This written report is part of a design research project which explores crisis as a narrative and how it is communicated within the Swedish public sphere. The project delves into the complexity surrounding Sweden’s national emergency preparedness to war crisis on a holistic level to gain a perspective on the different interplay of power structures. The written report includes a contextual analysis of Sweden’s 2018 brochure If Crisis or War Comes (Om krisen eller kriget kommer) to draw a parallel connection between past and present narratives. The design research process is conducted through artistic and designerly experimentations as a way of exploring and mapping the topic’s complexity. The design research project uses a Swedish emergency shelter room (skyddsrum) as an artistic and overarching metaphor of the cumulated research. The aim of the design research project is to instigate critical thinking and dialogue surrounding the narrative of war crisis from the perspective of change.