Situated in a prominent position between the opera house and the Four Seasons Hotel in Munich, the former central ticket office for the state theatres is soon to be demolished to make way for new opera rehearsal rooms and other facilities. In the meantime, this outwardly unpretentious structure has been revamped to become a popular night-time venue for young people. The conversion work was confined to the box-office and waiting zones, which were turned into a bar and lounge areas. The cool, restrained design, in conjunction with the black felt wall lining, provides the ideal setting for an installation by the Munich photographer Michael Vesely. Extending from the bar at the front to the dance area at the rear, the installation consists of a ribbon of light set in the wall. The coloured banding in yellow, blue, red and green interspersed with strips of white is reminiscent of a bar code and was created by long exposure of light-sensitive film. At night, the luminous ribbon, which bathes the space in coloured light, evokes the perfect atmosphere for this venue. AW