omewhat responsible for the current incarnation of local area nightspots, Irfan Bukhari is a frontiersman in design and workmanship, from dropping a Japanese theatre motif into Budo to choreographing the onyx-heavy interior of Nectar. It’s in this spirit that, after years of the eventual nightclub institutionalization of the area known as clubland - Bukhari has re-designed, re-vamped, and ultimately re-energized another trend-setter, Fluid.

When Fluid launched ten years ago, it was an instant success, with its high-design and a well thought-out promotional line-up. In some sense - with its go-go platforms and big puffy banquettes it was as flashy as Yabu & Pushelberg’s Stillife design that had been the previous tenant. Since then, big-budget visitors in town on the studios dime would pop into Fluid to be ushered off to the VIP section. But ten years is a long time, and the design that was copied by others -sometimes shamelessly - was over.

Not missing a beat, owners Moses Sabatino and Dean Holdip closed Fluid to ‘re-create’ the bar. Not just touch up here and there, but overhaul the whole thing. Re-launching after a hectic two-month construction period, they clearly did just that. Bukhari’s new design is about how a designer pours all the reasons he wants to make a worthy club out of a former worthy club. There's an eager devotion to him that goes beyond design worship and that I would not have thought Bukhari capable of.

The new design shows a slightly warmer, more human edge to Fluid. This is especially evident in the first bar area; upon entry, you’ll instantly gaze up at the two thousand hanging glass tears suspended from the ceiling, giving that a translucent raining effect, adding movement to the room. There is a real appreciation of photography as Rico Bella’s stills are mounted, semi-opaque and backlit, from centre pillars thoughout the same room.

This continues into the next area as an elevated VIP bar area illuminates more of Bella’s photos, this time of close-ups of a gothic-looking statue at different angles - long, female, gold and reptile-ish.

“It’s a Geiger-designed microphone stand for the rock band Korn,” says Bukharai. “We loved it as soon as we unwrapped it, and didn’t even know it was a microphone until we saw the thing on MTV. So, we had to have it imortalized.”

It's a raw and undomesticated look, which shouldn’t surprise coming from the man who originally created the ultra-horny "Budo." Bukhari shows a sign of easying and having some fun with a third area, by displaying, yes, more photography, but this time of mammoth blowups of insects and butterflys: shots of butterflys enlarged to the point of unrecognizability, a long sight line of small wall icons, and the piece de restistance - two photo-impermeated glass floor fixtures adjacent to a standing bar give the whole area - by having the projected light revolve throughout the night - a performance art feel to it. - DE



Write a Review
Reader Reviews