Science you can touch Phänomena is already breaking records before the opening

On March 14, the Phänomena science exhibition opens in Dietikon ZH - a new edition of the 1984 event. The tents, which have been up for a few days, are the largest of their kind in the world.

Urs Müller seems in a good mood and tidy on this foggy, icy morning in the no man's land between Dietikon ZH and Spreitenbach AG. But he should be under a lot of pressure. Not only does the Phänomena science exhibition open in just over five weeks. Six weeks later it is already moving on, probably to Basel. It hasn't even been approved there yet, just like the five other exhibition venues in Switzerland.

"But we are on the verge of obtaining a permit in many places," says the event director reassuringly.

Wait a minute - Phänomena? That's right, there has been one before. It was in 1984 and attracted more than a million visitors to the Zürichhorn from May to October. It then moved abroad, to South Africa, Rotterdam, southern Germany and back to Zurich. More than 5 million people saw the exhibition.

This was followed in 1991 by the Heureka exhibition on Zurich's Allmend, where researchers showed how they arrived at their findings.

Traveling exhibition until 2030

Urs Müller wants to return to the roots with Phänomena. He promises "hands-on science". But touching is one of those things. The first area that visitors will experience is AI and robotics. "For example, you will be able to create a digital twin within a minute and then talk to it," he announces. Another AI application has decoded and imitates the communication of bees. "In the exhibition, you will be able to communicate with a bee colony via the application," he promises. The bees will be in nature, filmed and the images transferred to the exhibition.

The Phänomena of the 21st century has a long history behind it. Like Heureka, it was originally planned to take place in the Allmend as a fixed, six-month national science and technology exhibition. The organizers failed due to resistance from local residents on the one hand and the costs of CHF 68 million on the other.

The Phänomena, which starts in mid-March 2026, is a traveling exhibition. After Dietikon ZH, it will take place in Basel, Yverdon NE, Lucerne, Altstätten SG, Biel BE, Zurich and Chur. All within a year, four to six weeks in one place. "Can we name the locations yet?" Müller asks his employees, having already decided at that moment that they can. "Apart from Dietikon, nothing is definite yet," he adds as a reminder.

The tour will start again in Dietikon in spring 2027, but with a new theme: guests will then experience mobility and energy. In 2028, the focus will be on biodiversity and climate, in 2029 on space, and finally, in 2030, Phänomena will reinterpret physics and chemistry, according to the head of the event series.

The exhibition includes an app that points to places in Switzerland where scientific findings or technical installations can be experienced - such as the disappearing Aletsch glacier for climate change or the Grimsel for energy production. Müller promises that 15 trails will be ready at the start of the Phänomena and 60 by the end of the first season.

The Phänomena is a family tradition

Urs Müller himself has a long history with the science exhibition, as the historical model was created by his father Georg Müller. "I made individual exhibits myself back then," he reveals. After completing his apprenticeship as a joiner, he trained as an orthopaedic surgeon and worked in prosthesis research before moving into management and renovating hospitals. "And that's my son, by the way," he says, pointing to a craftsman reaching for a tool in the background.

Phänomena founder Georg Müller is now 90 years old, fit and still very interested in the event. His father gave him the idea to try his hand at a new edition: "He wanted there to be another exhibition that presented the current state of science and encouraged me to take the project into my own hands." When Urs Müller had to abandon the original comeback format, he knew what he had let himself in for.

But that didn't mean the project was dead for him. "Phänomena on Tour" costs a modest 26 million francs compared to the original project - a budget that can be met with private and public funds, as he reveals.

World records in Dietikon ZH

Müller's good mood at zero degrees in the fog is also due to the fact that the tents are up and the event has thus established its home and a world record.

The domes are inflatables, inflated structures familiar from bouncy castles. Unlike the classic Blasio element, however, they do not have to be permanently inflated, but only when the sensors detect that the pressure inside the walls is no longer high enough. Air then flows in automatically until the pressure is right again.

The six domes in which the Phänomena science experience world is set up cover an area of 2200 square meters. The highest dome is 15 meters high and has a diameter of 30 meters. The Chinese manufacturer of this temporary dwelling has already built many smaller tents, but never one this large. "No one else has ever built an inflatable of this size either," emphasizes Müller.

They erected the Phänomena tent for the first time in China. The plastic sheets are so heavy that they have to be lifted into position with a large crane - with millimetre precision, Müller emphasizes. "It was 30 degrees in China, so PVC is more flexible and easier to move. They weren't sure how well the inflation would work in the Swiss winter." For this reason, they only invited the media after the six interconnected tent domes had been inflated.

Water-filled beads, which hold the tent walls to the ground, ensure that the structure is not blown away. The tents alone weigh 20 tons, with the ballast it is 120 tons. "And what happens if a teenager rams his pocket knife into the wall?" a journalist wants to know. "Then the system pumps up and keeps the pressure constant," Müller answers calmly. He doesn't seem to be worried. The walls can be repaired.

Technical understanding as a democratic right

Federal Councillor Guy Parmelin will open the Phänomena on March 13. From March 14, the public will be immersed in the world of AI and robotics. According to Müller, it will take around two and a half hours to get to grips with all the exhibits. This will not be cheap. Adults pay 38 francs, children 28 francs - that's 132 francs for a family of four. There will be arrangements for school classes, as well as other discounts, for example for the local population at certain exhibition venues, according to the Phänomena boss.

Behind all of this is also the desire to get people interested in technical professions in order to counter the shortage of engineers, IT and other technical specialists. "Many people have already told me that Phänomena 1984 inspired them to learn a technical profession," says Müller.

It is also important for democracy that people understand science and technology. "If they no longer know how the things that surround them work, you can do whatever you want with them," he is convinced. In this way, Phänomena not only wants to win visitors over to science and technology, but also educate them so that they can decide how they want to use them - and how not.