Pavarotti Concert

The project was to design the look of a three square mile Pavarotti concert venue in a remote dry lakebed. The intent was to create a sense of place in a borderless flat desert; create a festive, artful, and consistent look for unimpressive structures in a monotonic setting; complement the desert and highlight the concert without attempting to overshadow them; and provide the 50,000 visitors with a sense of arrival – day or night – while facilitating their orientation. The project was commissioned only three weeks before the event, so all planning was tentative due to production constraints: there were six days for setup, and limited budget and personnel.

Long tubes inflated by fans, flexible and adaptable, were woven through scaffolding to create 17 sculptural towers – each unique – providing a kinetic experience upon progression. The color white was chosen for an elegant look, to complement the mellow tones of the environment. Clear tubes were used on-stage as projection screens. On a more personal scale, a white tunnel marked the entrance to the VIP venue.

Each tower required minimal power, the plastic materials were rolled up for re-use, and scaffolds reverted to their original use, leaving the desert as barren as it was before the event.

Design Team

Doron Gazit (Principal in Charge), Liz Lang, Raul Valenzuela

Design Firm

Doron Gazit

Consultants

Guillermo Martinez de Castro

Fabricators

Guillermo Martinez de Castro