How do you convey something you can barely imagine yourself? For the 50th anniversary of the Swiss Paraplegic Foundation, we developed not a classic information booth for OLMA 2025, but a walk-through world to discover. Open, lively, and intuitively experienced. At its heart was a wheelchair course: visitors of all ages took a seat in a wheelchair themselves and moved through five stations tracing the path after a spinal cord injury. From the accident, through rehab, a new profession, a new everyday life, to a new life.
Five stations, one shift in perspective
The course began at a pedestrian crossing right in the middle of the stand: crossing it in a wheelchair, visitors immediately felt how much strength and skill everyday life demands. From there, the path led through the stations "The Accident," "The Rehabilitation," and "The New Everyday Life." At each station, visitors encountered the faces of the campaign, who told their stories from their own personal perspective – direct, authentic, and at eye level. This made tangible how quickly a spinal cord injury can happen, what a rehabilitation process means, and how the Foundation supports people on their way back into work and daily life. Around the course, a wheelchair basketball court and a driving simulator with split-screen racing offered space to try things out, marvel, and play together. The trade fair stand was designed for children and adults alike. At the end of the course there was no grand finale, but a mirror: visitors saw themselves in a wheelchair, while in the background the voice of the new campaign could be heard: "What would you do? One thing is certain: you are not alone." In this way, the campaign wasn't simply shown, but became part of the experience. At the information point, in front of a wall of portraits of the more than two million members, the tour ended at what the Foundation has stood for over the past 50 years: connection, closeness, and collective action. The stand itself thus became a place of encounter. People stopped, joined in, exchanged stories. Over 4,000 new contacts and 168 new memberships gained directly on site, along with more than 43 media features, demonstrate its impact. For this stand concept, we and the Swiss Paraplegic Foundation were awarded Bronze at the Xaver Award 2026, Switzerland's award for live communication.
