studio-louter-natural-history-museum-maastricht-mosasaur-experience

Meet Bèr

Natural History Museum Maastricht, Maastricht (NL), 2024

A legendary mosasaur once swam in the place where Maastricht stands today. In an immersive experience, visitors can meet this enormous animal and the scientists studying him.


Photos: Raoul Limpens

Our Bèr

In 1998, in the ENCI quarry on the bank of the Maas in Limburg, researchers discovered the fossil remains of a gigantic prehistoric mosasaur. The creature was nicknamed Bèr. Ever since, Bèr’s skeletal remains have been on display at the Natural History Museum of Maastricht, along with the rest of the mosasaur collection.

Encounters

Thanks to years of research, scientists know more than ever about mosasaurs. So the museum was inspired to create a new introductory experience and bring Bèr’s story to life. We developed the concept “Our Bèr: The only real Dutch dinosaur, which isn't actually a dinosaur”. The experience is all about encounters: visitors meet Bèr, the star of the show, plus the paleontologists and the museum’s other mosasaurs.


Video animation: Shosho

The world of the Cretaceous

We created an immersive introductory experience that plunges visitors into the world of the Cretaceous Period. The highlight is Bèr’s impressive 11-metre-long reconstructed skeleton, a joint project by Naturalis Biodiversity Center and the Natural History Museum of Maastricht. Using 3D scans of Bèr and a closely related animal from Angola, Naturalis staff created a computer model of how the complete mosasaur must have looked. As visitors enter, they gaze straight into the maw of the giant. A large projection on the back wall brings Bèr and his underwater world to life.

Meet the scientists

Around the gallery, visitors can meet different scientists. At a variety of interactive information stations, they can find out what paleontologists do and why they’re fascinated by mosasaurs. Getting to know the experts, the Cretaceous Period, Bèr and the other mosasaurs gets visitors excited about the permanent exhibition and gives them an opportunity to fall in love with the iconic mosasaur.

Credits

Client
Natural History Museum Maastricht

Content design
Studio Louter

Graphic design
Studio Scheffers

Spatial design
Buro Loof

Photography and audio
Bas de Wal & Guy Houben

Animation
Shosho