

Merit Award 2026

Fallout: Atoms for War & Peace chronicles the global development of the nuclear industry, tracing its dual legacy of peaceful applications and military destruction. Two days before the outbreak of World War II, a scientific paper described the theoretical process of nuclear fission, in which the controlled splitting of an atomic nucleus releases a vast amount of energy. Over the next decade, scientists worldwide perfected this process, producing two of the most impactful inventions of the modern era: the nuclear bomb and the nuclear power station.

Agency

Kudos Design Collaboratory, KASA Collective

Practice Area

Exhibition

Client

Poster House

Industry

Museums

The exhibition examines the visual culture surrounding this transformative technology, featuring posters that both promoted and protested nuclear energy throughout the second half of the 20th century. Central to the exhibition is the complete General Dynamics poster series, widely regarded as the finest examples of corporate propaganda ever created, alongside more than 60 other posters critiquing the proliferation of nuclear technology. Curated by Angelina Lippert and Tim Medland, the exhibition situates these works within a historical and cultural context that explores ambition, fear, and the politics of power.

The Challenge

One of the central challenges of Fallout: Atoms for War & Peace was translating a nuanced curatorial narrative into a physical experience that could communicate the ideological split at the heart of nuclear technology. The exhibition needed to balance two opposing histories—optimism surrounding scientific advancement and the fear generated by nuclear warfare and environmental catastrophe—while maintaining a cohesive visitor journey. Organizing the material into juxtaposed thematic groupings required an exhibition design that could dramatically shift tone and atmosphere between the two major sections of the show without disrupting the overall narrative flow.

Project Vision

The vision for the exhibition was to immerse visitors in the cultural and emotional contradictions embedded within the nuclear age. Drawing inspiration from Erik Nitsche’s Atoms for Peace poster and its visualized “explosion” of opposing ideologies, the exhibition sought to create a dynamic spatial experience that mirrored the promise and peril of atomic energy. The design aimed to move visitors from the vibrant optimism of postwar technological ambition into the increasingly urgent and fear-driven anti-nuclear movements of the late 20th century, using visual language, color, scale, and spatial transitions to reinforce the curatorial narrative.