In 2023, the festival Cabaret Vert needed a belgian beers bar to support its existing overcrowded one. The decoration team asked me to design Excelsior, a standalone Art-Deco counter inspired by a nearby historic building that once housed the "Bar Excelsior" in the Arches neighborhood. The goal was to honor local architecture while providing a functional and memorable festival structure.
The project was developed in collaboration with the festival’s chief set designer, who provided key constraints regarding materials and feasibility. The overall concept drew heavily on Art-Deco geometry and facade details from the Arches neighborhood, with a special focus on symmetry and ornamental motifs.
The structure was modeled and rendered in Blender, allowing the team to refine proportions, lighting, and the general atmosphere before construction. A decorative frieze was designed separately, digitally illustrated with Art-Deco patterns, then prepared for large-scale printing and application on site. Typographic research and material studies were carried out to ensure coherence with the architectural theme.
Once approved, the project was constructed using a mix of wood and polystyrene, finished with coatings to give the impression of a solid, permanent building, despite being a temporary festival installation.
Client: Cabaret Vert Festival (FLaP association)
Year: 2023
Role: Artistic direction, 3D modeling & rendering, decorative design
Deliverables: Blender model, frieze graphic, lighting plan, material palette
Tools: Blender, Illustrator, Figma; fabrication: wood, polystyrene, render-coating
