The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) has a reputation for doing things differently—and the gala celebrating its avant-garde Next Wave festival was no exception. With inventive decor and an unusual venue, the event did its best to keep the attention of 560 guests, including Isabella Rossellini, performance artist and musician Laurie Anderson, and composer Philip Glass.
BAM special events manager Jennifer Stark spoke to us after the event about how an unusual look and atypical locations are a must. Keeping in line with this premise, BAM brought on Christian Wassmann—an architect at Steven Holl Architects—as the event's designer. Taking inspiration from the gala performance of Bang on a Can’s Lost Objects (the piece was based on the notion of things that can be lost, such as languages, traditions, and objects), Wassmann fabricated a theatrical piece of his own, putting together a cocktail reception in the academy’s LePercq Space and dinner in a neighboring office tower.
Wassmann created a dark space for the cocktail party, where a display of discarded metal objects—like silvery pots, pans, and fan grates—dangled from the high ceiling with fishing wire. Tiny spotlights hit the installation as it moved slowly in the air, producing a random shimmering effect. Dark lighting, coupled with blue-fabric-covered lounge furniture, gave the feeling of an underwater landscape; the sparkling metal objects mimicked light coming through the surface of water.
After the performance, guests made their way to the office tower at 2 Hanson Place, where they stepped into an unusual environment. Guests found a hushed white, raw office space on the 14th floor decorated with a crinkled, cloudlike white tunnel made of Tyvek (an inexpensive and strong material used for construction). Plush gray carpeting led to the dinner space—an area with two massive glass walls overlooking the Manhattan and Brooklyn skylines. Small billows of Tyvek suspended from the ceiling diffused fluorescent light. (The idea was to begin at the depths of the sea, be uplifted by the performance and continue to ascend to the clouds—sort of like being lost and then found—get it?) At the tables, multicolored glow sticks from Extreme Glow at each setting were used as place cards; table numbers were written with red oil paint on four-inch round mirrors. Centerpieces consisted of low plastic bowls strewn with red gardenias, white and purple daisies, pillar candles, and chunks of steaming dry ice.
During cocktails, Great Performances offered hors d’oeuvres such as Maryland crab cakes, seared yellowfin tuna on miniature rice crackers with wasabi aioli, and ginger chicken dumplings with plum sauce. For dinner, the main entrée was sliced tenderloin of beef au jus with a butternut squash soufflé, baby red potatoes, and caramelized shallots. And for dessert were Anjou pears poached in red wine, and crème caramel.
Wassmann is interested in sustainability, and he kept that in mind while conceiving the gala's playful, fleeting environment. After noticing many full trash bins after events, he used materials that could be reused. All 400 yards of Tyvek and fluorescent bulbs were donated to the Watermill Center; metal objects and scraps from the cocktail area were either donated to the Salvation Army or Materials for the Arts; and the gray carpeting was given away to Brooklyn locals.
—Mark Mavrigian
BAM special events manager Jennifer Stark spoke to us after the event about how an unusual look and atypical locations are a must. Keeping in line with this premise, BAM brought on Christian Wassmann—an architect at Steven Holl Architects—as the event's designer. Taking inspiration from the gala performance of Bang on a Can’s Lost Objects (the piece was based on the notion of things that can be lost, such as languages, traditions, and objects), Wassmann fabricated a theatrical piece of his own, putting together a cocktail reception in the academy’s LePercq Space and dinner in a neighboring office tower.
Wassmann created a dark space for the cocktail party, where a display of discarded metal objects—like silvery pots, pans, and fan grates—dangled from the high ceiling with fishing wire. Tiny spotlights hit the installation as it moved slowly in the air, producing a random shimmering effect. Dark lighting, coupled with blue-fabric-covered lounge furniture, gave the feeling of an underwater landscape; the sparkling metal objects mimicked light coming through the surface of water.
After the performance, guests made their way to the office tower at 2 Hanson Place, where they stepped into an unusual environment. Guests found a hushed white, raw office space on the 14th floor decorated with a crinkled, cloudlike white tunnel made of Tyvek (an inexpensive and strong material used for construction). Plush gray carpeting led to the dinner space—an area with two massive glass walls overlooking the Manhattan and Brooklyn skylines. Small billows of Tyvek suspended from the ceiling diffused fluorescent light. (The idea was to begin at the depths of the sea, be uplifted by the performance and continue to ascend to the clouds—sort of like being lost and then found—get it?) At the tables, multicolored glow sticks from Extreme Glow at each setting were used as place cards; table numbers were written with red oil paint on four-inch round mirrors. Centerpieces consisted of low plastic bowls strewn with red gardenias, white and purple daisies, pillar candles, and chunks of steaming dry ice.
During cocktails, Great Performances offered hors d’oeuvres such as Maryland crab cakes, seared yellowfin tuna on miniature rice crackers with wasabi aioli, and ginger chicken dumplings with plum sauce. For dinner, the main entrée was sliced tenderloin of beef au jus with a butternut squash soufflé, baby red potatoes, and caramelized shallots. And for dessert were Anjou pears poached in red wine, and crème caramel.
Wassmann is interested in sustainability, and he kept that in mind while conceiving the gala's playful, fleeting environment. After noticing many full trash bins after events, he used materials that could be reused. All 400 yards of Tyvek and fluorescent bulbs were donated to the Watermill Center; metal objects and scraps from the cocktail area were either donated to the Salvation Army or Materials for the Arts; and the gray carpeting was given away to Brooklyn locals.
—Mark Mavrigian
The Brooklyn Academy of Music feted its Next Wave festival with an unusual party that brought guests into a raw office space that was given a cloudlike feel.
Before the performance, Great Performances served cocktails in BAM’s LePercq Space, which was darkened for a theatrical effect with a collection of shiny objects suspended from the ceiling.
Architect and event designer Christian Wassmann used nontraditional materials like Tyvek to create these billowing cloudlike chandeliers.
Glowsticks from Extreme Glow were used as an alternative to the usual place cards.
