Heineken Invites Design Talents to Co-create Futuristic Lounge Bar

This year’s ‘nightlife’ theme will give designers from four cities –New York, Singapore, Warsaw and Mexico City– a brief to design an all-round lounge bar experience. Emerging talents from a variety of design disciplines (fashion, motion, product, interior and graphic) can submit samples of their work on a new dedicated site at www.heineken.tumblr.com to participate. The collaboration will result in a pop-up space that will be showcased at Fuori Salone 2014, as well as in New York and other cities of the world later next year.

This year, the invitation to participate has widened to include design enthusiasts from around the world. Heineken will pose a question to its 12 million Facebook fans each week about different aspects of the bar experience asking them to share their Instagram images of bar features that will be used to help refine the designers’ challenge.

Mark van Iterson, Global Head of Design at Heineken said, “Clubs and bars are our design playground and where Heineken is most at home. In a similar way that the automotive industry creates concept cars to showcase future possibilities, we at Heineken want to explore experimental and pioneering ideas for nightlife. We are looking for people who share Heineken’s values, open-minded design explorers with innovative ideas that will drive progress.”

Mark added, “We have a thirst for collaboration, so we wanted to widen this year’s project to the broadest possible audience by asking people all over the world to share their insights. We want the lounge bar we present in Milan in 2014 to provoke discussion and challenge current thinking around nightlife.”

Heineken’s pioneering ODE program is returning for its second project, following The Club, which rocked Milan Design Week in 2012. Several ideas presented have already inspired venues around the world, including two of Singapore‘s most prominent nightspots, namely the award-winning rooftop bar 1-Altitude, created by ODE 1 designer Lee Gibson, and the high energy luxurious club, Mink. The bar designs at both venues were inspired by the outspoken origami style of The Club.

Interior designer Lee Gibson, who now becomes one of the mentors to this year’s designer recruits says, “ODE 1 gave me an extraordinary opportunity to explore, experiment, and most importantly express design ideas for the future of club design and beyond. To see the club we opened at last year’s Milan Design Week inspire the design in a high-end Singapore club and also to then lead into the design for Milan 2013 was amazing. I can’t wait to meet and collaborate with the new designers that will be selected for ODE 2.”

To be part of the 2013/14 Heineken Open Design Explorations team, designers have until May 31, 6:59pm EDT to apply on www.heineken.tumblr.com, at the same time people can share their lounge bar experiences by uploading them on Instagram using the hashtag #futureloungedesign. The best images will be featured on the Tumblr. For more information on Heineken Open Design Explorations Edition Two: The Lounge, visit http://youtu.be/wZiRskvDoC0.