Over the past decade, design brand Apparatus has taken the industry on a number of cinematic journeys to reveal its concepts: sumptuously outfitted interiors at its several showrooms that reflect imagined storylines informed as much by contemporaneity as history.
'We believe that our work is to create a stage for the human drama of life,' a recent Apparatus press release notes. 'We adopt the language of theatre and literature as a structure, with work organised in forewords and acts, each with their own exploration of form.'
Step inside Apparatus' Red Room
During New York Design Week, running this year from 16 to 23 May, the boutique brand holds an extravagant party within its Midtown flagship. Located behind the curtain of an unassuming door and up a flight of stairs, the expansive palacio—esque space unfolds as a feverish maze of scenographic vignettes. Setting the stage for these massive fetes is its expansive central hall, which periodically undergoes a complete transformation based on the theme behind a new or reimagined collection.
This year's particularly monochromatic showcase is no different. A richly-hued red carries across wall panels, furnishings and even bowls of candy. The studio describes the Red Room installation as the melding of legendary fashion editor Diana Vreeland’s 'Garden in Hell' and Standley Kubrick’s Space Odyssey, brought together by fellow famed 20th-century filmmaker Federico Fellini. Taking centre stage, a bronze Phaethon—the son of Helios struck down by Zeus with a bolt of lightning—is the main protagonist.
Silver and gold accents—including the Neoclassical statue—backdrop the newly released Cylinder : System, a brand-defined Series Extension of the wildly popular Cylinder collection. First debuted in 2014, the offering consists of various sconce iterations and now includes modular Canopy and Lamp components. This new flexibility allows customers 'to chart a path through their own scenes' and shed light—both literally and metaphorically—on what’s important.
'Launching a new product is always such an adrenaline rush—I’m so immersed in narrative and storytelling,' says Apparatus creative director and CEO Gabriel Hendifar. 'With time, concepts evolve and they whisper things in your ear—ways they want to play and dance that you didn’t see when you first became friends. It’s the deepening of a friendship.' Over the next year, he and his team will be re-visiting and editing a number of classics from their well-established catalogue.
Adding even more dramatic, stage-like effect, the Red Room showcase is lit from above. 'I believe light finds its purpose in dialogue with the beauty that it touches, and the purpose of this series is to illuminate the stories of our lives,' Hendifar concludes. 'The Cylinder : System lights are soft-edged, warm, diffused and can be directed to find the object of its affection.'
