Life at the Limits: Stories of Amazing Species explores the diverse and often amazing strategies animals and plants employ to find food, fend off predators, reproduce, and thrive in habitats many would find inhospitable, even lethal. The exhibition introduces visitors to bizarre mating calls, extraordinary examples of parasitism and mimicry, and other amazing means of survival, using specimens, videos, interactive media, live animals and models — including a climbable Hercules beetle. 

The exhibit design was inspired by the Mobius strip, a reference to the infinite number of adaptations in the natural world. The show’s floorplan took the form of a figure eight, and the strip was expressed in elevation as a weaving wall, housing interactives, specimens and live animals, as well as all of the interpretation. The strip is illuminated from within, so text and specimens glow. Bringing movement and light to the show, the wall becomes an object in itself.

Graphics embraced and underlined the movement of the walls. Sections are delineated by bands of bold color, which hold titling information. The band grows into a strong diagonal arrow at section breaks; the arrows help orient visitors in spaces with many layers of content. Throughout the show, graphics pull apart dense content into expansive infographics and lighten the overall tone with “road sign” logos for featured animals or plants.