Mirage Cinema by DA Bureau Reinterprets the History of Film Technology.

DA Bureau-designed Mirage Cinema is a vividly visual universe set within a historic building that required significant rework. Light became a vessel for the project and its core concept, uniting the new digs with its inspiration—the history of film technology.

The lobby, the key focus of the project set over two levels, was completely revised. The staircase connecting the two floors was radically altered to allow for a visual connection between them, and to create an intuitive and cohesive feeling across the vertical plane.

“Light became the source for building the relationship between the new space and the viewer, the latter’s navigation from the entrance to the seat in the cinema,” the design team elaborates.

Plantea's Transformation of an Abandoned Adult Cinema in Madrid into Sala Equis.

A former adult-film cinema in Madrid is transformed into a contemporary art-nouveau theatre within the abandoned shell. Reminiscent of its racy, X-rated past...

A spectacular backdrop, the lobby is all clean lines, monochrome colours and sparse decoration. Welcoming guests with silver and grey on the ground floor, metallic curtains and panels, stormy grey walls and concrete block benches give way to a signature red on the upper level thanks to fluorescent lighting that cuts the plane in an ombre tone seen on the stairs.

“We have added a red light to refer to the film developing rooms,” DA Bureau team explains. “The venue is designed to interact with the emotions that people go to the cinema for”.

Palace Central Cinema Sydney by DesignOffice.

In the intimate platinum lounge in this cinema, a custom brass custom brass sculpture mounted on a raw concrete wall lines the lobby area...

This epic scene is matched with large-scale light cubes, lit with even white glow. They act as navigation elements that guide patrons to the cinema room—until the movie starts, which is when they adjust to the pigment of the film. Each cinema room is unique, with lighting and sound effects that can be customised to suit the screening style.

A futuristic interior with classical bones, this cinema pays respect to the past through an avant-garde design expression.

Welcome to Neo-nature: Moose Knuckles Milan Showroom by CARA \ DAVIDE and Motel409.

This interactive space is conceived as an exploratory and immersive path that uses lighting and colour to showcase the brands...

EDITOR’S NOTE

This project is located in Russia. While we do not condone the war in Ukraine nor agree with the state of Russia’s actions, we do not see any value in punishing individuals for something they have little control over.

Yellowtrace exists to promote good design, new ideas and creative thinking. We believe that good design is for everyone—it comes from all over the world and has the potential to unite us rather than divide us. For this reason, we have decided to continue to share work based on merit rather than location. We will take a similar approach to various global sporting events where Russian and Belarusian athletes can compete while not appearing as representatives of their countries.

While we understand not everyone will agree with our decision, this is what feels right for us. Thank you.

[Images courtesy of DA Bureau. Photography by Inna Kablukova, Sergey Melnikov & Nikita Subbotin.]