Showtime House - cable television shows interpreted by designers

Earlier this week the cable channel Showtime unveiled an experimental exhibition at the TEN Arquitectos-designed Cassa Hotel and Residences in New York City. Invited designers were commissioned to inperprent the network's hit shows through the design of individual rooms. Invited designers include Brooks Atwood and POD Design, Space4Architecture, Studios Go, Poesis, Marc Thorpe, Eric Chan and ECCO Design, Laura Bohn, Jeff Miller, Stephen Chung, Bruce Mau Design. The shows the designers were assigned to include Dexter, Nurse Jackie, Weeds, United States of Tara, Californication and new programs, The Big C with Laura Linney, and The Borgias with Jeremy Irons. Photos and descriptions of the rooms are below...

All images courtesy of Andrew French

A conceptual commentary on the original "gangstas" using light, sound, and high-tech treats.Combining icons from the show and merging it with neon and the latest in audio technology, Thorpe's room is a sanctuary of good and evil.

Rich with texture, fabrics, and objects of desire, this theatrical modern day basilica features projections from the Assassins Creed II, a video game set in Renaissance Italy. Keith Baltimore's space features elaborate techniques including venetian plastering, an elaborate renaissance-inspired archway, textured wallpaper, jewel tones, rich velvets and colorations, and a poison den to boot.

The dark passenger’s ultimate refuge: if Dexter could live openly, it would be here.  From the books, to the furniture, to the use of new technology, this space serves as cocoon for the character’s alter-ego. Created by Michael C. Hall's own interior designer, Jeff Andrews, this evocative home-office space of Dexter provides a contemplative area for planning, scheming and committing evil deeds. The masculine space is heavily textured with leather flooring, animal skins, wallpaper that resembles snakeskin and sinister touches throughout.

Altering the doorway with raised, dramatically altered platform covered with black astroturf, visitors perception is challenged upon entering. At the end of the tunnel one encounters a monumental photo that has been wallpapered on the ceiling. A mirrored floor reflects a compromising view of mischief occurring in the bedroom, while letters and clear acrylic furnishings convey a cryptic tone of Hank Moody's living area.

This color-filled extravaganza pays tribute to the program by imagining a Paradise Lost + Garden of Eden tribute redux. Custom wallpaper known as Wallskins designed by Loecke and developed by HP, anchor the space along with overscaled floral accessories, textiles and objet along with artwork and portraits hung salon style.

Using his real-life experience in designing a cancer center, Chung relies on chroma-therapy techniques and interactive motion technology for this space. Designed to rejuvenate and recharge, the soothing bedroom features a movable chroma-therapy sculpture, interactive book case and a color center that alters the rooms interior color.

Inspired by her favorite show, Bohn draws from Nurse Jackie’s most hilarious moments: a  room of whimsy with surgical lights, hallucinations, and even a confessional. Lines on the floor alter the visitors perspective, drawing them toward the bed, while the customized light fixture conjures images of surgical activities. A series of x-rays line the walls and custom curtains made of latex surround the bed.

Children behave as adults and adults behave as children in this edgy lounge, which showcases an interactive photo booth that will enable visitors to become one of their favorite characters. Mirrored custom cabinetry and combo desk/bar serve as complex reminders of Hank Moody's status--conflicted over his success as a writer, but feeling compromised as a New York "artist" living in Los Angeles.

Inspired by an antiseptic chic color palette, this interior space features apothecary jars, hand stenciled wall coverings, and other surprises.

Integrating space, technology, textures, and interior concepts, these rooms are defined by a series of “Big C’s”--Change, Clarity, Calm, Comedy, and Courage. The Clarity Lounge conveys a fairy tale theme, complete with giant rabbit sculpture, a living garden wall, a 3d tv showing butterflies and a bright pastel color palette. In contrast, the calming Contemplation Room provides a white environs to reflect with a purple chair wrapped in gossamer.

This space draws visitors in with an interlocking exoskeleton structure. One is drawn into Tara's multiple personalities with head phones and a monitor that tracks every move and mimics visitors path. The roof deck upstairs features oversized tires, colorful seating and large grouping of wildflower type plants, provided by Jungle Design.

Cutting-edge technology and innovative interiors are combined here to envelop visitors and immerse them in Dexter’s world. Okshteyn took inspiration from Georgia O'Keefe paintings and monster films such as Alien and crafted an intricate love seat that resembles both elements. A mirror stained with what appears to be blood is actually a speaker emitting sounds from the Dexter video game. The bath tantalizes visitors with a video of a woman showering and using the toilet.

Using iconic emblems from each program, Bruce Mau Design projected images in large scale with a technique anamorphosis that allows viewers to decipher icons only from one angle--while from others, the item comes off as an abstraction.