Special Exhibition “Designing the Beautiful Game” Officially Inaugurated

The FIFA Museum in Zurich is opening its doors for the next milestone in its history: ’Designing the Beautiful Game’, an exhibition from the Design Museum in London.

The special exhibition explores the story of how design has been used to push the game to new limits. ‘Designing the Beautiful Game’ has been opened to visitors at the FIFA Museum in Zurich today.

’Football: Designing the Beautiful Game’ premiered at the Design Museum in London last year and marked the first major exhibition focusing on the design aspects of the sport, mesmerizing audiences with captivating narratives and immersive displays.

The exhibition has now been developed in collaboration with the FIFA Museum, bringing additional objects from the museum’s own collection, to create an experience tailored to the special exhibition space in Zurich.

The exhibition explores defining moments of football history through three main sections: Performance, Identity and Crowds. Each facet approaches the game from its own unique perspective through objects, photos, films, and sound clips, bringing design’s crucial role to the forefront of our understanding of football history and development.

From the boots of Pelé to the shinpads of Lionel Messi, visitors can explore the innovative kit advancements that have developed alongside the growth of the game, perfecting the performance potential of today’s players.

Objects dating back to the very foundation of association football’s 150-year history will allow visitors to examine how equipment has evolved to fit the needs of the sport, comparing the heavy leather balls of the first FIFA World Cup in 1930, to the lightweight, microchipped wonders that determined just who kicked it and when at Qatar 2022.

The Identity section will delve into the fans’ contribution to the game over the years, celebrating the passion and tradition that has shaped individual footballing communities all over the world, while establishing a greater global connection.

The exhibition has carefully curated fan memorabilia to explore their unique relationship with the beautiful game, examining everything from every day match programmes to the incredibly poignant memorial banner, created by Liverpool fan and Hillsborough Disaster survivor, Peter Carney.

Whether football is played between two jackets for goal posts, or in one of the world’s most significant stadiums, there’s nothing like being a part of a crowd that shares your passion for the game.

In the Crowds section, the exhibition takes you on an immersive stadium tour, through the sights, sounds, structures and sensations that have been minutely considered to maximise fans’ match day experience.

Delve into the minds of history’s greatest stadium architects as you admire the details of legendary venues such as Montevideo’s Centenario or the San Siro in Milan.

FIFA Museum Managing Director, Marco Fazzone, expressed his enthusiasm for the exhibition, stating: “We are thrilled to collaborate with the Design Museum and bring this captivating exhibition to our visitors in Zurich. This wonderful exhibition allows us to look at football from another angle and shed light on the influential role that design has played in the development of our beautiful sport. Teaming up with the Design Museum has been a very exciting, creative and fruitful experience for us!”

The Design Museum’s Director Tim Marlow adds: “Football is the great global game, familiar to more people on the planet than any other sport, but it has never been explored extensively through the lens of design. We are delighted that our landmark exhibition looking at how football has been shaped by design is being staged at the FIFA Museum who are great team mates to work with.”

‘Designing the Beautiful Game’ is open from today, admission is included in the regular museum ticket. The special exhibition will be shown at the FIFA Museum in Zurich until 25 February 2024.