Travis Scott has always pushed the boundaries when it comes to spectacle at his shows. From the flying dystopian heads to enough pyrotechnics to cause a national emergency, Scott delivers when it comes to creating a once-in-a-lifetime experience for fans. His otherworldly stage designs are motivated, in part, by his interest in structural design.
In 2023, Scott said in an interview with GQ that he wanted to study architecture at Harvard University. “I’ve always been into structural design and structural engineering and, you know, trying to just build all different type of things, right?” He said, dropping lore outside of music.
“When you start seeing how odd things can be shaped and then see how they can structurally work, it’s interesting […] I’m doing rehearsals now, and I’m always asking questions about even just structural and staging and how it can be built.”
Enter Rick Owens, whose furniture line takes inspiration from architectural elements like Brutalism and was originally custom-made for his personal use. Scott taped the gothic king of interesting structural design to create a versatile backstage sanctuary that’ll leave anyone with living room envy.
Travis Scott and Rick Owens’ first collaboration
Scott owns multiple pieces of Rick Owens furniture but didn’t experience the luxury of custom Rick until March 2024. The duo first collaborated on the wardrobe and set design for Scott’s Saturday Night Live performance of “FE!N.” It’s as dark and dystopian as expected, perfect for Scott’s special guest, Playboi Carti.
While working on SNL, Scott shared that he was going on tour soon and asked the Owens design team if they’d be open to collaborating on a custom space that is an “extension of my day-to-day on the road,” he told Architectural Digest in a September 2024 article.
What modular sofa dreams are made of
Owens already had a design he could expand on that met the needs of an easy setup and tear down for a transportable backstage space. “Scott’s exploration of the darker side of hip-hop and Owens’s signature gothic ethos, famed across his fashion and furnishings” came together to create a one-of-a-kind Tech Glade.
The new design is a spin-off of the original Glade modular seating system that Owens created in 2019. Think of a large-scale couch made up of individual couches that can be re-arranged with their lighting, Internet cables, and chargers, and you got the right idea.
Along with an elite Rick Owens-designed aesthetic, the large-scale piece of 10 or more modular sections is also completely transportable—perfect for Scott’s on-the-road tour lifestyle. It allowed him to customize his backstage set-up to the various square footage he’d have available as he set up shop in different venues.
“Knowing that we would not see these different backstages—small, large, high, or low—we were able to construct the Tech Glade in a very movable way … We adapt it to each venue,” Michèle Lamy (Owens’ longtime muse, wife, and executive manager of Rick Owens Furniture) told Architectural Digest.
Custom recording studio and Owens’ furnishings
Scott’s Glade has a couple of upgrades, including space for a large-screen TV and a recording studio designed by French record producer Damien Quintard. It’s a cyber-friendly spin on the relaxing and peaceful setting Scott likes to kick back in between shows.
“I envisioned a space that feels like an extension of my brain … Something comfortable and all-encompassing. I like to record, watch movies, chill, have conversations. I wanted it to be all in one. The [Tech] Glade really is perfect for that,” Scott said.
Travis Scott’s Tech Glade lounge via Architectural Digest.
Along with the Glade being Owens’ design, it is also dripped down with Owens’ accessories and materials. Made up of a pine variety called batipin pinewood and covered in French army wool blankets—the Tech Glade is similar to an Owens piece that Scott already owns. The Rick Owens Home Pompidou Bed, also seen in his SNL performance, was created for a 2019 project for Paris’s Amis Du Centre Pompidou.
When he is done with his rage-filled set and in the mood to create, Scott can hit the studio designed by Quintard to pass the vibe check without sacrificing quality.
“When thinking of designing a studio, the most important aspect is the inspiration you get from the design that surrounds you … I’m so happy we were able to create a modular structure that could work with all types of backstages, not only sonically but architecturally,” Quintard said.
Experience the Owens x Scott design IRL
Unfortunately, though, Scott and the Tech Glade will part ways this fall. Scott will be touring with the Owens creation until he completes his tour through Latin America and Australia at the end of October.
The good news for fans, though, is that the piece will be featured at Salon 94 in NYC at a Rick Owens Furniture exhibition next January. This will give fans of the designer and artist a chance to experience the creation IRL. The show will also include a similar Tech Glade with audiovisual features.
In this case, the party does have to come to an end. Nevertheless, thanks to Rick Owens’ design, Scott had a unique backstage experience that allowed him to create whenever inspiration hit. Throughout the Circus Maximus tour, Scott has teased that he’s already back in album mode, and he even previewed a new song in Mexico City on September 22.
