AUDEMARS PIGUET // Montreux Jazz Festival
The Vision
For AP’s annual Montreux Party, we were tasked with transforming the raw, industrial grandeur of Chavalon power plant set upon the top of a mountain, into a living, breathing timepiece.
Set high above Lake Geneva, the project transformed the belly of this hydraulics factory into a physical metaphor for time in perpetual motion. This was a unique moment in history, as the studio delivered the first and final event in the space before its demolition. By fusing the raw atmosphere of the site with creative technology, the work created an immersive reflection of brand heritage.
The Creation
The work centred on a sculptural lighting piece, the installation featured interconnected concentric rings that mimicked the inner workings of a watch. The largest ring held 60 lighting fixtures to represent the seconds in a minute.
At the start of the event, the sculpture functioned as a real-time clock, with each ring displaying the hour, minute, and second. We designed the arc of the evening hour by hour, the motion shifting through new shapes and sequences as the night progressed, each hour revealing a new behaviour or feature of the lighting design. Rapt extended the visual language out from the sculpture and across the three floors of abandoned machinery, placing light and smoke through the plant to make the factory feel as though it were powering up and coming alive.
Every element was previsualised in 3D before site, so AP could see exactly how the evening would look and feel before any decision became a commitment.
The Moment
The impact hits as the factory awakens. Red-hued industrial shadows and smoke pulse through the old machinery, creating the sensation that the plant is breathing again.
People in the turbine hall are surrounded by the concentric rings as they move in and out of each other in sync with the performance. It is a sensory encounter where the audience exists within the mechanics of a clock, feeling the physical weight of the space and the evolving energy of the night. Behind every shift, rapt was at the controls, operating the pixel lighting and directing the kinesis and lighting operators in real time, shaping the pace, intensity and feel of the night as it unfolded.
