 The evolution of the interior took over seven and a half months to create using 90% found and recycled materials and working an average of 22 hours a day. Living in hammocks within the space while freely experimenting into creative vision was a daily ritual. Dismantling one element and recycling it while combining found materials of abandoned buildings and local dumpsters was how the environment organically evolved to be. The interior is made up of the living history of the city. The wood bar is made from recycled floor joists collected from the Meat Packing District. The basement support columns were salvaged from an old wooden roller coaster that were left to rot in a dying lumber yard. The wooden basement walls were scavenged from the historic Phil’s Army/Navy that recently burned down on Grand St. The front door, made of 120 year old Redwood, was refurbished from the remains of an old wooded wine distillery. Harlem and Chinatown too gave up some good stuff, like the blue door on the front wall or the brass poles behind the Dj booth. All of these discarded treasures played a part in the creative completion of a lounge like no other. Much
spirit and memory are intertwined in materials. This dynamic is what
helped shaped the diverse energies of this ever changing city and
ultimately the environment of Bembe. |
| Pre-Bembe New
Bembe |
