For the exhibition Amsterdam, bijna gesloopt. at the grachtenmuseum Amsterdam , I was asked to create a spatial translation of the prologue. The introduction needed to immediately communicate the essence of the exhibition while guiding both Dutch and international visitors through the story in an accessible way.

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But how do you make such a complex scenario easy to understand?

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During my research, I came across an analogue technique that proved to be a perfect fit: the anaglyph. The name may not sound familiar, but you'll probably recognise it from old-fashioned 3D glasses with one red and one blue lens. This ‘magical lens’ consists of two overlapping images in different colours. Normally, you look through both lenses at the same time, causing the images to merge into a single 3D image. For this project, however, I used the technique in reverse. By looking through only the red or the blue lens, one of the images disappears while the other becomes clearly visible.

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That is precisely what made this technique so interesting for the exhibition. Both scenarios could exist within a single image. Only when looking through one of the coloured lenses does a specific scenario come into focus. In this way, I was able to make a complex story understandable in a playful and intuitive manner.

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Although the concept sounds simple, its execution proved to be quite challenging. The colours and contrasts had to be perfectly balanced—otherwise, the effect would not work. By experimenting with small test prints and colour filters beforehand, I was able to ensure that the concept would also work on a larger scale.

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Experimenting with analogue techniques is exactly what I enjoy most. At a time when almost everything can be created digitally, I find it incredibly inspiring to make, test and discover things by hand again. You never know exactly what the outcome will be, and it is often these unexpected discoveries that lead to the most beautiful solutions.

Discover here what Amsterdam could have looked like