MINIMAL DECOR WITH maximum impact was the design focus of a birthday party for hip hop recording artist and producer Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs. Produced by New York-based Icon Event Marketing and held at Cipriani, a historic renovated bank building in the Wall Street district of Manhattan, the event's decor focused on dramatic lighting, sleek lounge-style furniture and a lighted elevated diamond-shaped dance floor emblazoned with the client's trademark silver "PD" logo.
To enhance the Lucite, diamond-shaped dance floor-constructed by Stamford, Connecticut-based Stamford Tent & Parties-and to add dimension to the guest seating, a raised tiered seating area was built along the base and two sides of the dance floor, creating a "setting" effect for the diamond. Stylish lounge furniture-velvet-covered chaise lounges, couches and chairs in red, black, white and silver-invited conversation and afforded a prime view of the dance floor, an important request of the client. Elevated bars, set at opposite sides of the room and accessed by 12-foot stairs on either side, featured cocktail tables dressed in simple white linens and offered another perch for people-watching.
Another request from the client was that the space be lighted to feel like a set from one of his music videos. For this, ILM brought in Frost Lighting of New York to light the space, which included lighting the dance floor, creating custom-designed gobos featuring the "PD" logo and designing ambient light. The logos were integrated into various aspects of the lighting design; they were projected onto the walls, ceiling and dance floor. To achieve a kinetic effect on the dance floor, Frost Lighting installed a Vari-Lite system under the floor, allowing for constant color changes on the floor and movement of the logos. The Vari-Lites synchronized the color changing on the dance floor with the color changing of the logos on the walls. The room's columns were uplighted in amber, adding an elegant glow to the space.
Because seeing and being seen were the crucial elements of this celebrity-studded event, Cipriani's catering team created a butlered hors d'oeuvres-only menu so that guests didn't have to waste any precious people-watching time waiting in buffet lines.-S.C.
