In Nepal there is a sacred place called Lumbini, where the Buddha – whose name means "enlightenment" – was born. During a recent vacation there, Axel von Hagen, CEO of exhibit design firm Von Hagen GmbH, had his own moment of deep insight. Watching the sunrise caress the nearby hills, prayer flags, and wooden cottages, he was inspired to bring that same soul-stirring moment to potential customers. "But how could we deliver that moment of emotion in a commercial exhibit?" he wondered. Collaborating with ChrisWendel Inc., von Hagen's answer was to distill some of the more tangible essentials of that experience (stone, wood, and light) into an exhibit whose sensuousness mirrored Nepal's own. Immediately noticeable to guests approaching the booth was a mountain-like back wall of midnight-black slate. Flanking the expanse on one side were six LED pillars – inspired by Nepal's gentle sunrise and prayer flags – that cycled through the company's three corporate colors: yellow, pink, and red. On the ground in front of the columns were five parquet planks of varying length, whose warm honey hue complemented the slate floor, echoing the harmony between Nepal's mountains and wooden abodes.

Just as the Nepalese landscape offers visual marvels that seem impossible, two "steel" beams seemed to float in the air. Running nearly 15 and 7 feet long, respectively, the beams were made of lacquered wood and suspended from nearly invisible wire cables. "This stand is a testament to the firm's creative capabilities," said one Exhibit Design Awards judge. Because of its extreme altitude, Nepal is famed as "the roof of the world." In recreating its own version of the land's ethereal ambiance, Von Hagen reached a Himalayan height of design. E