NIKE ·
NIKE ·
NIKE - FORM FOLLOWS MOTION
Developed in collaboration with Nike, Form Follows Motion is a concept, exhibition, and book marking fifty years of Nike design. The project traces the brand’s evolution through unseen archives, factories, and research facilities, revealing how performance and innovation have shaped its design language.
The exhibition premiered at the Vitra Design Museum in Basel (September 2024 – May 2025) and will travel to Madrid and the United States. The accompanying book is published by the Vitra Design Museum and available in selected bookstores.
The vertical jump test is part of the baseline assessment for athletes at the Nike Sport Research Lab (NSRL). The stickers on the right show how high athletes like Michael Jordan and LeBron James can jump.
The Nike Advanced Product Creation Center (APCC), located at the headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon, is a top-secret state-of-the-art facility focused on innovation in product design. It’s a hub for rapid prototyping, allowing designers to quickly test and refine new ideas for shoes and apparel.
The Department of Nike Archives is a treasure trove of the brand's history, housing over 200,000 rare artifacts, prototypes, sketches, and memorabilia. This includes everything from the first Nike "Swoosh" design to early mechanical Shox prototypes, match shoes worn by Michael Jordan, Andre Agassi and Tiger woods, and much more. The archive is not open to the public, maintaining an air of mystery for years, but it serves as a key resource for Nike's ongoing design and innovation efforts.
Nike’s LeBron James Innovation Center houses the Nike Sport Research Lab, where scientists and designers study athletic performance using 400 motion-capture cameras, 97 force plates, and climate-controlled chambers. The facility includes a full basketball court, 200-meter track, and 100-meter incline ramp, along with a last library holding molds from some of the greatest athletes, including LeBron himself.
CREDITS
Client: Nike
Assistants: Mark Dexter and Edgar Salmeron
Curator: Glenn Adamson
Exhibition design: Jayden Ali
Book design: Daniel Streat
With thanks to Sara Jhanjee and Nick Schonberger at Nike.
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