The transformation
Hans Christian Andersen’s House, Odense (DK), 2025
“Life itself is the most wonderful fairy tale”, said Hans Christian Andersen. He rose from humble beginnings to become a famous author. Today, visitors can experience that transformation in his magical fairy-tale universe.
A new story structure
In collaboration with the museum team and creative partners, we gave the museum in Andersen’s hometown a major update. With more color, context, and innovative media, we redesigned the existing setup into an immersive, social experience. The storyline was reimagined around a new concept — ‘the transformation’ — and structured in two parts: a biography and a fairy-tale world, joined by a transformative climax
Transformation of an outsider
Visitors follow a winding path through Andersen’s youth, travels, career, and romances, visualized as a panorama drawn from his own works. Andersen’s life (1805–1875) was filled with hardships. As a poor, likely queer outsider, he lived in a time of rigid social norms. Yet, like many of his characters, he transformed from ugly duckling into a world-renowned swan.
Transformation of the Visitor
At an immersive pond, visitors undergo their own transformation. In the moonlight, surrounded by fish and water lilies, they see their reflection as... a swan! This way, the exhibition’s theme, transformation, becomes deeply personal. Visitors come to realize that everyone holds the potential to become a ‘swan’.
On a twig
We restructured the fairy-tale world around an open space where visitors gather on a giant ‘twig’, surrounded by big flowers. Here, they feel as tiny as Andersen’s Thumbelina. Together, they explore the fairy tales in a surprising way through revised animations and a new quiz – ‘Which fairy-tale character are you?’.
Bringing fairy tales to life
In the surrounding rooms, the fairy tales are brought to life, making them closer than ever before. The ducklings from The Ugly Duckling waddle from their nest into the galleries, and take flight as swans. The dogs from The Tinderbox have grown so large they span two floors, and the story of The Snow Queen is projected onto the fragments of her shattered mirror palace.
Photos by Ard Jongsma/Hans Christian Andersen’s House and OPERA Amsterdam
Credits
Client
Museum OdenseContent Design
Studio LouterSpatial Design & Graphic Design
OPERA AmsterdamMedia Production
ShoshoConstruction
Kloosterboer