Silver Interior Space and Exhibition Design · 2021
Gravity Cinema
- A' Design Award 2021 Silver Winner in Interior Space and Exhibition Design
- Awarded April 15, 2021
- CLIENT: Design Action
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 23,158
- Verification code 620FA6D7BC · Verify this award
About Gravity Cinema
Gravity is a cinema interior in Shanghai, China, covering 2800 square meters. The design is inspired by the idea that extreme gravity forms a black hole that distorts space and time. A white swirl on the ceiling recalls this effect, with stacked light coves that rise from low to high like a revolving staircase. The swirl also shapes the walls and the floor. Flowing lines cover the walls, with gold and silver accents that twist into forms recalling rolled leaves. Materials include stone, acoustic panels, plastic laminate, carpet and gypsum board.
Within the evolving discourse of parametric and biomorphic architecture, Vincent Li's Gravity Cinema emerges as a compelling meditation on the intersection of digital design methodology and experiential spatial poetry, where computational fluidity finds physical expression through meticulously orchestrated sculptural surfaces that transform the conventional cinema lobby into an immersive threshold between quotidian reality and cinematic dreamscape. The ceiling treatment demonstrates remarkable technical accomplishment in translating complex curvilinear geometry into built form, with each ribbon element maintaining precise formal relationships while contributing to an overarching compositional unity that suggests both organic growth patterns and the spiraling dynamics of cosmic phenomena. The chromatic restraint exercised through the predominantly monochromatic palette amplifies the sculptural presence of form itself, allowing subtle gradations of light and shadow to articulate volumetric complexity without chromatic distraction, while integrated illumination transforms structural channels into luminous trajectories that seem to pulse with animate energy. The inclusion of a human figure in ethereal motion serves multiple compositional and conceptual functions, establishing scale, introducing temporal duration through captured movement, and creating poetic resonance between the flowing garment and the architectural ribbons above, suggesting a harmonious relationship between body and built environment that elevates the space beyond mere functional container to experiential artwork. Li appears to engage with traditions spanning from the organic expressionism of mid-century visionaries through contemporary parametric practitioners, synthesizing influences into a distinctive spatial language that honors precedent while achieving fresh formal invention. The work invites contemplation of architecture's capacity to induce wonder and transport consciousness, posing the question of how threshold spaces might prepare visitors for the imaginative journeys cinema offers.
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- Gravity reshapes the cinema appearance. The white ceiling swirl design mimics the black hole, where numerous particles flow into the trajectory and form a stacked light cove from low to high. At the same time, the swirl design composes the wall and floor design. The walls of the whole cinema are covered with flowing lines, combining gold and silver colour as feature accent, in which the lines are twisted and turned forming the shape of rolled up leaves in this distorted space.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- 2800 Sq.m
- Tags
- cinema, white, gravity, entertainment, film, movie, theatre, interior, design action
- Production Technology
- Stone, Acoustic panel, Plastic laminate, Carpet, Gypsum board
- Design Challenge
- The whole design is dominated by curve lines. The spiral ceiling design has a direct impact on the floor, the space planning, wall light trough design and so on, each space are closely related to each other. The whirlpool design on the ceiling, it is composed from low to high with different radius extending upward like a revolving staircase. In order to study the relationship between each ceiling swirl, a number of models were made to simulate the dynamics of vortices.
- Project Duration
- The project finished in Jan 2020 in Shanghai, China.
- Operation Flow
- This project the original site is the earliest airport in China. Designers believe that this place is full of desire for flying from the people in the past, so the design concept hopes to achieve a sense of weightlessness of gravity so that people can have their own sense of flying and satisfy human fantasies about the universe since ancient times. Cinema is a place where audiences can fantasize and dream, so the design should have a story like movie plot, so that design concept directly affects the layout and shape of space, making design more unique and more cinematic.
- Research
- The designer refers to Einstein's theory of “General Relativity”, which mentions that when gravity reaches its extreme, black holes will form, absorb everything, and space-time will be distorted, forming an irremediable scene. This mysterious scene arouses the designer's curiosity and hopes to capture that moment through space.
- Inspiration
- "When gravity reaches at its extreme, it will form a black hole, absorbing everything, and distort the space and time; forming an irremediable scene." .
Countless particles permeate the silent space, suddenly gravity depicts a track of guides towards the ceiling, and form a huge whirlpool. In the distorted space, particles are reshape and restructured, leaving streamlined traces on ceiling and wall, capturing a moment in space. - Image Credits
- Design Action
- Patents
- Design Action