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The Night Gallery
New York, New York

On 7th Avenue South in Greenwich Village, Rosenberg Kolb designed a bar and restaurant based on the theme of the 1970's television show 'The Night Gallery', which used a different painting to introduce each episode. Within the atmosphere of a T.V. studio set, paintings and sculptures are situated throughout the space, against a black background.

With100 feet of frontage on a busy pedestrian street RKA redesigned the storefront to completely fold away and allow sidewalk cafe seating for 40 people. The exterior work required close coordination with various city agencies, including Landmarks and Consumer Affairs.

The interior space is organized around a large racetrack shaped bar with seating for 50 people. The dining area seats 200. A new raised platform across the back portion of the space adds definition and spatial interest, while providing additional floor area accessible from the cellar below.

Each floor was assigned a different theme: The Grand Salon, The Library, The Laboratory, and The Mausoleum. They are packed with memorabilia such as sphinxes, Polynesian masks, and animal heads that move, tell jokes, and talk to patrons while they are eating. Actors roam the floor dressed as chambermaids, aviators, and mad scientists, staging scenes involving the clientele.

The combination of dining and entertainment required complex, interactive systems. Three new dumbwaiters create a well-coordinated food delivery system that connects the kitchen and dining floors. Computer, audio, and visual systems produce the 'attraction'-bodies falling, the sounds of women screaming, ghouls popping out of the walls and an elaborate floorshow involving Dr. Jekyll, Mr. Hyde and Frankenstein. Rosenberg Kolb successfully married the atmosphere of an English gentleman's club with that of an Agatha Christie mystery.