Everyone should be able to find their way around public places, right? Unfortunately, that’s not usually the case: Guidance systems are often designed solely with visual cues in mind, excluding people with various disabilities.
The “LABOR:leitsysteme” collaboration project, led by Un-Label, the TH Köln, and the Orangerie Theater, aims to change that. A multisensory wayfinding system for the Orangerie Theater grounds is intended to ensure that as many people as possible can find their way around easily in the future. On June 16, the students will present their prototypes of the wayfinding systems at the Orangerie Theater. Anyone interested is cordially invited to attend the presentation.
Presentation
June 16, 2026, at 7 p.m.
Orangerie Theater Köln, Volksgartenstr. 25, 50677 Cologne
Admission is free. All are welcome.
About the LABOR
Working in four teams, students in the Integrated Design and Code & Context programs at TH Köln are developing prototypes, guided by Access experts with disability perspectives from Un-Label and educational staff at TH Köln. These prototypes go far beyond traditional signage: visual, tactile, and auditory elements combine to form a wayfinding system that appeals to different sensory perceptions and takes user needs into account.
“Collaborating with people with disabilities as experts on accessibility and perception has implications not only for making design practice more inclusive, but also for the university itself.”
The results won’t end up in a drawer: The prototypes will form the basis for a concrete grant application to actually implement a wayfinding system at the Orangerie Theater. This is made possible by long-standing partnerships: Un-Label, the Technical University of Cologne, the Orangerie Theater, and the Kämpgen Foundation have been working closely together for years. The project is one of the first of its kind in Germany: a real-world laboratory where university teaching, disability expertise, and theater operations directly intertwine with their respective knowledge. The model developed can be adapted for other cultural venues and is intended to serve as a blueprint for inclusive wayfinding systems in the cultural scene. The project phase is made possible by the Kämpgen Foundation within an active partnership in which the resources of all participants complement one another synergistically, and it serves as a feasibility study for subsequent implementation. It is a model of effective civil society collaboration that moves beyond traditional funding logic.
“The goal is to consistently take the diversity of human abilities into account as a resource in the design of technology.”
We’re looking forward to an exciting event on June 16!
Sponsored by
Cooperation Partners
