The Jonathan Morr Espresso Bar, on 6th Ave .between 57th and 56th Sts., is lit by wall fixtures shaped like coffee cups.
There were colorfully painted totems, lobby water sculptures, bamboo booths with thatched roofs, fake parrots perched in the rafters, and lighting fixtures shaped like blowfish.
Inside was more green: emerald walls and curtains, a lime-hued wall hanging fashioned from a musullah, or prayer rug, and green light fixtures shaped like tulips.
Suspended from the ceiling are fixtures shaped like shallow bowls that direct soft light upward, creating a magical effect by night.
In 1986, for example, the Dodgers refurbished a poor and troubled elementary school, painting walls "Dodger Blue," installing light fixtures shaped like baseballs and dispatching a grounds crew of sorts to do landscaping.
One standout is John Smith's intimate series of "Hotel Diaries," at Tanya Leighton of Berlin, in which various hotel rooms and fixtures subtly shape a rambling monologue on current events of the past decade.
With traditional techniques, the range of fixturable shapes is limited and the identification of suitable fixtures in a given set-up involves complex reasoning.
Futuristic, with a Fritz Langian appeal, it is made up of two center cylinders encompassed by quarter-spherical shells that can pivot to change the fixture's shape.
The same spirit can be seen in the backgammon room, where the wall vents are patterned like backgammon boards, and in the library, whose light fixtures are shaped like the planet Saturn.
A taste of Argentina -- or at least Mr. Lapidus's idea of Argentina -- could be had in the Gaucho Room, where walls looked like cowhide, lamp fixtures were shaped like steer skulls and the ceiling was ornamented with cattle brands.
