Le photographe londonien Marcin Szpak nous propose de découvrir des décors surréalistes et semblant immenses, alors qu’il s’agit en réalité de maquettes photographiées et retouchées par l’artiste. Un rendu époustouflant appelé Tabula Rasa, nous plongeant immédiatement dans un monde froid et étrange.
Models at a Norwegian fashion event walked along this looping wooden catwalk designed by Oslo studio Gartnerfuglen Architects (+ slideshow).
Gartnerfuglen Architects an a group of volunteers built the wooden structure for Up [øpp], a non-profit biannual fashion show promoting young Norwegian fashion designers.
Located in a nineteenth-century mechanical workshop, the studio designed the three-dimensional runway to make use of the generous space and create an evocative setting without detracting from the clothes.
“The concept was a three-dimensional walkway making use of both the loftiness and area of the room, creating a poetic and ambient fashion show, with organic motion, gradual transitions and spectacular photo opportunities without stealing focus from the outfits shown on the catwalk,” said the architects.
The models walked up the curving plywood ramp before circling down and underneath the structure in an almost figure-of-eight movement.
Two-by-two lumber sections created a frame with vertical elements that extended above the walkway and cross-bracing between them beneath. Thin rope cordoned the edges higher up for safety.
The length and shape of the catwalk allowed many outfits to be shown at once and gave the audience an unobstructed view wherever they were positioned.
Previously we’ve featured catwalk designs for Neil Barrett, which featured an angular tunnel that extended to form the backdrop, and scenography for Viktor & Rolf’s Autumn Winter 2013 collection by Studio Job.
See more design installations »
See more set design »
See more architecture and design in Oslo »
Gartnerfuglen Architects send us the information below:
Up Catwalk, Fall 2013
The second Up fashion show was held in a 19th century mechanical workshop, currently used by a car dealership. Inspired by the spectacular catwalks and extravaganza of the biggest fashion companies, the ambition/challenge was to create the same X-factor at a non-profit event based on volunteer work.
Given the large volume of the space, it was necessary to take on the entire floor area to achieve the spectacularity wanted. We wanted to create a “perfect object”, focusing on construction and materiality.
The concept was a three-dimensional walkway making use of both the loftiness and area of the room, creating a poetic and ambient fashion show, with organic motion, gradual transitions and spectacular photo opportunities without stealing focus from the outfits shown on the catwalk.
Based on a simple, yet sturdy, sequence of frames made from 2×2 lumber, organised in crossing circles, the rigidness of the boards was softened by its organic composition and repetition.
Assisted by a hard working group of volunteers, this self-built centrepiece structure was finished after a three day workshop. The result was a visually striking object.
The catwalk’s gliding movement in three dimensions, its height and length, give the outfits good exposure. Several models can appear on the catwalk at the same time, with the different overlapping presentations creating an interesting dynamism.
In addition to the aesthetic, the catwalk’s stretch provided the entire audience with front row seats. The models were also given enough time to show the designs, without making the show monotonous
Spectators were allowed both inside and outside the catwalk circles. It also facilitated logistics to make a seamless event.
The post Catwalk for Up [øpp] by
Gartnerfuglen Architects appeared first on Dezeen.
OMA’s research studio AMO installed a domestic interior filled with angular furniture and make-believe windows as the setting to present Prada’s Autumn Winter 2013 collection during Milan Men’s Fashion Week (+ slideshow).
Designed around a perimeter catwalk, the set was furnished with pieces from a new collection that OMA is launching this year with American furniture brand Knoll.
Above: photograph is by Giovanna Silva
Models weaved between rectilinear armchairs, colourful rugs and a variety of coffee tables, while exterior and interior scenes were projected onto the walls to create the impression of doors and windows.
The audience was positioned within two central islands and observed the action from a tiered stack of wooden seating.
Above: photograph is by Giovanna Silva
This isn’t the first time OMA and AMO have collaborated with Prada. The architects have been designing sets and stores for the iconic fashion label for over ten years.
Above: photograph is by Giovanna Silva
OMA also recently designed a new headquarters for fashion brand G-Star RAW and a modular display system for American accessories label Coach.
See more architecture and design by OMA, including a series of movies we filmed with partners Rem Koolhaas, Reinier de Graaf and Iyad Alsaka at the opening of the OMA/Progress exhibition in 2011.
See more scenography on Dezeen »
Photography is by Agostino Osio, apart from where otherwise indicated.
Here’s some information from OMA:
“The ideal house”
Prada F/W 2013 Man Show space description
As an inversion of the traditional catwalk configuration, AMO conceives a set built around the perimeter of the audience, which is seated on an irregularly shaped central island. The audience faces an “ideal house”: an interior populated with geometric furniture, objects and manifestations of everyday life. The models weave through this set, acting as characters in a sequence of sophisticated domestic scenes.
Above: photograph is by Phil Meech
A series of images are projected through multiple windows frames onto the perimeter wall. They alternate between outdoor urban images and interiors, expanding the show space and working as backdrop to the interior sets.
The stage and the island are built in wood. The entire scene is unified by a neutral light grey color that covers both stage and the perimeter wall. Furniture is built in wood, metal and Plexiglas in combination with paper textures, while objects are realized in blue foam and / or painted wood.
The abstract and geometric furniture that populate the ideal house are anticipations of the upcoming series designed by OMA for Knoll: a collection of 12 pieces of essential design and maximum adjustability that meet the most diverse range of uses. Furniture will be launched officially in their final version later this year.
The post The Ideal House by AMO
for Prada appeared first on Dezeen.
Japanese studio Ryo Matsui Architects hung steel chains to create upside-down domes above the stage of a music recital in Tokyo (+ slideshow).
The stage set was created last spring for a performance of Hypnagogia, a recital named after the drowsy state between sleep and wakefulness.
A total of seven domes were suspended above the heads of performers and were illuminated with colours that changed for different stages of the music.
See also: a suspended network of chains in a church in Belgium.
Photography is by Tetsu Hiraga.
Here’s a little more information from Ryo Matsui Architects:
It was scenic art project which was held in Nihonbashi Mitsui Hall, Tokyo in March, 2011.
“Hypnagogia” was the play which consisted of words and music.
Site: Nihonbashi Mitsui Hall
Promoter: M-site
Date: 12-13th March 2011
Principal Use: Scenic Art
Play wright/Theatre Director: Bun-oh Fujisawa
Pianist/Composer: Hibiki Inamoto
Aromatherapist: Ayaka Arito
The post Hypnagogia by
Ryo Matsui Architects appeared first on Dezeen.
Architect Frank Gehry filled a stage with crumpled paper for a recent production of the Mozart opera Don Giovanni (+ slideshow).
The performances took place at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, the venue designed by Gehry that opened back in 2003.
White platforms were scattered amongst the scrunched-up lengths of paper and could be moved around to create a huge staircase at the centre of the stage.
The orchestra surrounded the performance from the back rather than the front, bringing the audience closer to the action.
The production was the first in a trilogy of operas written by Mozart and librettist Lorenzo da Ponte that the LA Philharmomic is staging over three years and the other two will reportedly feature set designs by architects Zaha Hadid and Jean Nouvel.
Frank Gehry also recently designed a theatre in New York, which you can see here.
Other architects to have designed stage sets include OMA and John Pawson.
See all our stories about set design »
Photography is by Autumn de Wilde.
Here are the full details of the show from the organisers:
The Los Angeles Philharmonic have revealed the complete creative team and full cast for Don Giovanni, the first installment of an ambitious three-year Mozart/Da Ponte opera project presented at Walt Disney Concert Hall. Joining Gustavo Dudamel, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and Frank Gehry are Kate and Laura Mulleavy, founders of fashion house Rodarte, and acclaimed director Christopher Alden. One of the most celebrated young interpreters of the role, Polish baritone Mariusz Kwiecien will lead an international cast as Don Giovanni, sharing the stage with equally notable soloists.
Three of the greatest operas ever written were collaborations between librettist Lorenzo da Ponte and composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: The Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni and Così fan tutte. Over the next three years, the LA Phil will present the trilogy (one opera each season), each conducted by Gustavo Dudamel. Set designs will be created by three of the most influential architects of our time, and each architect will work with leading fashion designers to create a unique and distinctive visual setting for each of these timeless masterpieces. Each complete opera performance will be a Walt Disney Concert Hall first.
In a fitting beginning, Don Giovanni brings together an acclaimed, Los Angeles-based team. Architect Frank Gehry returns to Walt Disney Concert Hall – the landmark building of his own design that not only transformed Los Angeles, but is now one of the most recognized architectural structures in America – to create an environment uniquely imagined for this auditorium.
“This is an inspiring opportunity to work with my friends at the Los Angeles Philharmonic. This is a project very close to Gustavo Dudamel’s heart. He knows the music like the back of his hand, and has a unique vision that I find very exciting,” says Gehry. “Kate and Laura’s work reminds me of my early days – it is free and fearless and not precious.”
Gehry envisions a set that he describes as a “moving still-life on the stage” that works in concert with the costumes and supports the music of Don Giovanni. Gehry’s modifications will place the orchestra upstage on raised lifts approximately three and a half feet above the action taking place downstage. The choir benches will be removed to allow space for the orchestra. This layout aims to create a unified ensemble between the orchestra and soloists, with a focus on the action at the front of the stage, creating intimacy between the soloists and audience. This configuration has recently been tested in a rehearsal with Gustavo Dudamel and Yasuhisa Toyota, the chief acoustician who collaborated with Gehry and the Los Angeles Philharmonic to develop Walt Disney Concert Hall’s visual and acoustic designs.
California natives, Kate and Laura Mulleavy- the creative force behind the internationally recognized fashion house Rodarte- make their operatic costume debut. Founded in Los Angeles in 2005, Rodarte is the winner of the Cooper Hewitt 2010 National Design Award for fashion and the designers and creators of the ballet costumes for the Academy Award winning film, Black Swan. Admirers of Gustavo Dudamel and Frank Gehry, Kate and Laura are honored to be a part of the Don Giovanni creative team. “Frank Gehry is an incredible artist and brilliant innovator whose unparalleled vision has redefined the modern landscape. We are great admirers of Gustavo Dudamel’s masterful and inspired direction,” says Kate and Laura. “Opera has always been a part of us; our grandmother was from Rome and studied it as a young girl. To be a part of the legacy of Don Giovanni is an amazing opportunity. Working with Frank Gehry in the concert hall that he designed, alongside Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, is a dream.” Kate and Laura’s ambition is to create a timeless context for Mozart’s characters, bringing together tradition and their unique point of view.
Director Christopher Alden belongs to a generation of modernist directors known for his use of contemporary imagery and, on occasion, minimalist visual style. He has an eye for bold theatrical gestures that are dramatically effective and his approach to stagecraft is driven by a desire to reveal how powerfully opera stories can resonate with modern experience. Alden has said that “however fascinating the era in which an opera was composed may be, I have a primary responsibility to the world we live in now.” Christopher Alden replaces Paul Curran, who had to step down from the production due to scheduling issues.
Le nozze di Figaro, the second installment of the LA Phil’s Mozart/Da Ponte trilogy, will be performed in May 2013, and the trilogy will conclude with a production of Così fan tutte in May 2014.
The post Don Giovanni set design
by Frank Gehry appeared first on Dezeen.
Slideshow: OMA have created a stage set for an ancient outdoor theatre in Sicily that dates back to the fifth century BC.
A circular wooden platform provides the main stage, while the backdrop is a seven-metre-high tilted disc that can spin around or split down the middle. A ring of scaffolding completes the circle of the tiered amphitheatre to form an elevated walkway behing the stage.
The set will remain in place throughout the summer and was inaugurated on Friday with a performance of ancient Greek play Prometheus Unbound.
OMA have unveiled a few new projects in the last month, including a performance institute in New York and an arts venue in Moscow. Rem Koolhaas gave Dezeen a quick introduction to that project, which you can watch here.
An exhibition documenting the working processes of the firm also took place at the end of 2011 at the Barbican Art Gallery in London, where we filmed a series of movies with OMA partners Koolhaas, Reinier de Graaf and Iyad Alsaka. Watch the series here.
Photography is by Alberto Moncada.
Here’s some more information from the architects:
OMA designs stage set for ancient Greek theatre in Syracuse
OMA’s design for the stage set at the Greek Theatre in Syracuse, Sicily, was inaugurated with the performance of Aeschylus’s Prometheus Unbound (directed by Claudio Longhi). The scenography features three temporary architectural devices that reinterpret the spaces of the theatre, which dates from the 5th century BCE.
OMA’s interventions will be dramatically exploited and adapted at strategic moments within this summer’s cycle of plays staged by the Istituto Nazionale del Dramma Antico, which also includes Euripides’ Bacchae (dir. Antonio Calenda) and Aristophane’s The Birds (dir. Roberta Torre).
The first intervention, the Ring, is a suspended walkway that completes the semi-circle of the terraced seating, encompassing the stage and the backstage, and giving actors an alternative way of entering the scene.
The Machine is a fully adaptable backdrop for the plays: a sloping circular platform, seven metres high, mirroring the amphitheatre. The backdrop can rotate, symbolizing the passage of 13 centuries during Prometheus’s torture; split down the middle, it can also be opened, allowing the entrance of the actors, and symbolizing dramatic events like the Prometheus being swallowed in the bowels of the earth.
The Raft, a circular stage for the actors and dancers, reimagines the orchestra space as a modern thymele, the altar that in ancient times was dedicated to Dionysian rites.
The Greek Theatre scenography – executed by AMO, the unit within OMA dedicated to non-architectural and transient projects – is part of the office’s long history of designing innovative performance spaces, from the Netherlands Dance Theatre (1987) and the Wyly Theatre in Dallas (with Rex, 2009), to the Taipei Performing Arts Centre – three adaptable theatres plugged into a central cube, now under construction in Taiwan. AMO has also designed scenography for ephemeral events such as Prada catwalk shows and Francesco Vezzoli’s 24-Hour Museum in Paris earlier this year.
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