Shared History Project

The Shared History Project seeks to make history globally accessible and relevant to today’s audiences, focusing on 1300 years of Jewish life in German-speaking lands. Over the course of a year, the project featured weekly releases of historically significant objects in both 2D and virtual formats, enhancing educational and intercultural engagement.

The project's logo—a two-dimensional frame symbolizing the projection of time and our framed perceptions of it—serves as the cornerstone of its visual language. This conceptual approach extends to the UX information architecture, where timelines, maps, lists, epochs, and themes evolve with each weekly object release, forging new links to previous releases. By offering users various paths of discovery, the project facilitates opportunities to recontextualize existing beliefs.

Complimentary to the 2D web experience, the project offered a full virtual museum space, accessible on a broad array of devices, from desktops to VR headsets. The VR environment continued the frame metaphor with a meticulously designed metallic tube system which was both aesthetic and functional. This monoline tubing facilitated wayfinding, helping users navigate the timeline within the virtual space, and separately functioned as pedestals for artifacts and gateways to immersive historical scenes.