The Super Bowl Halftime Show remains the most watched event in the US each year and is widely considered the biggest possible stage for an artist in the world. In fact, this year’s performance by Kendrick Lamar and SZA is currently the most watched broadcast in American history. The unconventional set design sprung out to many, raising questions about the meaning behind it. Looking at the architectural side of the show, we can deduce how the stage came to be.
First, let’s discuss the logistics of the Halftime Show. At a regular concert, set construction workers have several hours to put together the stage. Meanwhile, the Super Bowl only allows about 7 to 8 minutes to set the stage and to deconstruct it after the show. Moreover, it is very important that the field remains in good quality for the rest of the game. The short time the construction crew has to set the stage also intrigues the crowd, making most of them remain seated to watch it unfold and, in result, putting pressure on the crew. Add to this unpredictable weather, pitch invaders and performer safety and you end up with complicated circumstances. Despite these difficulties, world-famous artists have gone out of their way to create breathtaking sets to accompany their performances.
Examples of past highlights in set design for the Halftime Show include Prince, with his stage having the shape of his symbol. Rihanna’s performance was done on several seemingly floating stages, making great use of the height of the stadiums the shows are performed in. This year’s performance is much more grounded and focused on good camera shots for the audience at home, which is very fitting for the intent of the show, as we will find out.
The set is confined by a cloth of about 55 meters long, spanning more than half the length of the field. The sides of the cloth are adorned with lamp posts and 4 stages. The stages are in the form of a rectangle, circle, cross and triangle, making the stage look like a video game controller from above. There is a certain irony in having a football game be interrupted by another game. Both this and the narration by Samuel L. Jackson play into the idea that the Halftime Show is a ‘game’ in itself, which has historically been ‘won’ by pop artists playing their most popular hits. This year’s production wants to show off that the Halftime Show can also be great despite the artist not being near the caliber of fame as some that performed in the past, in some sense saying that the ‘game’ can be ‘cheated’ in some way. This turned out to be true in their case; the performance garnered loads of attention thanks in part to its absence of traditional pop hits. Moreover, it seemed to carry a social message which surprised and appalled many.
Another way in which the Halftime Show differed from past performances is in its structure. While normally, artists make the best of the 15 minutes by performing a long medley of their most popular songs, the creatives behind this show took into account the way the artists like to perform. For example, Kendrick Lamar often incorporates theater-like interludes into music videos. This theme is used during his performance by breaking the performance up into acts, letting several characters speak and interact to link one song to the next. The idea of a theatrical performance is further accentuated by the absence of lighting, using primarily theater-esque spotlights on the artists and narrator. The aforementioned floor-focused set and camerawork work perfectly with this planning, as it turns the show into something akin to a musical or movie that is designed to be watched back in fine detail. This particular structure combined with the song selection made for a performance that was able to be much more conscious than ever seen before.
Fig. 1: Video still, displaying the darkness of the stadium and the spotlights. From NFL. (2025, February 10). Kendrick Lamar’s Apple Music Super Bowl Halftime Show [Video]. YouTube. Retrieved March 15, 2025, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDorKy-13ak
One could imagine that the spacious planning of the set requires the artists and dancers to move around a lot, and this allows the choreography to be incredibly dynamic. At the beginning it is chaotic, with lots of jumping and running around. As the performance goes from act to act, they become more in sync, reaching a climax during the second to last act where all are seen marching the entire length of the carpet, making it seem like the artists have managed to unite the masses with their music.
Fig. 2: Video still of the second to last act. From NFL. (2025, February 10). Kendrick Lamar’s Apple Music Super Bowl Halftime Show [Video]. YouTube. Retrieved March 15, 2025, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDorKy-13ak
Architecture, just like music and other artforms, can leave an important impression on people. Lamar’s and SZA’s message of going against the grain and forging your own path is beautifully expressed in the stage design. That is why it is so interesting to analyze architecture in places that are often overlooked, like the Super Bowl, to find ways of expression that are not often considered in the regular built environment.
For further reading on the technical side of it all, I suggest checking the blog post by the company in charge of the set construction, linked below!
