Knorr-Bremse Forum

By Editorial Staff - 1 October 2020
Barth Innenausbau has participated in the project

Knorr-Bremse is a global leader in the manufacture of braking systems for rail and commercial vehicles and it recently overhauled its company museum - called the Knorr-Bremse Forum - in Munich, Germany, using a design by jangled nerves, an interdisciplinary design and communication practice in Stuttgart.

The new museum has a revamped display concept and brings all the memorabilia from two company branches under a single roof, as well as looking at issues like urbanization, digitalization, demographic changes and the consequences of these aspects for the future of transport.

The two-floor museum is divided into three main areas: a lobby (largely for events and presentations) and two adjacent display areas. Focusing on people and products, the displays recount the company’s history in a clear, factual language.

The custom designed and produced furniture was the work of barth, which brought its expertise to the table and worked closely with the architects and the curators at
Knorr-Bremse Forum.

In the Portfolio area of the two display sections, the products are full-size and grouped by theme. For these areas, modular furniture was created, using the specific sizes and details required in each case according to the models on display. The experts at barth used innovative software to initially define the base module and then modified this to match the requirements for each specific unit, using a 3D laser to make the exact holes needed to house the relevant display item.

Twenty-five of the display units also have integrated monitors, while on the sides, further 30 m of furniture units was manufactured to run below the windows in the Horizon section.

To increase flexibility, a series of parallel steel guides - not unlike railway tracks - run across the floor, carrying the electric wiring to the individual units and making it possible to position the units along this track as needed.