G九上海 (G9 Shanghai) is a restaurant space set within a dramatic triple height space that is part of main land China's first luxury department store; Lane Crawford.
From the projects inception Atelier I-N-D-J founder Ian Douglas-Jones led the projects ambitions – “the unusually proportioned space just had to be exploited and celebrated, early on I had persuaded the client that this presented an opportunity to create something that subverts preconceptions” All elements of the project have been carefully considered; from bespoke furniture to a super scaled interactive light installation that terminates in a major site specific art work by British Artist INSA, this collaborative piece sees the 956 lights of the light installation merge with the art work, working together as one.
G九 is a culmination of ideas that have influenced atelier I-N-D-J from the studios inception. Technology Industry Luxury and Excess collide; manifest in concrete, raw steel, black marble, shimmering gold, bright light and high art. G九 is a brash celebration for the rise of the Chinese economic super power, more so glittered with gold befitting of the Paris of the east - 上海
The notion of luxury and excess reaches it's pinnacle with INSA’s art wall. The interactive Lighting installation cascades through the space terminating in INSA's trademark 'Graffiti Fetish'- an exploration of the iconography of modern aspirations.
A brass 22m long brass table bisects the space acting as both banquette table and runway that dictates a simple spatial arrangement. Balanced upon a lateral beam a VIP dining platform sits high above the banquette table; this elevated position serves as symbolic elevation of status, an exclusive position of grandeur from which to survey the space, here users are invited to engage in the light installation and art piece - a 3D depth sensing camera empowers the user with the ability to control the speed brightness and pattern of the light with simple hand gestures, In this way the light installation and art work in synchronization controlled by a singular user.
The light installation and art work collaboration between INDJ and INSA marks an evolution of INSA's pioneering work with the GIF medium; whereby multiple frames are painstakingly painted photographed and animated digitally. G9 is a reversal of this process whereby the digital is manifest physically in the 67sqm art work.
The restaurant space sits within lane Crawford, and is a triple height volume. the first strategy was to determine how to create a comfortable dining space, whilst retaining a wow factor - how could the volume of the space be exploited to give visitors a great memory and experience? the great volume of space is occupied by a lighting installation that consists of over 956 lights, using parametric design processes the form the lighting installation would take was designed, and designed in such away as to be easily amended as the design process evolved and items on site became more apparent - such as the changing depth of the suspended ceiling. the integration of a dynamic lighting system was helped with programming by supernature design, an x-box kinect camera is linked up the vip space to allow users to control the lights just with the movement of their hands.
A dramatic triple volume space with some record breaking numbers: over 9.2 km of cable was used to create the lighting installation, the dynamic artwork is the largest that artist INSA has been involved in 67sqm.
