The stage for the 96th Academy Awards in 2024 is inspired by Tadao Ando and Oscar Niemeyer, and the simple and powerful arc decoration is quite different from the style of the previous sets.
Film, stage and architecture, they are like brothers from birth, artistic methods are intertwined, aesthetic senses are in common.

The inspiration of a master

Set for the 2024 Academy Awards

The 2024 Oscars stage set, co-produced by Alana Billingsley and Misty Buckley, took nine months from conception to final presentation to create a “modern plaza that draws people in”.
The ceremony consists of different parts, such as the opening ceremony, performance, tribute, and the presentation of major awards, etc. The stage scene will also change colors and combinations with the function.
According to the designers, the stage’s wide, curvilina-like curves were inspired by architects Tadao Ando and Oscar Niemeyer. Japanese architect Tadao Ando, winner of the Pritzker Prize in 1995, pioneered the aesthetic of fair-faced concrete with its cool gray tones.
Ando Tadao’s inspiration for the Oscar stage design comes more from the material and texture. Concrete itself has no temperature and emotion, but it will make the space more intense and pure. On stage, the two designers captured this purity, giving the set a texture like the cut stone of classical architecture, without embellishment, more solemn.

Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer has been called “the Picasso of architecture”. He used curves to bring a sense of lightness to reinforced concrete, creating “concrete curve aesthetics.”
The dynamic curves of this Oscar stage pay tribute to Niemeyer’s architectural style, and unlike the curvilinear architecture, which “itself is the protagonist,” the scenery curves inward, as if the curtain is opened.

Inspiration of The Times

The Golden Age of the Oscars

In contrast to the simplicity and purity of this year, the complex and luxurious style of the Deco has almost monopolized the award ceremony scenery in the past decade.
The 2022 Oscar stage by David Korins, the shape of the whirlpool aesthetic, through the arc connected to each other, blue and white spiral to build a sci-fi door to the future.
A huge curtain of 90,000 Swarovski crystals captures and reflects beautiful light, turning the stage into a bright and futuristic focal point.
The Oscar stage from 2013 to 2018 was created by the same man – Derek Mclane. From introducing 3D holographic projection technology, creating crystal worlds, to paying tribute to classic films, Derk has created many firsts in the history of Oscar stage design.
In 2014, extreme complexity, industrial wind is an important element of the stage design, the use of gold, blue, red three colors based tungsten light bulbs, with metal sequins, more cool is the size of the transparent golden statue he decorated on the scene.
In 2015, Derek decorated the entire stage with chandeliers to create a starry movie dream.
In 2015, Derek decorated the entire stage with chandeliers to create a starry movie dream.
In 2017, retro is with the future, inspired by the 1935 musical film Top Hat, Derek uses crystal and metal combined geometry as the stage background.
With the 2018 Oscars theme of “Light and Reflection,” Derek created an arch-shaped crystal installation using 45 million crystal pieces of crystal in various sizes and shapes, which were adapted to different times and regions of the winning films through 3D holographic projection technology.
Although Art Deco is a modern decorative art movement, it is also inseparable from the field of architecture. At its peak, Art Deco’s architectural style became a symbol of prosperity and modernity, leaving behind iconic buildings in cities around the world, such as the Rockefeller Center in New York and the Champs-Elysees Theater in Paris.