To the Heart of the Brand

With a dramatic exhibition design, around 70 carefully selected objects, approx. 130 big and small stories plus numerous images and films, we take visitors to the heart of the adidas brand.

The Brief

Development and execution of an exhibition that gives employees, athletes and business partners a better understanding of the adidas brand.

The Challenge

Design of a modular exhibition system for alternating exhibition contents. Presentation of objects according to stringent conservational requirements. Integration of the exhibition into the existing architecture of the adidas Brand Center.

The Idea

An exhibition tour in six stages that links the company’s past, present and future, with a focus on how the brand was created and how it has evolved.

The Reality

In conjunction with adidas’ History Management and Marketing departments, we develop an emotionally and thematically dense exhibition concept in an intensive creative process. Key elements of the concept are a modular display case system and a flexible content management system that make it possible to exchange objects and contents at will. This is why we have no printed texts in the exhibition.

All exhibit information, all stories, images and film documentation is presented on integrated iPads. The contents is edited by means of a dynamic content management system, just like a website. Only in one part of the exhibition we project headings and text introductions onto walls as multi-projection.

The new exhibition satisfies high curatorial standards and complies with stringent conservational requirements. To protect the objects, display cases are fully air-conditioned. Since visitors are not always present in the exhibition, lights only go on when a certain part of the exhibiton is entered.

The exhibition design enters into dialogue with the sophisticated architecture of the building. The challenging spatial situation offers us the dramaturgical opportunity to intensify the visitors experience in the narrow upward and downward sloping walkways.

In a six-level dramaturgy, the visitor passes through different spatial and thematic areas. In the exhibition foyer, he is welcomed by a digital split-flap display. Here, he experiences the diversity and depth of the brand: countless shoes, balls, textiles and other products as well as people associated with the brand appear on the digital flaps in quick alternation.

Then begins the ascent up the 30-metre-long “track”, which divides the narrow, tunnel-like walkway into three thematic areas. Each area introduces one of the key competencies of the adidas brand with examples from the past, present and future. These three sections contain a modular presentation system that allows content to be quickly changed.

After the ascent, the room opens out into a light-flooded platform. A suspension system consisting of over 50 hanging points is used to present the company’s latest collections for sports events and fashion highlights. The visitor is momentarily transported back to the present time.

For guided guests, there’s something special to discover on the platform. Behind a heavy concrete door is a room dedicated to the founder of the company. This is where personal objects belonging to Adi Dassler are exhibited – protected by a glowing aura of three suspended stripes.

The way back to the arena of the adidas Brand Center is lined with 16 time capsules, or “Frozen Moments”. These celebrate sporting triumphs and pivotal moments in the company’s eventful past: the first Olympic gold medal, the name search, the success of the Trefoil logo. Only the last capsule is empty. Its clock is still running, because this capsule is reserved for a moment in the future. At the exit, the visitor receives a souvenir as a reminder of his visit to the exhibition and as an incentive to achieve top performances in the future.

We supervised the exhibition as the general contractor. Concept, design, contents, technical planning, programming, motion graphics, interface design, game design and project management were all carried out internally. Klostermair Technical Solutions was responsible for construction. The project took two years to plan and execute.