Ajax Experience
Location
Amsterdam, NetherlandsClient
Amsterdam Football Club AjaxSurface area
700 m² / 7,535 sq ftCompletion date
2011
The Ajax Experience was a highly interactive sports experience dedicated to the legendary Dutch football club AFC Ajax. As a result of its numerous interactive components, the exhibition was able to stand out from traditional halls of fame, offering a highly immersive, emotional, and participative experience for Ajax fans.
A collaboration between Sid Lee and GSM Project, the experience chronicled the history of the team, featured personal accounts from some of the players, and offered visitors—most importantly—a chance to play the beautiful game.
Partners
Sid Lee
«The museum invites guests to partake in a series of playful games and learn about the team’s history.»
Frame Magazine
Paying tribute to Ajax and its academy
One of the most successful clubs in the world, AFC Ajax’s unique approach to training young players has resulted in the development of a staggering number of exceptional players, including Dutch national legend Johan Cruyff, Dennis Bergkamp, Wesley Sneijder, Frank de Boer, and many others.
" Ajax’s academy ... developed more of today’s elite players in Europe than any other soccer team. "
Bloomberg Business
Come play with the best
The interactive elements of the exhibition were organized around the four key concepts of Ajax player development: technique, insight, personality, and speed. In the Technique stations, for instance, visitors kicked a real ball at digital targets that appeared on a large screen in front of them. In the Insight section, several interactive tables listed the key strategies of Ajax gameplay and then identified them each time they appeared in a recent game.
Located on the historic Rembrandtplein in central Amsterdam, the Ajax Experience catered both to local fans and to people from outside of Amsterdam. Throughout the gallery, visitors were exposed again and again to the team’s philosophy, one that is imparted to prospective players from a very young age and that has been refined over more than a hundred years of team history.
Summary
A collaboration between Sid Lee and GSM Project, the experience chronicled the history of the team, featured personal accounts from some of the players, and offered visitors—most importantly—a chance to play the beautiful game.