Titled “The Genealogy of Speed,” Nike commissioned us to create an exhibition showcasing the significance of its 30 most innovative products, in the run up to the 2004 Olympics.

The brief stipulated that we collaborate with an architect of our choosing to bring the show to life. The other requirement was that we develop an unprecedented way of exhibiting Nike’s legacy of technology and innovation.

Our design solution was a series of movable cylindrical vitrines housing 27 of Nike’s fastest, most innovative shoes. Linked to a fiberoptic lighting network, the shoes were clustered into 8 different curatorial groupings.

From an ultra-rare “Moon Shoe” prototype from 1972 (purchased by us for the show via Japanese Ebay), to the latest cycling shoe for Lance Armstrong (at the time, still on top of the racing world), the exhibition was reconfigured every hour by a team of Speed Curators during opening hours. “Didactic panel” information about each shoe was sandblasted into the acrylic housings.

The entry signage was, fittingly, an analog race clock. And the catalog for the exhibition was a 200 page flip book aptly titled A Brief History of Speed.

Installed at the Nike Blu House on Venice Beach, we served hand made waffle cones from a custom-fabricated ice cream bar on opening night.

Agency: Stephen Kinder Design Partnership; Creative Directors: John Kieselhorst, Conny Purtill; Architecture: David Erdman (AIA), Servo Architecture, Julianna Morais (AIA), Frank O. Gehry & Associates; Designers: Graham Hill, John Kieselhorst, Conny Purtill; Producer: Karen Kimmel; Project Manager: Jenelle Porter