When designers from across the world get together to create a crowdsourced nightclub concept, one thing is a certain - a damn good party. That's what went down last month when a futuristic-styled club sponsored by Heineken popped up at Milan's week-long design fair. Designers from Tokyo, Sao Paulo, Milan and New York teamed up with clubbers from over 100 cities to collaborate on the design, and we've just gotten our hands on some more video and images from inside.
An online creative hub was used for 19 designers and the crowd of club-goers to share ideas and meld the different insights and concepts together into a final product that looks something like a more stylish version of Tron.
"Clubs are really interesting spaces for us to explore new design ideas, as they’re social, extrovert and progressive places where design really sets the scene for the nightlife experience," said Mark van Iterson, Head of Global Design at Heineken. "We set out to experiment with ways of making the night more welcoming, more memorable and igniting conversation through design concepts and innovations."
The club concept includes several novel design elements meant to set the right mood for a fun night out. Interactive game-like activities were built in to the club to serve as icebreakers - even the surface of the bar itself was interactive to provide a little extra entertainment and help bar staff keep track of the queue. The layout of the club itself was designed to invite exploration with an origami-shaped theme that seems - from what I could tell from the videos - to leave room for surprises on each surface, especially when a progressive lighting design amplifies the overall ambience.
The waitstaff add a final touch of other-worldliness to the atmosphere, with a uniform seemingly imported from another galaxy from headgear to outlandish footwear.
The crowdsourced pop-up club is one of a number of experimental design initiatives Heineken has been playing with lately. The brand also turned to the crowd recently to come up with a unique design for a special anniversary bottle. It's also quick to point out its history of innovation, counting the first green beer bottle and the at-home DraughtKeg among its achievements.
Check out the video highlights of a night at the Heineken concept club below:
