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    ICRAVE unveils sci-fi interiors of MSG Sphere Las Vegas

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    US studio ICRAVE has revealed images of the public spaces inside the world’s largest spherical structure in Las Vegas.

    Chosen through an international competition, ICRAVE was tasked with designing the interiors of the public spaces within the MSG Sphere Las Vegas by Sphere Entertainment – the giant venue’s operator.
    Upon entering the MSG Sphere Las Vegas, visitors are ushered through an arched passagewayThe scope included the building’s entry bridges, lobby and guest welcome areas, the main concourse, food and beverage outlets, as well as private artist dressing rooms, and VIP clubs and suites.
    The 20,000-person venue, designed by architecture firm Populous, was unveiled over the summer.
    In the main atrium, the building’s curves continue across the intersecting balconies and bridges. This photo and top are by Rich Fury / Sphere EntertainmentWhile the building’s exterior is covered with 580,000 square feet (53,900 square metres) of programmable LED panels, the inside glows with bands of coloured indirect lighting.

    “The spectacle that is Sphere on the outside sets the stage and bar for how magical the designed experience ICRAVE was tasked with must be on the inside,” said the studio, which has offices in New York City and Miami and is led by Lionel Ohayon.
    The colourful indirect lighting throughout the public spaces can be customised for different performancesUpon entering the venue, visitors are ushered through a series of repeated illuminated archways before arriving in a vast eight-storey atrium.
    Here, the building’s curved form is continued through a series of sweeping balconies and bridges, which intersect at different points across multiple levels to create “a sense of continuous motion”.

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    Thresholds and doorways are also shaped as either circles or ovals, while beside the escalators, a 160-foot-tall (49-metre) scrim wall hanging acts as a huge lenticular light installation.
    Reflective black terrazzo flooring creates a sci-fi feel within the public spaces, which is further enhanced by the coloured lighting.
    Thresholds and doorways are shaped as circles and arches, while black terrazzo flooring reflects the light”The lighting sets the tone and ‘performs’ as part of the Sphere experience from entry, to Atrium activation, to showtime, and as you transition out of Sphere and back to the bustle of Vegas,” ICRAVE said.
    The studio also designed the various food and beverage spaces within the venue, each carrying a distinct character.
    Each of the food and beverage outlets features a different designTucked into areas where the ceiling height is lower, these bars and food vendor spots include fluted panels, dark counters, and more indirect lighting.
    Throughout the building, mathematical graphics added to surfaces are derived from the equations used in the Sphere’s construction.

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    In the dressing rooms, artists can enjoy lounge areas and massage chairs, as well as makeup stations, private bathrooms and showers.
    Meanwhile, the VIP viewing suites feature a mix of absorptive and reflective materials intended not to distract from the performances.
    The venue can accommodate up to 20,000 visitors”In an effort to create a transformative entertainment space that takes artists and fans out of the mundane and into the future, ICRAVE sought to bring life to every inch of Sphere, not just the stage,” said the studio.
    “With a sophisticated mix of lighting, soundscape, visuals, ambiance and tactile elements, audiences and the artists will have a captivating experience like nowhere else in the world.”
    A huge scrim wall behind the escalators acts like a lenticular lighting installation. Photo by Rich Fury / Sphere EntertainmentThe Sphere began its programming in October with a concert by U2, featuring visuals by designer Es Devlin, artist John Gerrard and more on an enormous wrap-around screen.
    A similar venue was also planned for London, but the government put the project on hold earlier this year to give the Secretary of State more time to review the proposal.
    The photography is by ICRAVE unless stated otherwise.
    Project credits:
    Owner and developer: Sphere EntertainmentArchitect: PopulousInterior designer: ICRAVELighting designer: JourneyAudio engineer: ARUPAudio tech / manufacturer: Holoplot

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      AB Lafitte creates colourful and “eccentric” music venue in Oklahoma City

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      This live music venue in Oklahoma City was created by local interior designer AB Laffite as a “psychedelic funhouse” using carnival lighting strips and a palette of sunset hues.

      Resonant Head occupies a previously vacant building on SW 25th Street in the historic Capitol Hill neighbourhood, south of the Oklahoma River from the city’s downtown area.
      While designing the Resonant Head venue, the angled ceiling proved to be the toughest constraintWith a capacity of over 250, the renovated space is intended for hosting small performances within a visually stimulating and immersive environment.
      “Designed to be a carnival-like playground for both fans and artists, the venue reintroduced the building’s original mid-century modern architecture as a psychedelic funhouse,” said Laffite.
      The bar area was given a nostalgic diner-style feel”The goal was to create an eccentric design that maintained the character of the building while also straying from the typical dark and industrial music venue aesthetic,” she added.

      The renovation of the building involved negotiating the “wildly angular” original concrete ceiling, which is the most prominent visual element and proved to be the biggest design constraint.
      A central column was wrapped in gold mirror strips and the ceiling ribs were edged with carnival lightsThe designer chose to highlight its geometric faux coffering using four different sunset-hued paints and attaching strings of multi-coloured carnival lights to its ribs.
      A central column, from which the ceiling panels emanate, was wrapped in thin strips of gold mirror and encircled by a counter for placing drinks.
      A red leather banquette tucked into a niche provides a seating areaAt the back of the venue, the raised stage area is painted red, lined with iridescent silver curtains and illuminated by thin neon tubes.
      The diner-esque bar combines yellow-gold laminate, chrome edge banding, amber glass blocks, mosaic tiles and terrazzo flooring to create a nostalgic feel. “1970s club swank was the goal,” Laffite said.

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      To one side of the bar is a seating area, where red leather banquettes are set into a niche in the wall and accompanied by cafe tables and chairs. Sconces by lighting brand Rich Brilliant Willing add a soft glow.
      Meanwhile, “the restrooms are destinations in themselves,” according to Laffite, who added checkerboard tiles, retro-coloured glazed sink and urinals, and pilled-shaped mirrors.
      In the bathrooms, the designer added checkerboard tiles, retro-coloured sinks and pill-shaped mirrorsThe aim of the project overall was to create a unique spot for locals to enjoy music together, as well as to help revive a once-bustling commercial thoroughfare.
      “The conversion of this former department store (and later bar) into a music venue has returned a social gathering place back to the community, where it will hopefully become a cultural anchor in the revitalisation efforts of the Capitol Hill neighborhood,” said Laffite.
      The venue is located within a mid-century building in Oklahoma City’s Capital Hill neighbourhoodSelf-described as a Midwest-based designer, she founded her own studio in 2021 after working in the Los Angeles design industry for several years.
      Elsewhere in the US, other small performance venues and nightclubs to recently open include Supernova in Seattle, designed by Mutuus Studio to be an inclusive environment for all.
      The photography is by Justin Miers.

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      Mattaforma considers “plants as clients” for Public Records outdoor space

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      Local design studio Mattaforma has created a plant nursery and community space for Public Records, a music venue and restaurant space in Brooklyn.

      The Nursery at Public Records sits in an outdoor space adjacent to the Gowanus institution’s other programming, a vegan cafe, club and listening lounge. It serves as a nursery for plants and as an outdoor music venue.
      Public Records expanded its programming to an adjacent empty lot, adding a DJ booth and plantsThe team at Public Records wanted to turn the adjacent, empty lot into a functioning space.
      To do so while limiting new construction, the team took advantage of several storage units already on the site, positioning them as both separators and inhabitable spaces for both humans and plants.
      Mattaforma created a system of wooden trusses to shelter the plants and equipment”The brief was an over winter nursery for their garden plant collection, as well as a community space that people could enjoy and learn about plants,” Mattaforma co-founder Lindsey Wilkstrom told Dezeen.

      “With this in mind, we focused first on designing a space that relied solely on passive heating in the winter, treating the plants as our clients first, then adapting a plant-oriented space towards humans as our secondary clients.”
      The trusses are lined with polycarbonate panelsTo house the plants, Mattaforma installed wooden pratt trusses lined with polycarbonate panels.
      The trusses were made on-site out of Microllam R laminated-veneer lumber (LVL), a manufactured wood that combines micro-layers of different kinds of woods like fir and larch.
      The space is meant to hold plants year-roundAccording to Wilkstrom, the material was chosen for its durability and also its manufacturer, Weyerhaeuser.
      “[It’s] the first American timber company to call for regenerative forest stewardship over 100 years ago and who still maintains today some of the highest ethical standards in their replanting initiatives, meeting SFI certification and transparency in their evolving ESG performance metrics,” said Wilkstrom of the company.
      Vents were included in the trusses to allow for passive cooling during the summer months. The trusses also extend out over the sound system and DJ booth to celebrate the DJ booth “like an altar”.

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      Public Records also created the sound system for The Nursery, working with audio engineer Devon Ojas and manufacturer NNNN to develop a custom system that includes two blue-green and black speakers.
      In addition, the team brought in engineering firm Arup to advise on the acoustics of the space and New York-based Cactus Store to supply additional vegetation for the site.
      Besides the plants within the containers, trees and a grove of bamboo were installed around the concrete dance floor.
      Sustainable timber was used for the trusses”The Nursery is intended to be an ecological/urban intervention that serves to bring people and plants together, in reaction to the challenge of re-imagining an asphalt parking lot,” said Public Records, which was founded by Shane Davis and Francis Harris and has existed on the north end of Brooklyn’s Gowanus Canal since 2017.
      The once-industrial areas of Brooklyn have seen a variety of art and culture institutions moving in past years. Recently, a derelict powerplant, once known for its graffiti culture, was renovated by Swiss architecture studio Herzog & de Meuron into an arts centre.
      Elsewhere in the borough, Ennead Architects and Rockwell Group converted a 19th-century train warehouse into a headquarters for a charitable organisation.
      The photography is by Adrianna Glaviano.

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      Another Seedbed is a Brooklyn apartment that doubles as a performance space

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      In this renovated loft in Brooklyn, the owner both resides and hosts public art performances within a space divided by a variety of inserted volumes.

      The loft is located in a late 19th-century cast iron building in Williamsburg that once served as a hat factory, and was renovated by a team of architects.
      A team of architects renovated the loft, inserted volumes to conceal private areasIgnacio G Galán, Jesse McCormick, Khoi Nguyen and Julie Tran of Future Projects collaborated to turn the industrial space into a residence that could also serve as a venue for artistic performances and other public events.
      Named Another Seedbed, the project recalls the use of lofts in New York City by artists in 1960s to 1980s for developing experimental works.
      The bedroom is hidden behind red-stained plywood panels and accessed through a concertina doorThe owner and activator of this apartment began organising parties, performances and other events in a similarly industrial space in Bushwick.

      He then decided to create a dedicated space for himself to live and work, as well as host other artist friends who needed square footage to bring their ideas to life.
      Hand-troweled earthen clay plaster covers the bathroom volume”Neither just a private studio nor an art gallery, the space is equipped to welcome gatherings that operate between a dinner party and a public performance,” said the project team.
      “Artists appropriate the space and become hosts themselves, expanding the communities which the project brings together.”
      Inside, the bathroom is lined with blue penny-round tilesThe apartment is organised as a largely open-plan space, with private areas concealed inside inserted volumes.
      Red-stained pine plywood panels hide the bedroom, which is accessed via a concertina door, and also contain storage.
      Moveable furniture helps to arrange the apartment for performancesThe bathroom occupies another volume that’s covered in hand-troweled earthen clay plaster outside and lined entirely is blue penny-round tiles inside.
      An open kitchen with grey cabinetry sits below a framework of coloured wood, featuring smokey polycarbonate panels that are lit from behind.

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      This frame extends into the living area to form a floor-to-ceiling shelving unit, on which books and objects are displayed, and a projector for screening videos onto the opposite wall is housed.
      A variety of moving furniture pieces, including an ochre-toned sofa on wheels, help to choreograph the events and arrange the apartment as desired by whoever is using it.
      The owner and his artist friends are able to transform the space to present their work”The space will not advertise its performances,” said the team.
      “Some neighbors might not know of its existence. Others will hear about an event through friends. Some might find themselves there often and will develop networks of neighbourliness within it.”
      Performances are open to the public but not advertisedBrooklyn has both a thriving arts scene and a wealth of defunct industrial buildings for hosting exhibitions, performances and events.
      Herzog & de Meuron recently completed the transformation of a derelict power plant in the borough into arts centre, while the Public Records creative venue added a bar and lounge on an upper floor of its former warehouse building earlier this year.

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