National Collegiate Athletic Association
NCAA News Archive - 2000
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Innovations help NCAA's Hall become more than one of fame
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The NCAA News
Imagine being hired to design a lively, interactive museum that celebrates an experience rather than a subject, like science or natural history.
Now imagine that you must do it without artifacts -- without trophies of champions, jerseys of superstars or medals of Olympians.
Further imagine that you are charged with both entertaining the visitors and educating them -- even when they might prefer simply to be entertained. On top of that, you are charged with maintaining and promoting certain values, like sportsmanship, diversity and the importance of education.
Oh yes, and don't forget to make it fun so people will come back.
All of that was the task of two design firms, 1717 and Pyramid Studios, hired to work together to design the NCAA Hall of Champions.
The new Hall of Champions in Indianapolis is the culmination of the work of many different people, including those in the two design firms hired in December 1997 to make the Hall a reality.
"We were hired as a team to
take advantage of our different
strengths," said John Crank of 1717. Pyramid Studios focused on the multimedia aspects of the Hall, while 1717 focused on the more traditional exhibit components. Both firms were contracted with by the Indianapolis Sports Corporation and the White River State Park, although members of the NCAA's Hall of Champions committee interviewed them as well.
Unique facility
The $10 million project -- of which $6 million is devoted entirely to exhibits -- was funded from a combination of sources, including the state of Indiana and private contributors. The NCAA will maintain and operate the 35,000-square-foot hall, and its 25,000 square feet of exhibit space.
"There are no artifacts. It's not a hall of fame with jerseys and trophies," Crank said. "It was very concept-driven from the very beginning, and that was part of the challenge."
The firms were responsible for writing their own scripts for exhibits and doing their own research. The first job was to get a handle on the physical space and also on what the NCAA was seeking.
"We were brought in right behind the architects," Crank said. "The idea was that the buildings should work together. It was not, 'Here's your space, fill it up.' We also knew from the beginning that there was a clear message to get across."
Crank and Bruce Hornstein, the principal designer from Pyramid Studios, built a model so they could better visualize the Hall. They used footage of NCAA championships, and they also had access to Rich Clarkson's NCAA championship photos.
As part of their research, they interviewed people at the NCAA and elsewhere in intercollegiate athletics.
"We knew that it was important for (visitors) to leave with a lingering message about the NCAA and about athletics that went beyond the game," Crank said.
"And we both had athletics in our background," Hornstein said. "And we knew that, compared to other moments in your life, those moments in athletics remain vivid. We wanted to bring the experiences of those 335,000 student-athletes to people visiting. We wanted kids to come out (of the Hall) and say, 'I can do that.' And we also wanted them to understand how being in athletics can help them out, all through their lives."
Touchable solutions
From the creation of an original musical score to the commissioning of a unique and striking "flying wedge" sculpture from a football season a century ago, components in the Hall were designed to provide visitors with many unusual experiences.
From the Great Hall, which will display banners recognizing all 81 NCAA national champions, to touch-screen video stations where visitors can access NCAA championship information and records, the Hall is full of places that have been designed to give visitors a special look into intercollegiate athletics. And the four theaters, the 144-monitor video wall and the exhibits dedicated to each of the 22 NCAA sports are full of technological wonders that the average visitor may not even notice.
"There are a lot of technological solutions that we hope to be transparent," Hornstein said. "The audience will not be aware of a lot of these things that work to make the experience what it is."
What the audience will notice is that the Hall was designed to inform, entertain and leave visitors wanting to return: mission accomplished.