Ristorazione

Supa Fama - 保利广场
A farm-to-table restaurant serving Western cuisine
Guangzhou, Cina

From the moment you leave the shopping mall public area and step into the space, you are immersed in another world – a luscious garden of plants flowing from all sides. Our latest Supa Fama restaurant is an exploration of the machine-made vs the natural, the geometric vs the organic; it is conceived as a steampunk version of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.

Like the tales of travellers arriving at the Gardens recording their first impressions of its splendour and wonder, we wanted the restaurant to be as awe-inspiring as much as it is a cosy place to dine. We wanted to allow the customers to have the feeling of being lost, forgetting the stress of the modern world and be temporarily transported to another place, another time.

At the entrance a sense of grandiosity is immediately apparent. Customers take in the whole space at once, and as they move through, the intricacies slowly reveal themselves. A narrow bridge runs along the outward-facing perimeter, whose continuous stream of hanging plants invites customers to pass underneath, as if entering through the gates of a walled ancient city.

The L-shaped floor plan is loosely divided into two zones, the bar and the dining hall. The bar faces out towards the shopping mall public area, so that it can still operate after dinner hours.

The bar is a horse-shoe shaped central element where guests can sit and get a drink before being directed to their table. It is a point of rest and recuperation. The industrial iron work that supports the bottle shelves above give hints at what is to come further inside.

The dining hall opens up on a central courtyard with a ‘river’ of greenery flowing down the centre. Blackened steel posts define a circulation ring around the courtyard and facilitate the traffic of customers and wait staff alike, as food is delivered from the adjacent open kitchen. The posts are decorated with arched iron lattice-work, recalling the impressive conservatories of Victorian-era Britain. Plants provide screening between the tables, giving a sense of privacy for the guests. Above the space is open, visually connecting to the upstairs dining area. The balconies surrounding the courtyard drip with foliage, the atmosphere akin to a bustling hub.

Access to the second level is provided by two staircases, one clad in reclaimed timber with its landing resting on a vintage water wheel, referencing the industrial age of hydro power, the other a blackened wrought-iron spiral stair, sitting at the pivotal point of the entire restaurant, acting as an anchor for the whole design.

Upstairs the mood is calmer, though still vibrant as shadows dance across the rough concrete walls. Dining tables sit under an industrial canopy of iron mesh, filled with yet more plants. Custom-designed pendant lights hang over the tables, made from vintage glass insulators suspended from angled black iron SHS pipes, creating a wave-like pattern and adding a rhythmic layer of movement. Along the back wall, after climbing a few more steps, there is a row of private dining rooms accessed by a balcony that forms one side of the courtyard. Being the highest level of the restaurant, from here guests can survey the whole space. Each private room has its own horticultural theme, such as Vintage Flower Shop, Seed Warehouse and Greenhouse.

The architectural materials and flora are both essential elements in the design; they represent opposite directions in their lifecycles. We chose materials such as steel, concrete, and reclaimed timber, that visibly age towards their death, gradually transforming through oxidation, rust, and patina. In contrast, plants start their lifecycle from a seed and mature into free-form shapes, constantly changing as they interact with their environment. The juxtaposition between these two elements creates a fascinating dynamic in the design, where the enduring qualities of man-made materials contrast with the ephemeral nature of living organisms. This interplay between materiality and nature brings a unique sense of depth and timelessness to the space, elevating the design beyond mere aesthetics.

The decorative lighting in the dining spaces have been custom designed to enhance the overall atmosphere and aesthetic. By custom designing the lighting, we were able to control the illuminance, material quality and colour, to achieve an effect that complements both the steampunk and historical themes. The result is a space that is not only functional but also visually stunning, providing an immersive and memorable experience for guests.

Being our third collaboration with the Supa Fama brand, we paid special attention to developing a visual identity that is unique to this location, yet still adhere to the brand essence that can be traced through all locations. Emphasis on fresh ingredients, healthy lifestyle, happiness and relaxation remain at the core of their identity, and are present in each design, each in its own way.

Pics by Brian Chua
Interior Designer: Birdhouse
Impresa di Costruzioni: Guangzhou tanghuang catering management Co.，Ltd

LA RINASCITA DI UN BORGO DA FIABA:
IL CASTELLO DI CLANEZZO (BG)

L’idea nasce dal desiderio dei tre giovani imprenditori, provenienti da esperienze diverse, di far rivivere il borgo storico con un approccio spigliato e confidenziale, fino ad ora utilizzato solo per eventi e matrimoni, con un nuovo ristorante, lontano dalle strade trafficate e con un po’ di spazio verde per ritrovare pace e rilassamento. Lo splendido Castello di Clanezzo appare immerso in un paesaggio da fiaba dopo alcuni minuti di cammino da via Regina Teolinda vicino allo stretto ponte medievale di Attone. L’edificio edificato tra il 900 e il 1100 è il risultato di numerose trasformazioni che lo hanno portato a mostrarsi da maniero di difesa a palazzo signorile con un elegante doppio loggiato. All’interno le numerose sale ricche di affreschi e gli ampi spazi esterni hanno dato una fresca nuova immagine alla location da fiaba.

Credits: ph. Andrea Liverani

Tensilence ridisegna il comfort acustico del ristorante CLU

Una premessa è doverosa. In acustica la Riverberazione, è il fenomeno della riflessione delle onde sonore sulle superfici di un ambiente, ed il Tempo di Riverberazione (Tr), è la permanenza del suono in ambiente. Quando il tempo di riverberazione è troppo lungo, all’interno dello spazio le onde sonore si sovrappongono e si mescolano tra loro, rendendo l’ambiente non più confortevole. Una conseguenza evidente, ad esempio, è la mancata comprensione della parola della persona vicino a noi e con la quale stiamo conversando. Questo rimbombo viene poi accentuato dalla necessità di alzare il volume della voce per farsi capire. Ovviamente in una sala affollata questa tendenza produce effetti peggiorativi per il benessere delle persone nell’ambiente.
Al ristorante CLU i proprietari si sono resi conto di questa criticità che impediva di gustare appieno l’esperienza di cibo e benessere che proponevano ai loro clienti, e si sono rivolti a Tensilence per risolvere il problema.
Hanno definito il prodotto Tensilence che più si adatta al design della sala da trattare; la scelta è caduta su Soundflat, un pannello termoformato ad alte prestazioni dal design elegante ed essenziale.
Le sale del ristorante sono decorate con dipinti alle pareti e sulle volte, quindi era necessario lavorare con materiali che si integrassero nel design e permettessero di apprezzare l’allestimento attuale. Soundflat fa questo e molto di più; partecipa all’arredamento dell’ambiente integrandolo e fornendo elevate prestazioni di fonoassorbimento con elevata valenza estetica.

GIOVANARDI, attraverso il proprio marchio dedicato Tensilence, ha messo a punto soluzioni che permettano di risolvere il problema acustico con materiali tessili performanti, innovativi, versatili, belli. Ed è in grado tramite il proprio staff di aiutare il designer, l’allestitore, il cliente finale, a scegliere l’applicazione più adatta e più gradevole. E’ stata sviluppata un’offerta di prodotti che possano contribuire al comfort in maniera efficace, semplice e veloce. Le soluzioni fonoassorbenti Tensilence sono adatte alla realizzazione di tutte le applicazioni da collocare in ambiente: trattamento del soffitto, delle pareti, dei tavoli, delimitazioni degli spazi, per renderlo confortevole e con un’estetica accattivante e adattabile a qualsiasi idea di progetto.

Prada Caffé in London

Prada opened its Prada Caffè at Harrods in London, a space designed to add a new dimension to the brand and offer customers a unique and engaging experience.
The environment revisits Prada’s visual hallmarks, with every choice – from the decor and menu to the tableware and atmosphere – reflecting the brand’s language, approach and distinctive way of viewing the world.

Inside, the walls, ceilings and velvet-upholstered sofas and armchairs are delicately coloured with the brand’s iconic green. The floors reproduce the black-and-white chequered floor of the historic Prada boutique on Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan, while the floral bas-reliefs on the walls evoke some of Prada’s flagship stores across the world.

The tableware is original and exclusive, selected by Prada to match the surroundings and ranging from pale-blue Japanese porcelain with a contrasting double black line, inspired by ancient Celadon pottery – tea and coffee cups with lids, teapots, plates and trays – to blown-glass crystal glassware, including the Triangle series with its quintessentially Prada triangular pattern.

The range of food and drink on offer covers the entire day, from breakfast to evening cocktails, and provides a subtle, modern take on Italian tradition, with sandwiches and risotto sitting alongside buffalo mozzarella and salmon and crab dishes and spritz - and negroni-based aperitifs complementing the list of signature cocktails. The wine list spans the whole of Italy, with bottles from Sicily to Piedmont.

Pastries play a central role, displayed both on the spectacular central counter and the wall behind: the selection of fine patisserie products pairs expert craftsmanship with modern techniques and classic ingredients with more contemporary flavours and aromas.


PICS BY: Studio VF17
Prada Caffè
31 March 2023 - 7 January 2024
from 9 AM to 9 PM Monday to Saturday and from 12 PM to 6 PM on Sunday
Entrance on Hans Road

PURE NFTEA by EK DESIGN

In China, tea is more than a beverage.

It is a cultural heritage.

Tea has been out of fashion among young people for quite some time. For businesses in the tea sector, how to breathe new life into tea and attract people's interest to understand and consume it has become a priority. How to win over young people? In other words, how to attract them?

"Create conflicts and contrasts to induce interest"
PURE NFTEA is a tea brand situated in C Future City, Futian District, Shenzhen. Owned by a young entrepreneur whose family has been in the tea business for decades, with their own tea plantation and factory, the brand's name "PURE" is a transliteration of "Pu'er". As a young individual, the client hopes to interpret tea culture in a fresh way, challenge young people's perceptions of Chinese tea, introduce tea to the younger generation, and establish a trendy tea beverage brand that appeals to them.

Every scenario is a dramatic narrative.
"We aim to let tea culture speak to young people rather than asking them to learn about it." To that end, EK Design creatively reinterpreted the space by renovating the spatial layout and combining new ideas with old structures. By making use of the terroir of tea, the design team also transformed traditional spatial experiences and created a dynamic conflict that appeals to younger generations and engages them in tea culture.
The space is comprised of both indoor and outdoor areas, both of which have a triangular horizontal plane. In terms of spatial relations, the tea store and the shopping mall where it sits mutually attract traffic. Therefore, the designers faced more challenges in creating an independent style, but also had more freedom to put inspiration into practice, which means "more openness, freedom, and creativity".

NO.1

Go with the flow
Make use of the existing conditions rather than hiding them.
"How should we present the space? What perspective should we take? What more can the design generate?" Bearing those questions in mind, EK Design chose to work with the existing conditions and approached the design in a natural manner.
To tackle the challenge of the acute triangle horizontal plane, which is considered a "negative space" in architecture, the design team maximized the use of the space while minimizing the sense of narrowness.
First, the designers utilized the existing conditions by adding beams, which are parallel to the triangle, to the existing columns and creating new decorative columns at the joints. The next step was creating passages out of the angles, thus making use of the corners.
In this way, an asymmetrical yet balanced frame was constructed on the horizontal plane, defining a new space in a deconstructive manner.
One side of the triangle becomes a display and operation platform to keep the kitchen out of sight. One side becomes the storefront and bar counter to connect with the public area of the shopping mall, and the other side is left open to connect with the outdoor space and embrace nature.

NO.2

Deconstruction
Chinese Lego blocks — mortise-and-tenon structures, a flexible joint in architecture
"The Sun (tenon) and Mao (mortise) represent the Yang and Yin elements in Chinese philosophy. The changes in mortise-and-tenon structures reflect the evolution of Chinese architecture." The design team used mortise-and-tenon structures as joints between beams and columns to create a flexible frame on the vertical dimension.
Rather than adopting the traditional array arrangement of mortise-and-tenon structures, the design team opted for an irregular structure in a deconstructive way. This resulted in an asymmetrical balance between the floor and elevation, infusing the space with a sense of modernity.
Beneath the weathered and rough texture of the columns lies the source of lighting, symbolizing the future and technology, and creating a stark contrast between the past and the future.

NO.3

Painting
The beauty of calligraphy and painting lies in the spiritual connection, which cannot be achieved by merely the superficial form.
The tea mountain, enveloped in mist and drizzle, stands tall with its undulating outline. Looking closely at the painting amidst the tea fog, customers will see the beauty of traditional China in spring, with refreshing scenery and abundant vitality.
The painting is inspired by the "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" scroll, and features a contrasting blend of realistic and romantic elements. It incorporates three ancient paintings, namely, "Shanglin Park", "Huishan Tea Party" and "Tea Extraction", and has been edited to combine both modern ideology and traditional copper plate printing techniques.
This painting represents the romantic ideals of ancient Chinese culture through its composition and spatial arrangement, creating a sense of affinity and harmony within the space.

NO.4

Red soil
The terroir code hidden in Yiwu Tea Mountain
The red soil of Yiwu has a saturated color that resembles Pu'er tea. It is the perfect soil for nourishing Pu'er trees. In the project, the design team extracted the natural colors of both the soil and tea to showcase the unique terroir of Pu'er and the rich history of Chinese tea.
Weathered red soil has a mottled texture that gives off an ancient vibe. The red finishes replicate the weathered fracture surface of the soil visually and tactilely. The black volcanic stone slabs create an interesting contrast with the "red soil", depicting the ancient natural evolution process.

NO.5

Fusion
A city embraces its sunsets as well as its sunrises
The triangular outdoor space, enclosed by mortise-and-tenon modules, is connected to the indoor area. The low, flexible structures provide both seating and partitioning.
The tea store incorporates innovative tea beverages and socializing functions, it's designed with a variety of seating options. The bar seating seamlessly blends with the existing beams and columns, almost as if it's an extension of the environment. The asymmetrical booth structures are arranged in a harmonious manner, and tables are strategically placed in the corners to fully utilize the space.
PURE NFTEA provides a welcoming and relaxed environment for all guests, whether they're young people socializing with friends or seniors enjoying some quiet time alone. With spring just around the corner, a visit to PURE NFTEA to experience the joy of tea brewing in the beautiful, sunny weather is highly recommended.

Pics by: Jack Qin
Design Team: YuQiang & Partners, EK Design

Piazza in a room by Wutopia Lab

Piazza in a room, the Mapoly Coffee in Shanghai Historical Museum, designed by Wutopia Lab will be opened in February 2023 on the first floor of the museum's West Building.

You can find Japanese, Korean, American, Taiwanese or Southeast Asian cafés, and you can even find a run-down but proudly maintained 1980s Taiwanese Japanese café on Yongkang Road, but there is no such one that represents Shanghai. However, Shanghai has a long history of cafés. In Eileen Chang's essay "Double Voices" published in Tiandi magazine in 1945, she began by saying that when she went out with her friends, no matter what they did, they would always end up in a café. At that time, cafés in Shanghai were communal spaces in the city, serving beverages and snacks, but they could also be dancing halls, meeting rooms, libraries, information centers, and everyday social places.

Coffee and Piazza



The plan of café is shaped like a knife-handle. The bureau of cultural heritage requested to preserve the facade. In addition, the west building is the former stables of the horse racing hall, so the windows of the façade are all high and require frosted glass, which causes a lack of indoor lighting and exterior views.



The café is sealed in the first floor of the west building. It suddenly occurred to me, if I regard the interior façade as exterior, isn't the main space outdoor? Such exterized-interior could lift the seal.



The interior space is actually hard to deal with since there is also a huge column in the center. The most public place in the urban typology would be those small squares in Europe. I decided to create a cheerful communal place, a Shanghai café, by combining various building components into an abstract square implanted in the interior of the first floor of the West Building, referring to A Pattern Language (Christopher Alexander, Murray Silverstein, and Sara Ishikawa, 1977).



The central pillar was repurposed as a monument with a wishing pool, behind which a segment of my novel is inscribed. Around it, there are stairs, a colonnade, a stage with a fireplace, and a glass box as a balcony. There can be flowers, coffee, a little wine, love, gossips, pets, stand-up comedy, a sudden song of memories of the Alhambra and an impromptu tango. There can be hustle, cheerfulness as well as hidden jealousy.

Project name: Piazza in a room

Architectural firm: Wutopia Lab

Pics: CreatAR Images

Caffè San Carlo by lamatilde
Torino / Italia / 2023

For the restyling of the Caffè San Carlo, lamatilde decided to opt for a discreet and non-invasive approach, maintaining the elegance and the classic identity of the venue while starting a dialogue with contemporary processes and materials.

The hero element of the main room is the central peninsula counter, made of oak with a ribbed relief finish – an echo of the motif on the original decorative pilasters – and topped with smooth Emperador Dark marble.

The central position of the counter is further enhanced by its relationship with the original, sumptuous chandelier and with the two red velvet sofas with high backrests, which pay homage to the typical style of 19th-century armchairs.

The displays behind the counter feature a metal frame structure with built-in lighting, designed and produced in collaboration with OliveLab, and follow the rhythm of the original architectural elements.

To maintain a cohesive style, coherent with the original one, lamatilde chose furniture by Midj: Lea sofas and armchairs upholstered in red velvet, and Smart tables with a top that resembles the dark marble of the counter.

Pics by Alessandro Saletta

La Nena Coffee by A Vida Group

La Nena Coffee is a Coffee House in Dubai (UAE), that combines a passion for coffee and design, offering creative and inspiring proposals. In our spaces born a new way of enjoying specialty coffee.
Our mission is to offer the best coffee and explore its taste potential accompanied by a varied menu and a careful atmosphere creating a 360° experience.
We love coffee culture and our team of baristas ca- refully extract the uniqueness and excellence of each coffee. We work roasting the best green beans daily, with fresh sustainable milk, as well as vegetable drinks.

The story
La Nena Coffee was born from the decoration brand La Nena Home, part of A Vida Group.
Founded in 2005 in Galicia, Spain, A Vida Group be- gan as an expert in continuous cementitious coating, exploring and improving the different qualities of its material to create innovative building finishes.
The group currently leads the Spanish market with
the support of prestigious architects and designers who count on A vida for their most unique and special projects.
That is why, in 2020, being recognised for our avant-garde approach in the construction industry, La Nena Home was born as a new retail concept.
La Nena Home focuses on B2C, selling unique and handcrafted interior collections. It is the showcase of the concept, showing the infinite potential of our ma- terials, craftsmanship and services.
We have our own workshops in Lugo (Galicia, ES), as well as local craftsmen working in them. In addition, both the design and architecture teams and the rest of the central services are located in Lugo. For all these reasons, all our products bear the “Made in Spain” stamp in every store.
In our workshops, tradition is recovered, without lo- sing sight of innovation and new technologies, which allow us to develop infinite decorative solutions.
La Nena Home, under its franchise model, combines creativity and passion for design and craftsmanship.

A Milano, al numero 19 di via Monte Napoleone, riapre l’illy caffè, il flagship store dell’azienda triestina leader del caffè, in una nuova veste completamente reimmaginata dallo studio ACPV ARCHITECTS Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel.

Il design combina materiali classici degli interni milanesi: "abbiamo usato il seminato a pavimento lavorato a mano, combinato con il vetro riciclato delle tessere del mosaico che ricopre le pareti e la boiserie in legno di rovere del bar – dando vita ad un connubio sofisticato fra linee pure ed essenziali e i toni caldi del caffè e del cioccolato che caratterizzano il mood board dello store". Lo studio ACPV ARCHITECTS ha una lunga carriera in importanti progetti nell'ospitalità e una forte consapevolezza dei cambiamenti in atto nel settore.
La welcome area vanta uno scenografico chandelier composto da circa 100 tazzine, che simboleggia la storia della illy Art Collection, che negli anni ha coinvolto i più grandi nomi dell'arte contemporanea. A destra di questa zona si trova l'area retail dove si possono acquistare i diversi prodotti illy, dalle macchine da caffè alle ultime collezioni della illy Art Collection, alla gamma illy Arabica Selection. All’interno della sala è stato posizionato uno uno speciale chef’s table, nell’iconico rosso illy con piano in legno, che può essere riservato per concedersi una colazione, un pranzo o un aperitivo in maniera esclusiva.
All’interno del cortile si trova un giardino urbano con panche in rovere, tavolini e sedute, dove poter pranzare, godersi un aperitivo o iniziare la giornata con una colazione all’ombra di una magnolia. Il grande bancone frontale rosso illy con il suo piano in marmo è l'anima del locale, proprio come nei più grandi caffè della tradizione italiana. Il retrobanco, con ampi pannelli scorrevoli animati da un visual dedicato all'ultima edizione delle illy Art Collection, espone 14 vasi in vetro con i chicchi di caffè nelle diverse fasi della tostatura del caffè illy. Due sono le sale indoor dedicate all’arte, con un’esposizione di alcune delle più iconiche tazzine create dai più celebri artisti contemporanei dal 1992. Qui l'arredo si compone di panche in pelle, sedute in legno e tavolini in resina nera.

Gli architetti Gianluca Puccio e Andrea Collodoro, insieme al loro team PuccioCollodoro Architetti, hanno realizzato un progetto che non passa inosservato: un take away di cucina messicana.

Collocato nel cuore del capoluogo siciliano, il carattere pop e colorato del del ristorante spicca tra le eleganti vetrine delle più rinomate boutique di moda, e i locali più glamour della movida Palermitana.
Le cromie in contrapposizione donano al luogo un aspetto contemporaneo e allo stesso tempo coerente con la tradizione non solo messicana ma anche siciliana che nonostante le diversità culturali si sposano egregiamente.

Le pareti in malta grezza fanno da sfondo alle piante grasse rimandando alle iconiche case messicane dei villagi. Un tocco più pop è dato dai murales colori pastello e dalle geometrie morbide, realizzato da street artist locali, che si estende per tutta l’altezza della parete.

L'uso audace dei colori sono alla base di tutto il progetto insieme ai chiari riferimenti alle terre messicane, per regalare ai visitatori l'esperienza suggestiva e immaginaria di sentirsi realmente in un villaggio del Messico.

Il colore ha anche un'altro ruolo: quello di delineare gli spazi in base alla loro funzionalità come accade nella zona bancone dove la cassa è posta su uno sfondo in contrasto rispetto a tutto il resto. Anche i materiali giocano questo ruolo, che come accade per la cromia, trova la sua continuità in tutto il ristorante passando dalla zona cassa, al piccolo bancone legno laccato e caratterizzato da finiture magenta, al pavimento in resina, fino al soffitto. In questa area, il soffitto originale costituito da travi in legno, è stato lasciato volutamente a vista.

Sul fronte opposto al bancone, un rivestimento in piastrelle bianche delimita la pavimentazione per circa 40 cm, per poi lasciare posto al grandissimo murales dai colori pastello. A completamento della composizione, sono stato aggiunti una serie di dettagli che in qualche modo esaltassero l’interno del locale, come grafiche in led colorati, e due grandi specchi dalla strutture dorate.