9 Ways to Incorporate a Venue's Architecture Into Event Design

Producer Ben Bourgeois produced the party, where laser-cut paper foldouts as tabletop centerpieces were meant to represent the architecture of Grand Avenue and surrounding buildings downtown, including Disney Hall and the new Broad. LED lights illuminated the representations of the buildings so they appeared to glow from within.

In anticipation of the public opening of Los Angeles’s newest contemporary art museum, the Broad, Edye and Eli Broad hosted the venue's inaugural celebration in September. Designed by Diller Scofidio & Renfro in collaboration with Gensler, the 120,000-square-foot, $140-million building is a piece of artwork in itself with its honeycomb-like exterior (known as "the veil") and column-free exhibition space on the third floor. The recognizable architecture of the new museum was a natural choice to inspire the opening party.

Inside the Broad museum opening party, glowing orbs illuminated the space and provided decor. The monochromatic orbs nodded subtly to the all-white exterior of the venue.

The J. Paul Getty Trust awarded the third annual J. Paul Getty Medal to architect Frank Gehry at the Getty Center in Los Angeles on September 28. Ben Bourgeois produced the event with a unique ceiling treatment inspired by architecture: A series of angular gray frames outfitted with neon tubing illuminated guests, and also made the entire ceiling glow as their reflections bounced off the clear-top tent.

Mirrored tabletops at the J. Paul Getty Medal event evoked the shimmering façade of a famous Gehry-designed building, Disney Hall.

When another Los Angeles museum opened from the Broad family in 2008, that fete too was inspired by the museum’s unique architecture. Producer Ben Bourgeois was behind the Broad Contemporary Art Museum’s bash, and he said he tried to to create an atmosphere in keeping with the museum’s architecture and artwork. The team brought in a contemporary 22,000-square-foot steel structure for the dinner, covering most of the surfaces within it in white Ultrasuede with 12 cube-shaped light installations, also covered in Ultrasuede, hanging above. The installations—done in the same red tone as the building’s now highly recognizable façade—included bottom panels lit using programmable plasma-screen tiles. (They also changed color throughout the evening.)

Producers created a performance stage for the Broad Contemporary Art Museum's party meant to both mimic and also reveal the dramatic architecture of the museum: Lionel Richie performed during the dinner, as did musician William Joseph, who entertained on a stage that lowered from the structure's ceiling. As it got to the floor, the structure’s south wall dropped, revealing the Broad Contemporary.

The Residence of the German Ambassador in Washington is a modernist space decorated with variations on the square form. The building itself served as the design inspiration for this year’s Opera Ball, a benefit for the Washington National Opera, in June. The architectural inspiration appeared in two custom structures at the entrance, which included logos that allowed them to double as step-and-repeats as well as a welcoming entryway.

For the Washington National Opera benefit, organizers created a canopy to hang over the middle section of the patio, with tents flanking it. The canopy’s design featured a geometric look—in keeping with the building architecture—with perforations that allowed guests to see through to the night sky.

A backdrop behind the bar at the opera event consisted of floral arrangements set up in a cubby-like structure that also mimicked the angular, geometric forms inspired by architecture.