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Music Production Academy

Bringing a music school's building back to life on a budget close to zero — an anamorphic logo, cube lamps for high ceilings, and LED lines that tell students which classrooms are free.

Client
Music Production Academy Rotterdam
Year
2019
Status
Completed
Services
Hardware prototyping Concept to market
The MPA logo on the wall in neon colours, with a hanging cube lamp and track lights

The brief

The Music Production Academy of Rotterdam is a young team of producers, professional musicians and entrepreneurs. Their building did not match the energy of what happened inside it: high ceilings, too little light, and a budget close to zero.

The space before

We designed it as a whole first, then built the parts that would do the most for the least money — mostly with light and RGB, to make it brighter, more digital and more colourful.

The concept render

The first thing you see is the MPA logo — but only from one spot. Inspired by the Swiss artist Felice Varini, it is painted across the walls so it resolves from a single point of view. Walk on from the entrance and it breaks apart into a moving illustration.

The anamorphic logo

Cube lamps for a high ceiling

The ceilings were high and the light was poor, which gave us room for big lamps: two skeleton cubes, one inside the other, around a light source like an ice cube. RGB bulbs let the school change the colour.

A cube lamp

The cube lamp in colour

Line lights that work as signage

The Line Lights are lines of LED that run along the walls towards the three classrooms downstairs. Their colour tells students whether a room is free or busy — signage that is also the lighting.

The Line Lights

Line Lights leading to the classrooms

Where it stands

Completed in 2019. Photos: Agnese Pellino.

  • Interior
  • Lighting
  • Signage
  • Low budget

Knowledge this took

  • Spatial and interior lighting design
  • Anamorphic graphics
  • Custom light fixtures
  • LED status signage
  • Working to a near-zero budget

So we can also build

  • Wayfinding and status lights that replace signs and screens
  • Making a tired space feel new without a renovation budget
  • Brand moments built into architecture rather than hung on it

Something close to this but not quite it?

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