Blue Frog Lounge - Mumbai |
Wednesday, 12 March 2008 |
Everybody is going crazy about Mumbai's Blue Frog,
opened earlier this year. It's a 1,000-square-meter complex that
includes a club, restaurant, lounge, sound stage, recording studio and
sound lab, all encased within the massive walls of an old warehouse in
Mumbai's mill district. The Blue Frog Club interior may remind you of
those delirious nights at the end-of-summer Exhibition with its midway
games, roller coasters and dizzy-making rides. Or you may suddenly
start channeling Queen Amidala, addressing the StarWarsian Senate from
her floating pod. Luckily, Blue Frog does its dizzying job in a way
that is totally stylish - not a tacky thing or overdone costume in
sight. And everyone's table is definitely on level ground, although it
does not appear so first.
Designers Chris Lee and Kapil Gupta formerly of Chris Lee Architects and Contemporary Urban, and now of Serie
(London and Mumbai) have managed to create a cohesive yet exciting
space by stripping the visual cues down to a only a few very strong
ones.
The equilibrium-challenging effect is achieved by the clever
surround-millwork that uses a circle as its main form. The
mahogany-paneled millwork circles each round table, forming circular
booths or pods in somewhat varying shapes at various levels,
guaranteeing great sightlines for all. Not wanting to compete with the
lighting or other embellishments of the stage acts, the interior is
dark except for the top surface of the booths.
The glowing back-lit resin surfaces tie the seating area together even
when a stage show is on, and make it a bit easier to gain one's
bearings in the otherwise dark space. Like seating in a Roman
amphitheatre, the pods circle and rise from a stage area that can also
double as standing room or dance floor in a club set-up. Acts from
India and from around the world are starting to make Blue Frog Mumbai's
hottest club. By Tuija Seipell
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