Installed within the opulent neoclassical shell of a historic palace, the set design for Mercedes-Benz Bucharest Fashion Week orchestrates a striking dialogue between ornate permanence and ephemeral minimalism. The grand hall, with its richly ornamented vaulted ceilings, gilded stucco work, and allegorical frescoes, forms a dramatically layered backdrop for a spatial intervention defined by clean lines, smooth surfaces, and calibrated illumination.

Foto: Vlad Pătru

Builder: Mediascope

At the core of the installation is a monolithic architectural insertion – a pair of matte white walls forming a stage-like portal, sharply contrasting the baroque exuberance of the ceiling above. This contemporary gesture interrupts, yet frames, the historical interior, allowing its decorative ceiling fresco to become a theatrical proscenium for the fashion presentation. The lighting design further accentuates this interplay: warm, directional spotlights carve the silhouette of the temporary structure, while a vivid gradient of orange-red emanates from the central aperture, projecting a chromatic heat that dissolves the boundary between object and atmosphere.

A soft knitted textile runway – vibrant red and textured like a cable-knit garment – stretches across the marble floor, introducing a material intimacy that offsets the otherwise rigid geometry of the set. This tactile gesture grounds the installation, tying the performative body to the architecture through a thread of softness and domesticity, echoing the handmade within a setting of grand institutional power.

The mirrored columns and stage lighting rigs dissolve the edges of the space, refracting viewers and architectural fragments alike into shifting patterns. This momentary architecture – discreet yet bold – leverages the tension between contemporary reduction and historical excess, producing a scenographic experience where fashion, body, and built environment cohabit in a carefully choreographed tension.