Cleveland Heights exhibit designer Karen Katz knows firsthand how children’s imaginations can run wild. That’s why, when designing the House of Stories in Paris, France, she invited children’s book characters to jump off the page and join children where their wildest imaginations can run true. Katz, who specializes in interactive learning exhibits for children and holds a master’s degree in Museum Exhibition Planning and Design, accepted the Children in Museums Award on behalf of the House of Stories on Sept. 25 in Alicante, Spain. Established in 2011, the Children’s Museum Award is presented by the European Museum Academy and Hands On! International Association of Children in Museums to recognize excellence in museum experiences created for children. House of Stories has two locations in Paris – the original housed at the Chantelivre bookshop – which Katz began designing in 2022. “The whole idea behind the House of Stories is that kids step inside the story, and they could buy the book afterwards at the bookstore and read within the space,” Katz, a congregant of Congregation Mishkan Or in Beachwood, told the Cleveland Jewish News. “My responsibility as the designer was to come up with the interactive concepts for each story. ”
One story, as an example, centers around dogs that live on a pirate ship and the adventures that they had. Working with small square footage, but tall ceilings, Katz wondered how she could fit a climber into the design to maximize the space – and the story that featured a pirate ship was the perfect way to include that element. “It takes up very little space, but they can climb all the way up,” Katz said. “It was a really good way for me to match some really popular interactives that I knew worked well at children’s museums with different stories. ”
For Katz, the details are the most important. So when beginning her design process, she said she prefers to go “old-school” with hand-drawn sketches before digitizing the concepts. “It works because as I’m drawing, I can really immerse myself into how it looks, what the kids are doing, what the parents are doing, and focus on the little details of each interactive,” Katz said. “Each kid that I put in my drawing helps me really step inside the space and see how the kids are interacting with it. ”
After the successful opening at Chantelivre, Katz designed a second, larger space of the House of Stories in the Bastille district. “Both locations have had over 200,000 visitors total,” Katz said. “It’s extremely busy and sold out for weeks, if not months, ahead of time.