Installations

Syzygy Events International returned as the visionaries behind the staging and decor for the Washington fund-raiser on Saturday night. The team created a completely different look at the National Building Museum than last year’s flower-filled fete, opting for a more modern look with emerald accents—in honor of the color’s designation as color of the year.

There were lots of big minds at the Green Meetings Industry Council conference at Chicago's McCormick Place last week, but one head stood out for being particularly huge. In a convention center foyer, an art installation from the nonprofit group Plant Green Ideas got lots of gapes. Standing 12 feet tall and weighing nearly 3,000 pounds, the sculptural head was built on a planter made of recycled concrete. On the back of the head, a QR code linked to information about the environment.

For right-on-trend festival looks, a flower-crown station at Lacoste's Desert Pool Party allowed guests to pick up garlands to wear on the spot—in exchange for a posting on social media. The music festival takes place at Empire Polo Field in Palm Springs over the course of two weekends; it started last week and wraps up this Sunday.

A new art piece on the festival grounds called "Mirage," envisioned by festival art curator Paul Clemente and created and executed by experiential design and media company Pearl Media Productions, took the form and architecture of a mid-century Palms Springs mansion. A total of 12 zones of high-tech HD projections made it appear that changing activities were taking place inside the home's rooms and its pool.

Karl Lagerfeld designed the Bal de la Rose du Rocher, a fund-raiser for the Foundation Princesse Grace that took place at the Salle des Etoiles in Monte Carlo on March 23. In the dining room, Lagerfeld evoked the casino of Monaco's famous Hôtel Hermitage. Tables were draped in cotton sateen printed with a game-table motif, then topped with dice and custom gaming chips. Gold and silver vessels held red Baccara roses, peonies, and poppies.

To celebrate the launch of the Kate Young for Target collection, the retail giant created a spring-fling-themed evening at St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral school in New York on April 9. Right after check-in, 20 models posed on a runway-cum-stage setup. Paired as prom-night couples, with each female model wearing a Kate Young for Target dress, the lineup encouraged guests to vote for the best dressed couple by tweeting or instagramming pictures with the #KateYoungTarget hashtag.

Themed "the Grand Tour of Asia," the April issue of Condé Nast Traveler chronicles editor at large Hanya Yanagihara's journey through 12 countries. On March 19, the magazine hosted a launch party for the special issue at the Peninsula Chicago. To bring an exotic touch of Asia to the Chicago hotel, ballroom walls displayed moving projections of a colorful koi pond.

The Starlight Children's Foundation hosted its Starlight Gala, sponsored by Toys "R" Us, at Toronto's Fairmont Royal York Hotel on April 6. Organizers created a whimsical bash filled with circus-inspired ideas. Dinner tables were topped with miniature Ferris wheels that held cupcakes with colorful frosting.

At the April 10 New Museum spring gala honoring artist Christian Marclay, guests arriving at New York's Cipriani Wall Street were met with a larger-than-life live installation of white PVC balloons.

Japan's annual Winter Illuminations festival displayed more than seven million sparkling LED lights, spread across the grounds of the Nabana no Sato botanical garden. The popular 200-meter-long Tunnel of Light enveloped guests in more than a million of the energy-efficient lights.

To launch its latest special edition art series label—and raise funds for Haiti—Ferllen Winery teamed up with the Amigos Near Foundation for an arty event in Miami in February. On the deck upstairs, mounted pieces from photographer Tomas Loewy floated on the turquoise water, giving the appearance of unusually decorative rafts.

To mark the 25th anniversary of Shark Week, Discovery hosted an event in August 2012 that put sharks in the pool of the Beverly Hilton. The scary fish weren't real, of course, but rather slowly moving projections devised by the planning and production team from Event Eleven.

To launch its "It's So Miami" campaign in 2012, the Greater Miami Convention & Visitor's Bureau erected a pop-up pool party in New York's Union Square. The setup included a plunge pool and a wading pool, as well as 17-foot-tall palm trees, a cabana for the media, lounge chairs, and a DJ area. The pools looked out of place in the gritty big-city locale—which was exactly the point of the promotion.