Laredo Water Museum
Client
Masterplanning, design, branding, content development, programming, fabrication and installation for an immersive water museum exhibit at Jefferson Water Treatment Plant in Laredo, Texas. Positioned on the Rio Grande, one of America’s most threatened water sources, the museum’s narrative examines the complex nature of water use and water rights, while informing and engaging a generation to respect and protect water resources and encourage future water stewardship.
Large-scale maps on terrazzo floors and walls, contextualizes a computer interactive of a paddler’s journey beginning in the snow-capped Rocky Mountains of Colorado. Visitors follow the Rio Grande south through New Mexico and along the shared Texas-Mexico border. Their river journey concludes at the river’s entrance to the Gulf of Mexico. Throughout this simulated journey, the large-scale touch screens highlight indigenous and invasive species impacting the Rio Grande’s ecology.
Approached from personal, regional, state, and global perspectives, The Laredo Water Museum, with it’s over 30 exhibits, addresses critical issues related to: home, agricultural and industrial water usage; the history and consequences of drought; the pervasive problem of plastic waste in our waters; water-borne pathogens and contaminants; new technologies in water purification and their impact on third-world countries; as well as recycling, water conservation and environmental stewardship. Through immersive and interactive exhibits, The Laredo Water Museum underscores the urgent need for preserving one of earth’s most precious and endangered resources—our limited supply of clean water, while highlighting the responsibility nations, local governments, businesses and individuals share in protecting this bi-national river on which the Laredo Water Museum so proudly perches.
