The redevelopment of the Olympic Museum in Lausanne has been more of marathon than a sprint, having first been announced in 2007 when Jacques Rogge was the president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
The museum, which first opened in 1993, reopened late last year following a redevelopment programme that took nearly two years.
The permanent exhibition is divided into three themes on three different floors: the Olympic World, which looks at the origins of the games in ancient Greece and their rebirth and modernisation in the late 19th century under French aristocrat Pierre de Coubertin’s vision; the Olympic Games, which follows the sporting careers of the athletes; and the Olympic Spirit, the part of the exhibition covering areas such as winning and losing, ethics and comradeship.
The museum also has a temporary exhibition space, which opened with the Russian Avant-Garde and Sport (until 18 May).
This explores sport in the Soviet Union in the 1920s and 1930s through art, particularly photography, cinema and graphic design. More than 70 companies were involved in the redevelopment, including many from the UK.
Why was it decided to renovate the museum?
Francis Gabet: It was not because the traffic was down, or anything like that. It was more because it was the end of a life cycle. In the former museum we had a lot of chronological displays on the wall and we knew that after the 2012 London Olympic Games, we did not have any more space for Sochi and Rio, so we had to do something.
Does the IOC have a large collection?
We have 30,000 objects, 15,000 stamps, 700,000 photos and 200,000 hours of video. There are also archives and books.
We are thinking in terms of our acquisition policy not just in terms of what we display here but to collaborate with others. It is not always easy but our reach should be global.
Are there any objects that had to be on display?
Of course – medals, torches, mascots, official posters, all what we call the icons. And also pieces of equipment to represent big names like Jesse Owens and Usain Bolt. You must have things like that, this is why people are coming, but our job is to show more.
Is it difficult to cater for such a wide audience?
We are really international and whenever we make a choice about the displays we are really careful to have a good balance of the continents, and things like that. It is always in our mind to be multicultural, global, to respect the balance between genders and to really represent what we believe in.
Were there any museums that were inspiring in helping you to develop the Olympic Museum?
Our benchmark is more social history and civilisation museums than anything else.
Sometimes with the interactive parts, science and maybe sports museums were there, but the rest was more developed with museums that specialise in social history and civilisation in mind.
What is innovative about the museum?
We did not look to be innovative, our goal was more to say how can we be relevant to all these audiences we have today and be sure that in 10 to 15 years’ time we do not have to go back to a white sheet of paper.
That’s why the name of the project is Museum 2020, so we never forget that we want the museum to be relevant not just today when we opened, but in 10 years’ time. Maybe the innovative part is how we built the project.
We did not give the museum to a person and say: “Do it.” We put the museum team at the centre and then we tried to use the strengths of every contractor and it was a dialogue. The diversity of the approach was part of the richness of the project.
www.olympic.org/museum
The museum, which first opened in 1993, reopened late last year following a redevelopment programme that took nearly two years.
The permanent exhibition is divided into three themes on three different floors: the Olympic World, which looks at the origins of the games in ancient Greece and their rebirth and modernisation in the late 19th century under French aristocrat Pierre de Coubertin’s vision; the Olympic Games, which follows the sporting careers of the athletes; and the Olympic Spirit, the part of the exhibition covering areas such as winning and losing, ethics and comradeship.
The museum also has a temporary exhibition space, which opened with the Russian Avant-Garde and Sport (until 18 May).
This explores sport in the Soviet Union in the 1920s and 1930s through art, particularly photography, cinema and graphic design. More than 70 companies were involved in the redevelopment, including many from the UK.
Why was it decided to renovate the museum?
Francis Gabet: It was not because the traffic was down, or anything like that. It was more because it was the end of a life cycle. In the former museum we had a lot of chronological displays on the wall and we knew that after the 2012 London Olympic Games, we did not have any more space for Sochi and Rio, so we had to do something.
Does the IOC have a large collection?
We have 30,000 objects, 15,000 stamps, 700,000 photos and 200,000 hours of video. There are also archives and books.
We are thinking in terms of our acquisition policy not just in terms of what we display here but to collaborate with others. It is not always easy but our reach should be global.
Are there any objects that had to be on display?
Of course – medals, torches, mascots, official posters, all what we call the icons. And also pieces of equipment to represent big names like Jesse Owens and Usain Bolt. You must have things like that, this is why people are coming, but our job is to show more.
Is it difficult to cater for such a wide audience?
We are really international and whenever we make a choice about the displays we are really careful to have a good balance of the continents, and things like that. It is always in our mind to be multicultural, global, to respect the balance between genders and to really represent what we believe in.
Were there any museums that were inspiring in helping you to develop the Olympic Museum?
Our benchmark is more social history and civilisation museums than anything else.
Sometimes with the interactive parts, science and maybe sports museums were there, but the rest was more developed with museums that specialise in social history and civilisation in mind.
What is innovative about the museum?
We did not look to be innovative, our goal was more to say how can we be relevant to all these audiences we have today and be sure that in 10 to 15 years’ time we do not have to go back to a white sheet of paper.
That’s why the name of the project is Museum 2020, so we never forget that we want the museum to be relevant not just today when we opened, but in 10 years’ time. Maybe the innovative part is how we built the project.
We did not give the museum to a person and say: “Do it.” We put the museum team at the centre and then we tried to use the strengths of every contractor and it was a dialogue. The diversity of the approach was part of the richness of the project.
www.olympic.org/museum
Project data
- Cost £38m
- Main funder International Olympic Committee
- Architect BWTK
- Exhibition masterplanning Metaphor
- Exhibition design Mather & Co
- Fit-out Paragon Creative
- AV software Centre Screen
- Graphic design Base
- Identity Jane Wentworth Associates
- Landscaping L’Atelier du Paysage
