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The Art-Deco-meets-Sci-Fi wall coverings in Passengers spaceship bar

The Art-Deco-meets-Sci-Fi wall coverings in Passengers spaceship bar

In sci-fi space travel film Passengers starring Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt, the large spaceship houses a grand and luxurious art deco-style bar. Production designer Guy Hendrix Dyas wanted the film’s bar to be both inviting and classic while simultaneously acknowledging the theme of interplanetary travel. We were rather struck by the wall coverings.

wall-coverings-in-passengers-spaceship-bar-feature
Jennifer Lawrence (center), Chris Pratt (right) and Michael Sheen (left) in PASSENGERS spaceship bar. Image ©2016 Columbia Pictures.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter production designer Dyas says of the bar he built at Pinewood Atlanta Studios: “What is the classic type of bar you would want to go to on Earth? It’s a New York art deco bar for me. Then there are little details that remind you that you are on a spaceship. The walls have art deco friezes, but unlike traditional friezes that showed the industrial age, ours show interplanetary travel.

The idea of travel through time and space is hinted at graphically on the wall coverings and carpet and tiles around the entryway. [The color palette of] rich golds and reds is part of the color journey of the film. We needed that sense of warmth and seduction that would bring our characters to the bar. Many of the other places on the ship are cold and hard and shiny white. This is a place that gives you warmth and a sense of the planet Earth. It’s a taste of humanity.”

Detail of the wall coverings in Passengers spaceship bar
Detail of the wall coverings in Passengers spaceship bar

So where can I get those wall coverings in Passengers spaceship bar?

The art-deco meets sci-fi wallcoverings for Passengers are from Astek.

Passengers spaceship bar
Passengers spaceship bar. The bar itself is a large nod to the bar of the Overlook Hotel in The Shining. Image ©2016 Columbia Pictures.

Set Decorator Gene Serdena SDSA (Oscar® nominee for HER) told SetDecor online: “Guy uses the term ‘jewel box’. It perfectly describes this place that becomes a warm, intimate and romantic respite from the austerity and vastness of the spaceship. There is constant companionship available in the form of automated bartender Arthur [Michael Sheen].

The marriage of historical styles—art deco, prairie school, disco—and occasional nods to classic cinema becomes, I think, a harmonious one in the Bar. Mr. Dyas’s audacity is on full display here. The balance of pattern, color and light becomes a high wire act that threatens to collapse onto itself, but in Guy’s deft hands, becomes a sublime, romantic experience”.

And we’ll leave you with this thought, when set Decorator Gene Serdena says “The marriage of historical styles—art deco, prairie school, disco—and occasional nods to classic cinema”, I think we know which classic cinema is being nodded at!:

the shining passengers bar scene comparison
The Shining (left) and Passengers spaceship bar (right). But what a homage!

The Vienna Suite in the spaceship of Passengers is also worthy of mention and features a Marc Newson “Wood Chair” for Cappellini as well as a Platner coffee table.

spaceship of Passengers
The Vienna Suite in the spaceship of Passengers. Image © 2016 Columbia Pictures

  • wood-chair-marc-newson-cappellini-film-and-furnitureThe Wood Chair by Marc Newson

    The Wood Chair by Marc Newson

    As seen in:

    Designer: Marc Newson

    Cappellini

    Designed by Marc Newson, ‘Wood’ chair was first made using Canadian rock maple and Australia coachwood and is a good example of Marc’s desire to push the limits of the material. The chair consists of slatted beech wood strips steam bent to form a ‘double curve’ or ‘alpha’ shape.

    Approx £3,900.00 Inc VAT if applicable / $4914

    Shop Now


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