Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/96336
OrchidCullturedMiamiDec_Layout 1 11/21/12 1:29 PM Page 72 Enchanted Garden An architect, a designer and a bit of burlesque prove to be a winning combination for Orchid. Architect Luis Pons When Orchid opened last month at a temporary site in the Design District called The Pleasure Garden, it was advertised as an immersive, multisensory place "where pleasure blooms." In order to achieve such a total synaesthetic experience, Temporary Entertainment heads Marty LaSalle and David M. Schwarz, an architect whose D.C. firm specializes in "places for people," such as the American Airlines Center in Dallas and The Smith Center in Las Vegas, have taken special care to situate this mix of Broadway and bacchanal. Designer and architect Luis Pons transformed the vacant lot in the Design District into The Pleasure Garden, a feat that first meant separating guests physically and mentally from the traffic of Biscayne Boulevard. Pons accomplished this via an extensive latticed fence, 14-foot-high orchid structures, and a trellised canopy garlanded with white fabric. On the site are two tents, one for libations and the other for watching the show. Lit by chandeliers, draped in 1930s velvet and adorned with plates of hand-cut glass and mirrors, the spiegeltent seats a svelte 512 in booths and tables interspersed with singing, dancing and fire-breathing performers. "We wanted immediacy," says Schwarz, who didn't pause before giving fair warning to any buttoned-down viewers. "Our costumes do not hide the performers, they reveal them." Again, this is a pop-up, a bit of logistics that, taken whimsically, adds to Orchid's sfumato. "Our whole idea is to create happenings, things that come and go," he says. "You have one shot to see them." Designer and architect Luis Pons transformed the vacant lot in the Design District into The Pleasure Garden. PHOTO BY STEPHAN GOETTLICHER BY HUNTER BRAITHWAITE 72 CULTURED 244,48x3