Frankfurt: City of WOW!

Conception of a global hub

Frankfurt is far more than a geographic location – the city functions as a pulsating heart that has been sending out global impulses for centuries. As a historic trade fair city, Frankfurt was an early central hub for the exchange of goods, knowledge, and values. Media Apparat was responsible for the entire content concept and the complete implementation of the content for this project. The goal was not merely to depict this unique mix of innovation and tradition on the surface, but to translate it into a profound dramaturgy.

We developed a narrative structure that makes history tangible while simultaneously opening the view to the technological future. From the explorative approach in the exhibition to the visually stunning finale in the immersive space: Media Apparat designed the entire experience as a journey that transforms visitors from guests into part of the city. Through the combination of strategic storytelling and high-end content production, an experience was created that emotionally and technologically repositions Frankfurt's radiance beyond familiar clichés.

The exhibition: An atmospheric prologue

Before visitors enter the great hall, they pass through a multi-part exhibition that Media Apparat conceived as the content and emotional foundation. Through a sequence of three themed rooms – "Early Impulses," "Present-Day Frankfurt," and "City of the Future" – the audience is intuitively engaged on a 30- to 40-minute journey. We were responsible for the entire overarching concept including all stations, their content, and staging. The visual design and implementation of the wall graphics were carried out by Nordisk Büro.

The dramaturgy uses the "pulse" of the city as a thematic thread and makes Frankfurt tangible as a global hub. In developing the 24 stations – from the "Cradle of Democracy" to the "Banking Capital" to "Machine Dreams" – we created an eclectic mix of reduced infographics, avant-garde projection surfaces, and special children's stations. The pulse even becomes the wayfinding system – it guides visitors as a line on the floor from station to station and finally to the large-scale, immersively staged hall. While topics such as Eintracht Frankfurt (SGE) or the city's music history were staged together with Nordisk as print highlights, we simultaneously developed the media content that brings the space to life. The result is a modular, mass-appeal entry that not only informs visitors but step by step draws them into the energetic world of the Main metropolis.

The immersive space: Pulse and contrasts

While the individual stations of the exhibition deepen knowledge, the staging in the immersive space aims directly for the heart. Media Apparat conceived and realized this emotional highlight as a journey that dissolves the boundaries between past and future. On a seamless 270° projection that merges with the floor display into a massive visual unity of over 1,300 m², visitors are immersed directly into Frankfurt's energetic core. Supported by a physically palpable surround audio system, a multisensory experience is created that tears visitors out of everyday life for 20 minutes and makes them part of the urban frequency.

Media Apparat not only created the visual power but translated the entire content DNA of the city into an audiovisual choreography that celebrates Frankfurt as a living organism full of energy, contradiction, and transformation. You enter the room as an observer and leave it as part of the city.

Voice

Frankfurt: City of WOW!' is exactly what the World Design Capital 2026 stands for: design as a language that makes history and society experienceable for everyone. That 800 years of urban development become an experiential journey in the heart of Frankfurt, in a place full of its own history, is a powerful statement – for this city and for what good design can achieve

Credits

Concept (Exhibition & Immersive Media)

Media Apparat

Content Dramaturgy & Text

Media Apparat, Andreana Clemenz

Content Implementation & Content Production

Media Apparat

Production & Realization

Nordisk Büro, satis&fy, Media Apparat

Graphic Implementation Print

Nordisk Büro

Historical Consulting

Dieter Wesp

Sound Design

Georg Peter

Surround Audio Mix

Gerald Hartwagner

Main Sponsor

Messe Frankfurt

Funded by

City of Frankfurt am Main

Sponsor

WISAG

Partners & Supporters

Mainova, ECN, Pelham Power Productions, Leitz, Serien.Lighting, ERPAM, Eintracht Frankfurt

In cooperation with

World Design Capital Frankfurt RheinMain 2026

What our customers say.

When you want to create unforgettable experiences, you need partners who think creatively ahead and are at the same time 100 percent reliable in execution. Media Apparat realized our project with precision and passion, truly setting new standards.

We love working with Media Apparat because hardly anyone combines technical innovation with emotional storytelling so convincingly.

I need playmates in a playground of imagination and creativity and your company was great.

We have continuously raised our standards higher, higher and higher and I think you are wonderful solution masters and would work with you again at any time.

Excellent idea, very well executed.

A grandiose project. Anyone who has experienced it live will NEVER forget it.

1 / 7

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Tagged Exhibitions, Immersive Experiences, Tourist attractions