Visually stunning movie theaters are just as engaging as what’s on the screen.

Garage Screen
Moscow
Opposite of Moscow’s Garage Museum of Contemporary Art in Gorky Park resides the outdoor Garage Screen summer movie theater. Taking cues from the traditional emblems of cinema, the pavilion recalls the diverging beam of light from the projector, as well as the iconic opening crawl of the Star Wars series. Meanwhile, the neon logo evokes the dystopian palette of Blade Runner. “To keep the maximum of our design, it required plenty of design options,” says Victor Stolbovoy, founder of Moscow-based Syndicate Architecture, which dreamed up the cinema. Among them are curtains with acoustic properties that can be raised or lowered for more intimate or open moviegoing experiences, as well as a retractable roof that ensures the theater can be used in any type of weather.

Changshu Jinyi
Guangzhou, China
The inspiration for the Changshu Jinyi came from the martial arts technique known as “place shifting,” commonly seen in Wuxia martial arts films. “In the movies, these masters with extremely high martial arts skills can travel from place to place quickly, leaving lines of light and motion behind them,” says Ajax Law, co-director at Hong Kong-based design firm One Plus Partnership. The designers chose long, narrow, and lightweight rectangular plates to form a decorative light feature on the ceiling that reflects the fast-shifting movements of the on-screen heroes. In the auditorium, custom-made square boards are situated on top of each other with hidden green lights to look like they are rapidly changing and moving. “We want guests to feel like they are immersed in a movie scene when they walk around the space,” says co-director Virginia Lung.