Stefano Boeri unveils football installation in Manchester
At this year’s Manchester International Festival, The Playmaker by Stefano Boeri Architetti brings the spirit of football legend Sandro Mazzola into the heart of a gallery space. Part of the exhibition Football City, Art United, set inside the industrial halls of Aviva Studios – Factory International and on view until August 24th, 2025, the installation invites visitors to experience football as a way of moving, thinking, and remembering.
The Playmaker is made up of three cylindrical modules, like small arenas, where people can move freely. The walls are punctuated by circular holes, some small, others larger, based on suggestions from professional footballers. Visitors can pass through them, stretch, duck, twist, or even invent new moves. The floors are covered with graphic patterns by Mexican artist Eduardo Terrazas, adding rhythm and color to the experience, while the lighting design by Prema Mehta turns the whole environment into a stage.
images courtesy of Factory International
Football City, Art United pairs artists and footballers
Part of a larger group show curated by footballer Juan Mata, Serpentine’s Hans Ulrich Obrist, and filmmaker Josh Willdigg, with Holly Shuttleworth as co-developer, Football City, Art United pairs 11 artists with footballers to explore what the two worlds can learn from each other. The Playmaker stands alongside works by Eric Cantona, Edgar Davids, Ryan Gander, and more, offering new perspectives on how football and art shape culture.
The design team’s idea for The Playmaker stems from Boeri’s admiration for Sandro Mazzola, a standout player in Italy’s 1968 European Championship win and the golden era of Inter Milan. Boeri saw Mazzola not simply as a footballer but as a tactician and artist whose play was shaped by vision and instinct. The installation captures this fusion of intellect and motion, inviting visitors to reflect on football as an expressive form shaped by memory, movement, and imagination.
The Playmaker by Stefano Boeri Architetti celebrates the spirit of football legend Sandro Mazzola
part of the exhibition Football City, Art United
the installation invites visitors to experience football as a way of moving, thinking, and remembering.
The Playmaker is made up of three cylindrical modules
the idea for The Playmaker stems from Boeri’s admiration for Sandro Mazzola
the walls are punctuated by circular holes, some small, others larger
lighting design by Prema Mehta turns the whole environment into a stage
Football City, Art United pairs 11 artists with footballers
floors are covered with graphic patterns by Mexican artist Eduardo Terrazas
part of a larger group show curated by Juan Mata, Hans Ulrich Obrist, and Josh Willdigg
Stefano Boeri, Anastasia Kucherova and Juan Mata inside the installation
project info:
name: The Playmaker
architect: Stefano Boeri Architetti | @stefanoboeriarchitetti
exhibition: Football City, Art United
festival: Manchester International Festival 2025
location: Aviva Studios – Factory International | @factory_international, Manchester, UK
collaborating artist: Eduardo Terrazas
design team: Stefano Boeri, Pietro Chiodi (partners in charge), Anastasia Kucherova (project leader), Mohamed Hassan Elgendy
lighting design: Prema Mehta
curators: Juan Mata, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Josh Willdigg
co-developers: Holly Shuttleworth
dates: July 5th – August 24th, 2025
commissioners: Factory International, TO Live, ARTRA
producer: Factory International
partner: Common Goal
photographer: © Factory International
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