One of the MANY bird models we made. “How many birds did you have to kill for this exhibit?” a visitor said crossly to one of our clients while visiting our completed exhibit at Perlan, a museum in Iceland. Much to our client’s delight, they were able to tell the visitor that no birds were harmed; they were actually sculpted models!

Perlan started out as 6 hot water tanks that serviced the people of Reykjavík. In 1991, these tanks became the base of the museum. A manmade ice cave, a planetarium, and a towering indoor cliff have transformed the space into a breathtaking experience for visitors. Taylor Studios built the 32-foot high cliff and more than 200 hundred bird models to adorn it. From bare wall water tanks to towering cliff, there was no doubt that we had made an impact.

Part of the 32-foot high cliff in process at Taylor Studio’s fabrication shop. I remember when our Perlan clients first visited our fabrication shop. They huddled together pointing out various elements on the cliff, speaking in hushed Icelandic while we waited, wondering whether or not they would like it. When they turned to us with smiles on their faces, there was a visible release of tension by the TSI team as the clients translated their thoughts into English and told us they loved the exhibits. This was a very proud moment for all of us; it was the moment we knew that we transformed their wish list into reality.

Bird models created for Perlan Nature Museum by Taylor Studios, Inc. As a Project Manager, I am the prime source of communication between our clients and TSI during a project. A big part of that is being able to suss out what a client most wants. This can be surprisingly difficult. Sometimes I’m trying to source out the main objective from a whole board of donors, other times it’s pushing beyond what a client says they physically want in an exhibit and discovering the message they want visitors to leave with. But what if a client’s resources are limited?

Sometimes we all get wrapped up in wanting to go for an extravagant exhibit. However, a simple flip door can really transform how visitors interact with a space. We’ve done surveys with past clients, and the simple mechanical interactives are what visitors are drawn to most. As a personal anecdote, I was on a walking trail in Florida that had a series of flip doors. Each station consisted of a single flip door on a post. There were no graphics explaining what the flip door was for, but it had one feature that couldn’t be ignored: on the top of each flip door was an animal poop model. You can bet I was running up to each one opening the door and reading what creature could produce that poop. My husband was quite amused at my excitement, but he was right there reading over my shoulder. In the process, we learned about animals’ diets, habitats, and predator/prey relationships. It turned a pretty walk into an educational treasure hunt.

Taylor Studios fabricated this realistic rock wall featuring hundreds of bird models for Perlan museum in Iceland. As impressive and as fun as it can be to work on as a 32’ cliff with 200 realistic birds, not all transformations require this sort of space or budget; never underestimate the power of poop.