“New Retail” has become a prominent buzzword in recent years, representing both a business concept and a new way of life. As “New Retail” evolves, traditional entertainment spaces like cinemas are also undergoing transformation.
In 2019, OFT Design was commissioned to design UA’s new concept flagship cinema at K11 Musea in Hong Kong—K11 Art House. Utilizing the [Design + New Retail] concept, OFT Design created Asia’s first future cinema themed around mountain dwellings, setting a benchmark for “entertainment complex” cinemas.
K11 Musea is an extraordinary art shopping center in Asia and the world’s first cultural retail destination. It is renowned for its multidimensional integration of urban cultural traditions, historical geography, and its efforts to revitalize (“Revitalize”), reshape (“Retransform”), and regenerate (“Recreate”) urban culture and lifestyle.
How can we design a cinema that resonates with top-tier cultural curation IPs and attracts targeted consumer groups? According to OFT and UA, maintaining the DNA of K11’s art and cultural retail is crucial.
The diverse cultural lifestyle model of K11 Musea offers new insights for future cinemas: moving beyond a single consumption setting by integrating socializing, shopping, dining, and art into the cinema experience.
First and foremost, K11 Art House has achieved a milestone by launching Hong Kong’s first MOOV Pop-up music store. MOOV Pop-up, an online music platform akin to Xiami and NetEase Cloud, has chosen for the first time to establish itself within a premium cinema setting. Beyond enhancing the cinema’s audiovisual offerings, this initiative aims to delve into further opportunities bridging the online and offline realms.
In addition, a “Tipsy Plan” is being implemented in public areas, featuring an open Sake Bar to create a dream-like atmosphere that blurs the lines between reality and virtuality before and after movie screenings.
The cinema area is divided into two distinct theaters with different functions: White Box and Black Box.
White Box functions as a multimedia event space, equipped with professional performance gear and venues for theater and musical productions. Additionally, it has launched a new independent exhibition area. K11 Musea has brought Asia’s first “Festival de Cannes Film Week” to this location, hosting cultural events focused on movies and related media.
OFT fully comprehends how a “sense of unfamiliarity” can create a unique atmosphere within a space. Hence, their design approach defies convention by drawing inspiration from the remote and pristine Swiss Alps. They incorporate traditional mountain-style architecture into contemporary commercial spaces to evoke a spiritual longing for “natural living” among Hong Kong residents.
Within this boundless inspiration box of K11 Art House, new commercial logic and old traditional elements start to reflect and reference each other.
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