The passing of Muhammad Ali reminded me not only of watching some of his great boxing matches as a kid with my dad—an avid boxing and wrestling fan—but also of another project we were involved in several years ago.
Back in 2002, we were commissioned by Portland-based Formations Inc. to provide signage and display concepts for the Muhammad Ali Center in Louisville, Kentucky. Formations had been selected to provide exhibit design and fabrication for two floors of the six-story building, and I suspect we were asked to participate simply to augment their conceptual output.
For a flat fee, we focused on specific areas of the center, and were given total freedom to develop ideas without consideration for fabrication and installation costs—an especially enjoyable (and very rare) assignment. The 93,000-square-foot building opened in late 2005, but without any of those ideas.
May The Greatest rest in peace.
