Design No. 286: Henri Murger, Hotel Merciol 'Camera Bar'
atelier ying, nyc
Henri Murger, who lived in the Hotel Merciol, wrote of his own life in his novel, "Scenes de la Vie de Boheme", which was the basis for the libretto of Puccini's great opera.
This camera bar, for a party of 4 friends, is housed in a replica of the hotel building and its design closely follows the first act of La Boheme's libretto with:
1. Set of small slats of pine wood for a scent of Christmas in the fireplace.
2. A cigar humidor and smoking tools in the garret (right side).
3. Two bottles of Bordeaux, glassware, bar tools and condiments for the food.
4. A coins safe in the shape of a stove in the garret level (center).
5. Tinder material, preferably pages of poetry, held in the chimney which also houses a cigar lighter.
6. Tins of roast beef.
7. A ratatouille tart with plenty of eggplant
8. A dark staircase in the back of the camera
9. The side walls of the building open out, supported by legs. These bar areas are lighted and backed with mirrors. Brass-colored gallery rails hold bar tools, condiments and flatware. The lights of the bar panels are wired together and operated from a switch at the top chimney. Two tiny 1.7 ounce bottles of brandy are reserved for Benoit at the right side of the garret, next to the coin safe.
10. The silhouette of a dark unlighted staircase leading down to the concierge level at the back, which opens to service the film plate. The staircase though narrow serves as a bearing wall with columns in front (only seen when the back is opened).
11. Mimi's key opens the central back staircase panel.
12. A large pinhole camera at the ground floor is flanked by a viewfinder at the side door. The pinhole plate is behind the front glass of the ground floor restaurant. Above the viewfinder eyepiece is a hotel restaurant menu board with pinhole exposure data.
The pinhole exposure is set by an overhanging vacancy sign which slides up and down into place.
13. A tiny restaurant lamp at the front and the single garret bulb as well as all bar lamps are portable lithium battery lights.
13. Two gutter pipes are actually support columns.
14. The garret windows are internal viewfinders that show portrait photos of the real life Musetta and Mimi, taken by Nadar.
15. Amber colored windows of the second floor recall the warmth of Cafe Momus when the central staircase panel is opened and the food and wine are presented. This central staircase also has a small roll of tape for attaching a newspaper 'dining cloth' to the bottom of the camera.
Puccini's masterpiece was coolly received at its premiere, a misconception of critics who dismissed it as lighthearted compared to his previous opera Manon Lescaut. But just as Verdi's Falstaff can be misunderstood as heavy, Puccini's Boheme can be seen as light. The garret scenes carry the dark tragic side of the love story, much as Murger's scenes exposed the plight of real life poverty-stricken artists of his era. When the contents of the camera bar are taken out for consumption, the diners can nostalgically view the empty spaces left inside recalling the contrast of the cold dark garrett with the promise of gaiety at Café Momus. The window of the pinhole aperture recalls the role of Murger's book to record scenes as stories, without any coloring of a lens but as a tiny opening to take in the real world.
Design, concepts, text and drawing are copyright 2015 by David Lo..
Design No. 286: Henri Murger, Hotel Merciol 'Camera Bar'
atelier ying, nyc
Henri Murger, who lived in the Hotel Merciol, wrote of his own life in his novel, "Scenes de la Vie de Boheme", which was the basis for the libretto of Puccini's great opera.
This camera bar, for a party of 4 friends, is housed in a replica of the hotel building and its design closely follows the first act of La Boheme's libretto with:
1. Set of small slats of pine wood for a scent of Christmas in the fireplace.
2. A cigar humidor and smoking tools in the garret (right side).
3. Two bottles of Bordeaux, glassware, bar tools and condiments for the food.
4. A coins safe in the shape of a stove in the garret level (center).
5. Tinder material, preferably pages of poetry, held in the chimney which also houses a cigar lighter.
6. Tins of roast beef.
7. A ratatouille tart with plenty of eggplant
8. A dark staircase in the back of the camera
9. The side walls of the building open out, supported by legs. These bar areas are lighted and backed with mirrors. Brass-colored gallery rails hold bar tools, condiments and flatware. The lights of the bar panels are wired together and operated from a switch at the top chimney. Two tiny 1.7 ounce bottles of brandy are reserved for Benoit at the right side of the garret, next to the coin safe.
10. The silhouette of a dark unlighted staircase leading down to the concierge level at the back, which opens to service the film plate. The staircase though narrow serves as a bearing wall with columns in front (only seen when the back is opened).
11. Mimi's key opens the central back staircase panel.
12. A large pinhole camera at the ground floor is flanked by a viewfinder at the side door. The pinhole plate is behind the front glass of the ground floor restaurant. Above the viewfinder eyepiece is a hotel restaurant menu board with pinhole exposure data.
The pinhole exposure is set by an overhanging vacancy sign which slides up and down into place.
13. A tiny restaurant lamp at the front and the single garret bulb as well as all bar lamps are portable lithium battery lights.
13. Two gutter pipes are actually support columns.
14. The garret windows are internal viewfinders that show portrait photos of the real life Musetta and Mimi, taken by Nadar.
15. Amber colored windows of the second floor recall the warmth of Cafe Momus when the central staircase panel is opened and the food and wine are presented. This central staircase also has a small roll of tape for attaching a newspaper 'dining cloth' to the bottom of the camera.
Puccini's masterpiece was coolly received at its premiere, a misconception of critics who dismissed it as lighthearted compared to his previous opera Manon Lescaut. But just as Verdi's Falstaff can be misunderstood as heavy, Puccini's Boheme can be seen as light. The garret scenes carry the dark tragic side of the love story, much as Murger's scenes exposed the plight of real life poverty-stricken artists of his era. When the contents of the camera bar are taken out for consumption, the diners can nostalgically view the empty spaces left inside recalling the contrast of the cold dark garrett with the promise of gaiety at Café Momus. The window of the pinhole aperture recalls the role of Murger's book to record scenes as stories, without any coloring of a lens but as a tiny opening to take in the real world.
Design, concepts, text and drawing are copyright 2015 by David Lo..