ARCHELLO YOUR CONNECTION WITH ARCHITECTURE

Inaugurated at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival with a screening of Kanye West’s debut short film Cruel Summer, this temporary pyramid pavilion contains a seven-screen cinema invented by West’s creative team, Donda.

Located along Palm Beach, the pyramid’s canopy is hemmed to open up a panoramic backdrop of Cannes and the Mediterranean while creating an effect of levitation above the red carpet. Filmgoers ascend into the pyramid along a continuous red carpet that widens into the 200 seat auditorium. OMA worked with Cannes-based production team Ar’Scene to design an optimized triangular steel structure that suspend the complex screen, sound and projection installations. The resulting pyramid also subtly distinguishes itself from the context of white event sheds in Cannes.

The pavilion is designed to immerse the audience in a space defined by seven screens of cinematic proportions (17’ x 17’, 17’x30’’). Shot with a custom seven-camera rig in Qatar, Cruel Summer was envisioned for this space as a constellation of projections that wrap around the audience through the configuration of the screens.

The project was in collaboration with Donda and 2x4, Inc.