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© Alexander Friedrich

For the 2010 Luminale light festival, we hosted a participatory bar in our 1956 vintage load elevator. Inside the gondola, we improvised a “Whiskey- and Scroll-bar” illuminated by video projectors. If the elevator manages to reach the fourth floor when fully occupied, passengers could take a look at another installation in the MESO office.

The vintage load elevator from at our old office in Niddastraße 84 served as the installation’s location for our contribution to the light festival.

Visitors could already order drinks while waiting for the elevator on the ground floor.

© Alexander Friedrich
© Alexander Friedrich

The vintage load elevator from at our old office in Niddastraße 84 served as the installation’s location for our contribution to the light festival.

Visitors could already order drinks while waiting for the elevator on the ground floor.

MESO Explorer Daniel Schwarz as bar keeper © Alexander Friedrich

This opera questions the issues of working together, organization, decision and control, which are increasingly central and difficult in our contemporary world.

Projections are made on the two open walls of the elevator shaft, allowing the projection surface to scroll by. The projections play with this vertical scrolling motion and alternately show or overlap some particle systems, graphic and video snippets from our catalog of works, and urban folklore, which sometimes counteract the movement of the elevator.

© MESO Digital Interiors GmbH / Nils

The bar may be entered by a maximum of 10 people at the same time. The ride is taken at your own risk. It has happened in the past that the door lock mechanism fails at the bottom door. Safety is guaranteed in this case. The elevator then stops and disembarkment is no longer possible.

The 2008 OTIS safety light grid is indeed multi-touch, but responds to pinch gestures only by stopping the elevator.

© MESO Digital Interiors GmbH
© MESO Digital Interiors GmbH

The 2008 OTIS safety light grid is indeed multi-touch, but responds to pinch gestures only by stopping the elevator.

MESO Explorer Daniel Schwarz as bar keeper © Alexander Friedrich

Furthermore, the music system is integrated into the digital telephone system of the MESO office and provides for slightly spooky elevator music between easy-listening and glitchpop. 

We designed a relaxing-irritating visual effect for the locale as well as the sense of equilibrium of our guests, which is presumably also promoted by the simultaneous consumption of the 10-year-old Japanese Suntory Yamazaki Whiskey served during the journey.

Alternatively, passengers in the elevator can opt for a very small (0.1 l) but fresh draft of Bitburger beer. Since the beer barrel has a capacity of 10 l, the nerd comment that the elevator has 100 bits is officially approved.

© MESO Digital Interiors GmbH

Curious about our approach? Feel free to get in touch!

Sebastian Oschatz Partner +49 69 24 000 321 +49 69 24 000 321

MESO Digital Interiors GmbH
Gutleutstr. 96 . 60329 Frankfurt . Germany

Team

Stefan Ammon, David Brüll, Nils Weger, Claudius Coenen, Sascha Hanßen, Ingolf Heinsch, Miriam Hohmuth, Jannis Kreft, Jochen Leinberger, Maximilian Lemke, Philipp Lorenz, Sebastian Oschatz, Martin Schuster, Daniel Schwarz, Jan Trüller, Max Wolf, Mathias Wollin