Ajax Experience | Sid Lee Architecture

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Description

In 2010, Sid Lee Architecture, in collaboration with gsmprjct°, Sid Lee, and Jimmy Lee, was mandated by the AFC - Ajax Football Club, to create the brand new Ajax Experience. 

Video 1 | Ajax experience | Sid Lee Architecture

A museum experience that praises the epic sports franchise, allowing the visitors to discover what has led Ajax to become one of the most respected teams in the history of football. Located beforehand at the Ajax Stadium in a more classic and smaller space, and then relocated at the Arena stadium at the outskirts of the city, the Ajax football club's museum would already attract a large number of football afficionados. However, the club wanted to give the museum a third life and have it this time in a more central position. So the goal was to turn this museum into an experience and to reconnect it to the heart of its city, Amsterdam.

The Ajax Experience is located on the most popular square in the center of Amsterdam, the Rembrandtplein, not far from the place the club was originally founded in 1900: the Café Oost- Indië in Kalverstraat. The Experience was set in an iconic building called the “bank” that used to host the ABN AMRO Bank, hence embodying this legendary place that bounds the team to its city.

The Experience aims at celebrating a unique history of successes through a series of playful and interactive events, and inspiring historical memories. The visitors will be bathed into the discovery of the history of the team, its heroes, and they will find out what it takes to build a young player into an iconic player, in essence how Ajax succeeds in building great players. At the term of the experience, the visitors will have fully understood how Ajax builds giants.

The project is built around the peak of the trail : the stadium. It is located at the center of the museum, and its stadium-like architecture leaves a "reverse bleachers" feel to the whole museum. The trail is conceived as an enfilade so that the visitors can fully live the developing process of an athlete: from the Giants who've engraved his memory to his own glory on the field. The museum is divided into 7 big steps or different experiences: History Hall; The Ajax Academy; The Locker room; The "Pitch"; The Stadium; Ajax around the world and The Retail

Biography

Sid Lee Architecture – Founded in 2009 following the integration of the architecture firm NOMADE (founded in 1999), Sid Lee Architecture is a partnership between seasoned architects and urban designers Jean Pelland, Martin Leblanc and Sid Lee, with a global commercial creativity company. Established in Montreal, with satellite offices in Amsterdam and Paris, Sid Lee Architecture boasts a team of 25 architects, technicians, designers, managers and support personnel. This multidisciplinary team enjoys a solid reputation, having successfully carried out many large-scale projects. Sharing common views on interior design, brand strategy, urban approach, and the role of context, the Sid Lee Architecture team has had the opportunity to put its knowledge and expertise to work, successfully completing a wide range of multidisciplinary projects.

Sid Lee – Is a multidisciplinary creative team of 550 artisans of many areas that work globally for top-tier clients, based on its Montréal, Amsterdam, Paris, Toronto and Austin ateliers. This platforms is made of people passionate about embedding brands, products, spaces and services with meaning and resonance.

gsmprjct° – With a history going back 50 years, gsmprjct° is today a collective of four integrated teams established as pioneers and major players in the field of exhibit design and production. The collective believes that each project is a collaborative process that leads to unique explorations and results. This philosophy has allowed gsmprjct° to create avant-garde environments that speak to visitors, crossing mediums and disciplines — from dance to theatre, architecture to business, the environment to communications, and the arts to the sciences.

Striving to provide better solutions to meet new and growing needs in the fields of design and visual communication, gsmprjct° has developed in-house multidisciplinary resources that give it the means to offer a range of comprehensive and holistic services — including research, design, technology development, and multimedia content creation, as well as project management, fabrication, maintenance, and operations facilities. In using this innovative approach to create great design classics around the world, the collective’s sensitivity to issues of cultural identity and its ability to deliver high-end projects while tapping into local resources have proven to be great assets.

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Technical Info

author
Sid Lee Architecture
http://www.sidleearchitecture.com/
Graphic Design
Sid Lee
http://www.sidlee.com
interactive & Museum exhibit + multimedia
gsmprjct°
http://gsmprjct.com/
production e postproduction
Jimmy Lee
contractors
Fiction Factory

project
Ajax Experience Museum
location
Amsterdam
client
AFC Ajax
http://www.ajax.nl/

date
2011
copyrights
Photography © Ewout Huibers
http://www.ewout.tv/

 
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