60 DESIGN
SCIENCE FICTION, GLOSSY REALITY A
themed cinema space takes patrons on interstellar journey of light and sound that far exceeds the price of admission.
At the time of its release in 2014, the Empire magazine review of Interstellar, starring spaceman Matthew McConaughey, called the feature film “brave, barmy and beautiful to behold”. No surprises that the future-focused, uber-creative Alexander Wong Architects should mimic that movie’s wormhole motif in a restroom in a Xinjiang cinema complex. In a sequel to their 2014 work at Urumqi, northwestern China, for Sunway Movie Park, Alexander Wong recently launched STAR X. This futuristic-looking concept takes imagery from science-fiction movies and creates an extreme experience for movie-goers based around the theme Landing on Mars.
STAR STRUCK Woven into the interior design are ideas and imagery from some of the great science-fiction films. Beginning with Interstellar, there’s a striking neon blue portal at the entrance of the cosmic restrooms in LED lighting. STAR X has liberal splashes of Star Wars storylines, with the Neon Sabre Ceiling and Sky-Walk Gallery central to the design. We’re told too, there are ideas inspired by 2001: A Space Odyssey, odes to String Theory constructed in Corian, the “Enterprise” cinema house pattern from the Star Trek series, and wayfinding details from the Alien film franchise.
Text: Michael Hoare
Photos: Alexander Wong Archectects
Richard Lee