Restaurant owner and chef Motonori Hirata was looking for something brand new that felt long-established. “I was asked to design a building as ‘heavy’ as possible,” says Ishigami. “’I want an architecture whose heaviness would increase with time,’ [Hirata] said. ‘It cannot be artificially smooth but rather something with the roughness of nature. Authentic cuisines require such a place.’ He also told me that ‘it has to look as if it has been there and will continue to be there for the longest time.’”

Creating such a structure in the middle of a modern residential neighborhood presented plenty of challenges. Instead of focusing on what he currently had to work with, Ishigami took a subtractive approach, concentrating on what he could have if he removed parts of the existing space.

That line of thinking resulted in an underground cave dwelling that’s every bit as organic and “heavy” as it is practical and functional. Ishigami began with a design that would leave the roof of the new building flush with the ground level. Using state-of-the-art 3D software, he was able to determine the exact points for pile driving. When construction began, workers “dug the holes manually for precision while constantly confirming the position and shape on an iPad.”

Once all the holes were hollowed out, concrete was poured in to create the form of the organically-shaped columns. Then the rest of the space was excavated to create the living and working areas.

Ishigami tried to embrace accidents as they popped up, working the unknown into the process. “Unexpected factors such as growing grass, soil collapsing, or errors due to manual labor were tolerated as much as possible,” he notes. He hoped that the by accepting these “un-precisions,” he would create an architecture that “internalizes natural distortions and uncertainties.”

The original plans called for washing away all the dirt to reveal a gray concrete structure, but Ishigami and his team were so impressed with they way the soil-caked columns looked that they chose to leave them as-is. That decision is what gave the project its cave-like feel and inspired a redesign of the interior spaces, which now include a bedroom, bathroom, industrial kitchen space, and three courtyards that can be filled with dining tables during restaurant hours (or used as living spaces at other times).

Almost imperceptible glass creates walls around the structure to keep it warm and safe from the elements. The flat roof was filled in with concrete except for three skylights, and whitewashed to keep it distinctive from the surrounding topography.

Considered a design wunderkind in architecture circles, Ishimgami started his career with Kazuyo Sejima at SANAA, after graduating with a Master’s in Architecture and Planning from Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music in 2000. In 2004 he started his own firm, junya.ishigami+associates, and has since gone on to win multiple awards, including becoming the youngest-ever recipient of the Architectural Institute of Japan Prize in 2009 for his ultra-thin glass Kanagawa Institute of Technology workshop. In addition to his architectural work, Ishigami also serves as the Kenzo Tange Design Critic at the Harvard Graduate School of Design.

The post Junya Ishigami Crafts Cave-Like House and Restaurant in Japan first appeared on Dornob.

The restaurant design is impressive from the moment visitors walk in the door. The cocoon-like vaulted lobby is surrounded by a wooden space divider that takes its shape from the Ling Ling logo, which is rendered in neon. A low ceiling consisting of bunched illuminated textiles helps foster an atmosphere of suspense before guests are ushered into the surprisingly grand interiors, where trailing greenery frames a full-sized tree strung with outdoor lighting.

“The restaurant’s interior design concept started out with the idea of generating a space recalling the grand courtyards and terraces so characteristic of Mexican architecture,” the architects explain. “This was one of the greatest challenges in the design of the project, with the formal approach and the design process using structural elements and construction methods that helped to blur the boundary between architecture and interior design. As a result, the idea emerged of a triple-height space with a porticoed structure and lush vegetation of the terrace.”

Ceilings consisting of neutral-toned wooden louvers give the restaurant the appearance of a natural landscape, “carved” out to envelop the dining areas and give them an intimate feeling despite the expansiveness of the space. Though abstracted, the result mimics the feel of adjacent buildings, mountains, and trees surrounding a courtyard and generates a natural traffic pattern through the restaurant’s many rooms. With natural light and views providing the space’s dominating features, the architects focused on a palette of vegetative hues.

“The space benefits from the triple height and corner location to surprise guests with a glazed atrium structure offering 270-degree views across the whole city,” the firm adds. “Meanwhile, the inner salon and dining room are enclosed within a vaulted structure constructed using wood stereotomy techniques, highlighted by gentle illumination, and fitted out with custom-made furniture. Under this wood structure, the Sushi Bar recreates an Asian atmosphere that will bring the guests face-to-face with the preparation of the cuisine, giving a more personal touch to their experience. On the other hand, the main bar encloses a perfect frame of the skyline of the city through an item of dynamic furniture.”

Ling Ling Restaurant and Chapultepec Uno are located in the historic Reforma neighborhood, steps away from popular Mexico City landmarks like the Diana the Huntress Fountain and the Angel of Independence. If you want the best views in the house, reserve the Tres 60 table, a banquette sitting at the point of the dining room so you feel like you’re floating above the city.

The post A Tree-Filled Courtyard at the Top of a Skyscraper: Ling Ling Restaurant in Mexico City first appeared on Dornob.

The answer was something unique. “A place where the cuisine is based on the Italian virtues and combines them with the Japanese. It does not exist in Denmark. Both kitchens focus on simple, good ingredients and don’t combine a whole lot of different flavors — they keep it simple,” explained Andrea Calducci, Head Chef of the new Restaurant Levi, in an interview with European media.

Calducci, a renowned chef who has run prestigious restaurants in Shanghai, London, and Dubai, was persuaded to come to Denmark by Restaurant Levi founders Jesper Boelskifte and Peter Trauboth. They named their new place, built out of a former parking garage, after their muse, famed Italian grappa master Romano Levi.

“Romano Levi managed to create his very own universe, where both the product and the packaging were completely unique,” the owners say on their website. “That’s what we strive for with Levi. We want to make something completely clean and personal — a restaurant and a kitchen that doesn’t hide behind anything.”

The fusion of Japanese and Italian food is meant to be a seductive surprise with every visit. “Every time we (re)visit the honest and simple Italian cuisine, we are overwhelmed by how little it takes to create an irresistible taste. At the same time, we are captivated by the elegance and constant balancing on a knife edge that we find in Japanese cuisine. We are thrilled by the exotic ingredients and the many unexpected flavors,” the website explains. “When our chefs pull on the apron, they are forced to experiment in the meeting between the two approaches. Thus, the weekly menu at Restaurant Levi is the result of a constant search and curiosity that characterizes our kitchen.”

The company’s Instagram feed highlights pictures of dishes like pasta covered in crispy octopus, lamb, and artichoke in a salty Japanese broth, and fine cuts of wagyu beef over risotto.

The bistro’s interior design was crafted by restaurant partner Johannes Torpe with an eye towards the warmth and comfort of old Italy and the sophistication of Japan. The color scheme of jade green and natural wood is soothing and sumptuous. The custom banquettes curve around the restaurant, flanked by window views of the bicycle-lined avenue of inner-city Copenhagen. The green-swirled marble countertops and the terrazzo floors bring in extra Italian flair. Public reception has also been overwhelmingly positive. Since its opening in March, Restaurant Levi has boasted fully booked weekends.

“The future of the Danish gastronomic scene is bright. Copenhagen is — rightly so — among the most hyped food cities in the world, and so it will continue,” adds Jesper Boelskift. “In the run-up to the coronavirus pandemic, we [were] once again seeing a resurgence of new places and new concepts. The lockdown was tough, but it also gave room for new thoughts and ideas. We also felt that it gave time and space for the development of our restaurant, which is why today we stand here with Levi.”

The post Copenhagen’s Restaurant Levi is Fusion Food at Its Finest first appeared on Dornob.

Located on the Via Dell’Orso in Milan, the plain white exterior belies the vibrantly painted scene inside. Sticking with the chain’s pool-changing-room aesthetic, the design company’s co-founders Christophe Penasse and Ana Hernández contained the subway-style tiles to small segments of the walls, filling in the remainder of the roughly 1500 square feet with chunks of daffodil yellow, mossy green, ballet pink, and luxuriant lavender.

Although the colors aren’t as bold as the studio’s norm, the firm explains that “this time …the palette is a bit less splashy, to give it a more mature look and adapt it to the historic (Brera) neighborhood where the new Bun is located.”

The architectural details begin with decorative arches that frame each dining booth, creating cozy eating compartments with seatbacks made of upholstered circles, and wooden tables trimmed in gold.

“Goldish touches are one of the elements that make it more sophisticated,” said co-founder and marketing director Christophe Penasse. “We used dry plants for this space to add this more mature touch.”

Terrazzo tiles shift in color across the floor, following the flow of the rooms, while playful portholes in the booths echo the globe lighting throughout the diner.

This is the second Bun burger location that Masquespacio has tricked out for the company. The artists created a swimming pool-esque feel for the first (Located on Milan’s Viale Bligny) through a mix of olive and lilac tiles.

Masquespacio’s designers took the pool room idea one step further with this build though, creating an entire eating space encased in iridescent mirroring on the ceiling and top half of the walls, and gray subway tiles below. A pool ladder mounted on the wall completes the impression. “The outcome became a place to discover where a mirrored effect recreates the feeling of being surrounded by waves of water,” their website says.

Penasse adds that “while you can find an evolution of the swimming pool concept we used previously… here has a completely new approach for which we try to recreate the waves and blurry effect of being under the water.”

The restaurant’s serving bay is delineated from the rest of the restaurant by its green walls, counters, and floor. Mirrored tiles cover the ceiling here too, casting green above patrons as they choose their smashed-style burger of choice.

The collaboration between Bun burgers and the Valencia-based designers has been so successful that they’ve already announced plans for a third partnering for a branch in Turin.

Masquespacio (Spanish for “More Than Space”) was founded by Hernández and Penasse over a decade ago and has since won numerous design awards for projects in locations around the world. Most recently, the company was named “Young Talent of The Year” in 2020 by Elle Decoration International Magazine and awarded “Interior Designers of The Year” in 2019 by the Spanish edition of The New York Times’ T Magazine. Their continued mission is to “draw a smile on your face and make you feel excited every time we present a new creation.”

The post Bun: Italian Burger Joint Serves Up Stunning Pastel Interiors first appeared on Dornob.

Among the most recent is GATHER, an immersive experience at the 2019 Sleep&Eat event in London. Providing a home for the VIPs of the show and for press meetings, the room is designed around a large-scale light installation surrounded by circular seating. A floral print designed expressly for the space covers nearly every surface, from the floor to the curtains. This design won an honorable mention in the iDesign Awards.

At SIXTY, one of the highest restaurants in Europe, a forest of birch trees stretches from the floor to the ceilings. Sitting atop the luxury Federation tower, the glass-and-metal restaurant on the 62nd floor boasts 360-degree views of Moscow and a transparent ceiling that’s nearly 40 feet high at its peak. Needless to say, it’s a unique environment made all the more dramatic by a mix of 1950s Japanese and 1960s European design influences.

At the Ritz Carlton Moscow, Megre brings the visuals of Italian tailoring to a conceptual gourmet restaurant called SARTORIA LAMBERTI. At the heart of the restaurant is a glass enclosure filled with sewing machines, bolts of fabric, and mannequins that are actually functional. Each guest receives a handkerchief with their monogram made on demand. Images of dress forms line the walls.

HUMANS is a seafood restaurant in Moscow with a billowing ceiling that aims to create the feeling of being underwater. “As you walk in the door your eyes are immediately drawn to the walls and ceiling with a dark-grey texture mesh that resembles waves,” says the designer. Moss and ferns are set into the walls, and a “river” of blue resin runs through the center of each table.

PPL is another Moscow restaurant located in a fashionable district. Megre explains that “as the designers we aspired to create an uncommon and trendy space that draws versatile people regardless of their occupation, lifestyle, or mindset. With the help of a unique interior full of air and energy, we managed to build up a lively and vibrant atmosphere of a club and restaurant without underrating the comfort and the kitchen.”

At SEIJI, a Japanese restaurant in Moscow run by chef Seiji Kusano, a cloud-like ceiling treatment paired with mirrors makes a small space feel expansive. “The decorative rice-paper ceiling acts like waves or clouds – their rhythm and design sets a new seascape aesthetic,” Megre says.

YUNOST (which means “youth” in Russian) offers high-end Georgian cuisine overlooking the city of St. Petersburg from the fifth and sixth floors of a shopping center. Austere lines and a neutral color scheme balance out eye-catching decorative elements like strands of beads hanging from the ceiling.

It’s impossible to get bored while hanging at out at DON’T TELL MAMA, a venue in Moscow that’s a restaurant by day, and a bar and club by night. Virtually every surface is adorned with quirky sculptural objects, flamboyant animal print textiles, and cloudy mercury glass. The bar alone is covered in 30,000 coins.

We’re certainly excited to see what mouthwatering designs the firm cooks up next.

The post When Restaurant Interiors are This Incredible, Who Cares About the Food? first appeared on Dornob.

While several restaurants around the world use autonomous machines to prepare food, most prefer to keep them behind the scenes and out of sight. Pazzi takes a different approach, letting customers watch as mechanical arms handle every step of the pizza-making process. The company website encourages patrons to “come for the show, stay for the pizza.”

Even passers-by can observe the orange-and-silver arms whirling around behind a glass wall, stamping dough, pouring sauce, sliding pizzas into the ovens, slicing them, and placing the final product in boxes for pickup.

Customers can place their orders via the touchscreen kiosks inside or through the online app. The specialized robots can prepare a pizza in 45 seconds, producing up to 80 an hour. No humans are required, and in fact, they would probably just slow down the workflow.

“We are in a very fast process, with a perfect control of time, a control of quality since we have a constancy offered by robotics, and then an environment that is quite cool and relaxed,” Pazzi co-inventor Sébastien Roverso told Euronews. “The idea is also to spend a few pleasant minutes watching the robot while you wait for your pizza to be made.”

The unique experience was created by Roverso and his childhood friend Cyrill Hamon, both engineers, in response to their college-day desires to find tasty pies at any hour of the night. “We dedicate Pazzi to all the curious and inventive minds who think that there is always a way to get what you want!” they proclaim on the website.

The two enlisted the help of renowned chef and triple world pizza champion Thierry Graffagnino, utilizing him as a chief consultant to perfect their automated pizza.

“What is difficult is the dough,” explains Graffagnino. “Because the dough is alive, you don’t work with frozen dough. The machine must constantly adapt to the evolution of the dough. So, we had to give the robot the means to make these corrections on its own, and some pizza makers can’t even manage that themselves.”

Each Pazzi culinary creation also boasts a quality set of ingredients. Organic tomatoes, Auvergne PDO blue cheese, Limousin beef, Bleu-Blanc-Coeur ham, and Lael Rouge chicken are among the elements available for each order.

With the opening of a second store, the next step looks to be international expansion. “Pazzi means ‘crazy’ in Italian,” said company CEO Philippe Goldman at the 2019 opening of the first restaurant. “It’s in the image of our team and the crazy bet invested in research for six years, concretized in particular by five patents. The objective is now to conquer not only the global fast-food market…by creating a European champion but also to fight junk food while meeting the structural challenges of the sector. Pazzi’s mission is to put technology and robotics at the service of taste and healthier food.”

Those outside the Paris area can follow the pizzeria and watch videos of its digital chefs on Pazzi’s Instagram page.

The post Pazzi Pizzeria, Staffed by Robot Chefs, Opens Second Paris Restaurant first appeared on Dornob.

The new Turk’s Inn has been lovingly recreated by restauranteurs Varun Kataria and Tyler Erickson, Minneapolis natives who’ve been well acquainted with the popular Hayward, Wisconsin spot for some time now. When they heard it was going up for auction five years ago, it almost felt like kismet, and the two immediately bought it with the goal of “saving it.” But how could the two of them effectively save a popular establishment over 1,000 miles away? By rebuilding it in NYC, of course.

By effectively capturing the original club’s distinctive essence and transforming the intact restaurant collection into something new, yet timeless, the pair have reimagined the Inn’s historic significance, all while creating something truly special.

Kataria describes the new Turk’s Inn vibe as akin to deja-vu, an almost trippy feeling of being in the past and present at the same time. He says, “You’re meant to walk through the doors of this place and feel out of time and space. Whether you come here and know of its history, or come and think wow, I’ve never seen anything like this, yet it still feels familiar.”

That feeling certainly resonates as one enters the new eatery and finds themselves instantly enfolded in the warm embrace of its plush, eclectic decor and welcoming vibes.

Though Kataria and Erickson originally had no plan when they originally purchased the Turk’s Inn, they did know that they wanted to keep its contents together. Thus the two embarked on what was essentially a “rescue mission,” bidding on everything they could to conserve the history of this beloved Midwestern supper club.

And there is plenty of history to be had. The original Turk’s Inn was opened in the early 1930s by George “the Turk” Gogian, a Turkish-born Armenian who moved to the Midwest with a goal of living the American Dream. Immensely popular in the community, Gogian was charismatic, hardworking, and determined to establish a neighborhood supper club the likes of which were already famous in Eastern Europe and the U.K. With the help of the local townspeople, he did exactly that. Thus, Giorg’s Iron Kettle was born, which, in time, would become the Turk’s Inn.

Throughout the years, the popular supper club stayed within the family, later being taken over by Gogian’s daughter Marge, who returned home from New York to help her father run the business. Unfortunately, there was no family left to take over after Marge passed away, leaving the Turk’s Inn to an uncertain fate — until now.

The new Turk’s Inn in Bushwick lovingly embraces much of what made the original location great through a creative reimagining of the Midwest icon with a modern twist. Nostalgic pieces like Gogian’s beer steins blend perfectly with kitschy touches like shag carpeted walls and a brightly colored jewel-toned ceiling. Marge’s original drawings were also used as inspiration for the new layout and graphics, effectively mimicking the original’s supper club vibe but sprinkling in a side of fantasy and imagination.

While the “supper club” concept may be unknown to today’s trendy Bushwick crowd, locals have quickly come to embrace the restaurant/lounge as a hip destination. And that’s exactly what Kataria and Erickson had in mind after their historic purchase: for people to see and embrace the famous Turk Inn’s vibrant history, “a real place built around real lives.”

The post New Bushwick Spot Reimagines an Iconic, Kitschy Midwestern Supper Club first appeared on Dornob.

At the heart of the restaurant’s COVID-compliant layout is a steel framework supporting two levels of dining booths, staggered so separate parties aren’t ever seated directly beside or underneath each other. The metal is clad in teak-finish Russian Birch plywood so it looks like solid timber. In between each “node” is a collapsible shutter that can be closed for privacy and safety. Accented with living plants and soft, warm lighting, these eating zones feel cozy and welcoming, with the aim of making indoor dining feel comfortable again to the public post-pandemic.

Arora first got the idea for a two-level dining framework after traveling to Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam, where stilted houses made of bamboo line the streets and alleyways. But the layout of the restaurant is inspired by Dwarka, the neighborhood where the new restaurant is located. More specifically, the designers took an overhead view of the town’s grid and translated its houses into dining booths and its streets into aisles.

“Restaurants play a pivotal role in our collective post-pandemic future, and to be able to return to them safely, they must be empowered to be active participants in the building of trust,” say the architects. “It’s time we welcome you to our latest product: ‘Social with distancing.’ Masked waiters, tables placed six feet apart, and fluted glass are all the elements that realize a half Vietnamese-half contemporary space set in New Delhi, India.”

“Renesa’s new design introduces India’s first COVID response restaurant that responds to the ‘new normal,’ redefining the boundary between communal and booth seating in restaurants. Designed before the pandemic, the idea was translated and evolved into the benefit which seemed revolutionary at the time – but is now what the market is demanding. We call it a space conceptualized pre-pandemic, designed during and for the pandemic, and sustainable beyond the pandemic.”

The designers repurposed materials and furniture from other Social locations for this project, including granite tabletops, leather benches, and teak wood tables, to complement and contrast the new restaurant’s terrazzo flooring and concrete paver cobblestones forming decorative circles. Cane-back chairs, bamboo blinds, and bricks made with rice straw add to the desired “rural yet revitalizing vibe.” And of course, various parts of the restaurant are still being kept empty to comply with COVID safety guidelines, but in the future, they can be filled in with additional seating.

It’s a smart concept for a variety of reasons, even putting the (highly likely) possibility of future pandemics aside. The two-level dining concept makes excellent use of space, fitting in plenty of customers without making them feel crammed together, and the lower level still lends itself well to guests with accessibility needs. It’ll be interesting to see whether more restaurants follow suit with similar concepts as we all adapt to this new normal.

The post New Delhi’s “Social” Restaurant Adapts to the New Normal of Distanced Dining first appeared on Dornob.

More recently, the fried chicken giant put out a press release confirming that its KFConsole is indeed a very real product. “Moving forward from our initial teaser campaign earlier this year, we’re so pleased to finally give the fans exactly what they wanted; making the KFConsole a reality,” said Mark Cheevers, PR & Social Media Lead at KFC UK & Ireland in a statement on the company website. ‘We all know the console war is vicious, but we’re very confident in the KFConsole as our flagship entry.”

The company has partnered with tech firm Cooler Master to design the console, which purposely looks like a KFC Bargain Bucket and keeps game snacks hot with the help of a custom-built cooling system. More specifically, the system collects the heat produced by its own components to warm the chicken while simultaneously keeping the rest of the hardware at a consistent temperature.

In terms of the gaming specs, the KFConsole includes some impressive offerings. It has 4K display compatibility and can run games at up to 240 frames per second. The console is also equipped to handle virtual reality, supports ray-tracing, and has a hot swappable GPU, allowing for future upgrades. For storage, it incorporates two Seagate® BarraCuda® 1TB SSD drives, while the processor is an Intel Nuc 9 Extreme Compute Element.

Intel also made sure the public knew KFC’s latest stunt was not just a spoof. Posting on Twitter, PR Representative Mark Walton said, “Yes, it’s real. Yes, it’s powered by Intel. And yes, it has a chicken warmer.”

Cooler Master was also excited for the collaboration. “When we were approached by KFC Gaming to make the KFConsole, we jumped at the chance to get involved and enter the console war,” says Stephen James, Global PR & Influencer Manager at Cooler Master. “The KFConsole has been custom built with the gamer at the front of mind. The last thing we want is anyone to go hungry while playing!”

And KFC is also throwing down the gauntlet at the feet of the PS5 and Xbox creators. “This machine is capable of running games at top-level specs, all on top of keeping your meal warm for you to enjoy during your gaming experience… what’s not to like? If Sony or Microsoft want any tips on how to engineer a chicken chamber for their efforts next time, they’d be welcome to get in touch.”

No details for the expected price or release date of the KFConsole have been published yet.

This is not the first time KFC has pulled out a gimmicky campaign. In 2019, it forayed into the gaming world by releasing the “I Love You Colonel Sanders” dating simulator game on Steam. And last winter, they teamed up with footwear company Crocs to produce a shoe covered in a fried-chicken print with attachable drumstick charms, to boot.

The post KFC Unveils Finger Lickin’ Good Gaming Console first appeared on Dornob.

Created by Enter Projects, an architecture studio led by design director Patrick Keane, the concept comes with a backstory. The design team took inspiration from a tale about three sisters, May, Zaza, and Fei, whose larger-than-life images can be seen emblazoned on the rear wall. As the story goes, May and Zaza led glamorous lives traveling the world while Fei remained in Sichuan, China developing extraordinary culinary skills in the local cuisine. When the three girls came back together, they founded this restaurant overlooking its kitchen garden, combining all three international influences into one.

The rattan itself is crafted by local Thai artisans in a traditional process similar to basket weaving. Lightweight and flexible, it’s easy to mold into organic shapes. The effect might be artistic, but the columns and ceiling installation are functional, too, disguising elements like ductwork and beer pipes. The golden swirls are meant to mimic the look of beer as it’s poured into a glass, paying tribute to Spice & Barley’s origins as a destination for Belgian craft brews.

Keane, who’s from Australia, is a big advocate for creative use of rattan, itself a naturally renewable material sourced from a particular type of palm. Back when his firm was based in Sydney and Perth, he rendered his signature parametric shapes using materials like marine plywood. Then he expanded his firm to Bangkok and drew from local architectural styles and traditions.

Enter Projects recently launched “Project Rattan,” which shines a light on the unique skillset of artisans and craftspeople and advocates for their use in modern design. The bespoke architectural design for Spice & Barley is part of this project, and the partnership also produces furniture, lighting installations, and rattan screens. Each item is digitally designed and then produced by hand.

A few months ago, Enter Projects completed a similar interior installation for the headquarters of Bangkok-based yoga brand Vikasa, using rattan to create private practice pods as well as counters and benches.

The company describes itself as “sitting at the forefront of technologically aided design,” adding that they “seek to further the culture of architecture in this country and overseas, producing projects of diverse scales with exceptionally high design integrity and material finish. By using cutting-edge software to generate new and exciting building forms, we are able to create architecture that is dynamic, expressive, and always engaged with its social and local environment.”

“Enter Projects strongly believes in the need to continuously investigate and develop our design philosophies by placing a high emphasis on sketches, physical models, and 3D investigations. This allows for the design process of each individual project to collectively and continually evolve and grow our understanding and explorations of space and form.”

The post Smoke-Like Rattan Columns Rise to the Ceiling of Bangkok’s Spice & Barley Restaurant first appeared on Dornob.

A restaurant located quite far from Japan, in Lisbon, Portugal, honors these traditions in a very unusual way: through symbolic architecture. The Ajitama Ramen Bistro by JCFS Architects contains a gorgeous wooden trellis installation featuring a repeated motif of egg shapes. Located in a newly refurbished building on a block that dates back to the early 20th century, the bistro occupies a prominent position on a street corner, and the illuminated installation can be glimpsed from the doorway not long after dark.

The trellises are meant to recall the kind of complex wooden construction that’s often seen throughout Asia, commonly hand-crafted with an emphasis on the craftsmanship of the joinery. The architects explain that to them, the trellises symbolize the determination, rigor, and precision of the Japanese people. The egg shape, on the other hand, is pure comfort.

JCFS hoped to represent a duality between Eastern traditions and their Western interpretations, elegance and informality, softness and structure. The wooden framework is geometric but sculpted into ovoid shapes, sometimes stretching down vertical surfaces for a sense of continuity and envelopment. The design of the space would be serviceable enough without it, but the installation truly transforms the interiors.

The design team explains: “The Ajitama Ramen Bistro is a restaurant fruit of the dream and ambition of two friends in love with this traditional Japanese dish. After their visit to Japan, their long friendship was reinforced by this passion, the search for the most authentic ramen of Lisbon. Unlike many countries in Europe, the Ramen in Portugal was until a few years ago an unknown concept. The two friends, not being satisfied with the existing offerings, decided to venture into their own project together.”

“When JCFS was challenged to develop the [concept] for the restaurant, the egg – ‘the Ajitama,’ is present in everything that is the most beautiful, tasty, and memorable, and that we keep in memory when eating the ramen of these friends, [making it] the generator of all the construction of the idea for this place.”

“The repetition and interpretation of the egg gesture is projected in these facilities, [the] counter, [the] bathrooms … the result is a mixture of sensations in which the neons of the facade transport us to the crazy streets of Tokyo. The suspended wood, sculpted in the form of an egg, confers a lightness to the space, leaving us the sensation of having no end and in which the sky has no limit. The counter makes us remember the Japanese meal in its natural habitat, in which we visualize the chef to cook the beautiful delicacy.”

Is anyone else suddenly craving a hot bowl of fresh ramen?

The post Egg-Shaped Wooden Trellises Hang from the Ceiling of Lisbon Ramen Restaurant first appeared on Dornob.

No matter when a vaccine arrives for the novel coronavirus, we’re not done dealing with pandemics anytime soon. Scientists say COVID-19 is just the beginning, as things like climate change and habitat loss will likely continue to make highly communicable diseases more common. If you think we’re all about to get back to “normal” life as it looked prior to 2020, you’re probably being overly optimistic.

The good news is that there are lots of things we can do to adjust (while simultaneously doing everything we can to limit the impacts of climate change). Designers and engineers are coming up with all kinds of interesting ideas to reduce disease transmission in public places, and thankfully, most of them stop short of putting us all in our own fully enclosed bubbles.

Recognizing that indoor dining is a primary vector of coronavirus spread, the Plex’Eat by Christophe Gernigon essentially places each diner inside their own hanging hygienic shield. These suspended plexiglass hoods surround you on three sides while you’re seated at the table, reducing the risk of airborne infection. They’re big enough to accommodate most people, along with the plates and glasses in front of them.

“I imagined, during my nocturnal creative wanderings of these months of confinement, a new way of welcoming customers of bars and restaurants in search of outings,” says Gernigon. “Though we would have preferred not to arrive at this point, it is better to consider aesthetic, design, and elegant alternatives that guarantee the rules of social distancing.”

He makes a good point, especially about the “guarantee” of compliance. Many diners simply aren’t concerned with the risks and are unwilling to follow the rules on their own. Design that makes participation compulsory solves that problem.

Of course, the single-occupancy Plex’Eat design also presents a few practical problems right off the bat. First of all, dining is often an intimate experience involving close conversation. It’s kind of hard to hear your companion through two layers of plexiglass, and restaurants are already loud enough without people shouting to get around this issue.

But Gernigon has a solution for this, too, proposing that some shields can be large enough to enclose two people together, or entire families. That way, you’re protected from diners you don’t know, but can maintain close contact with people from your own household.

The design isn’t just applicable to dining. Gernigon suggests that it could be used to protect both employees and customers in all kinds of environments, like reception desks, nail salons, casinos, bars, airports, and health care facilities. And, as far as products that limit contagion go, it’s reasonably attractive.

The Plex’Eat has already been installed in a Paris restaurant as a demonstration, and French manufacturer Sitour has begun producing single- and couple-sized models. We might as well get used to seeing a lot more plexiglass in public spaces in the near future. Some people might feel safer, while others might feel like the shields create a claustrophobic, antisocial effect. How would you react to your favorite restaurants and bars installing these things?

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Moscow’s Khodynka Field has a long and storied history that began in the 14th century as a battlefield and host of state occasions. It’s best known as the site of the first Russian-powered flight in 1910, and a regular airfield in use through the late 1980s. Its most recent redevelopment includes the Russian National Air & Space Museum, as well as many new commercial and residential buildings. Tucked among them is Café Polet, a new restaurant designed to pay tribute to the site’s aviation history.

Set within the old Frunze Central Aerodrome, which closed in 2003, Café Polet shows off its history in references both subtle and direct almost everywhere you look. New York-based studio Asthetique has created stunning retro-futuristic interiors full of aeronautical nods with distinctive Soviet flair. There’s something dramatic to see at every turn, from bubble-shaped porthole windows at the entrance to blocky winged statues reminiscent of USSR monuments and early sci-fi films clinging to the columns all throughout.

“The idea was to take aeronautics beyond the machine level, to show humans taking flight,” says Asthetique founder and creative director Julien Albertini in Interior Design magazine. Similarly, the entry’s striped concrete floor is modeled on the markings of airport runways, “taking the idea of a landing strip, but then modernizing it.”

Against the textural concrete walls leans a jagged mountainous landscape of black birch wood paneling punctuated by shiny chrome doors, recalling the Russian Constructivism artistic and architectural philosophy of the early 20th century. Lighting hangs from flying saucer-like copper discs, some set at jaunty angles.

Within the second dining room, a bas-relief panel of plaster-coated plywood creates a striking sculptural effect on the wall. Monochromatic murals depict space travel imagery like astronauts lounging on the moon. Of all the stylistic choices, the most literal stands out as the most fun: tiny back-lit stainless steel airplane silhouettes dotting various surfaces.

Softer elements come into play, too, balancing all of the brutish materials and geometries. Metal screens covered in trailing green ivy separate the dining spaces. The chairs and banquettes are upholstered in soft velvet in shades of gray, beige, and blush. The designers consciously chose pastels to complement the otherwise neutral color scheme, infusing the restaurant with a sense of calm.

Cafe Polet is located at #2 Khodinskiy Blvd, offering a menu of European and Georgian dishes crafted by chef Aleksandr Airapetyan, with recent standouts including a salad of grilled squid, smoked baby potatoes, and truffle mayonnaise.

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Yudai Kanayama opens new bars and restaurants faster than most people find a spot to park their car. In the last decade alone, he’s unveiled two sister Izakaya restaurants in lower Manhattan, a cozy sake bar on the lower level of Essex Market, and Nowadays, a hot spot in Ridgewood. And while many in his position would be taking a well-deserved holiday by now, Kanayama carries on, recently opening the doors to Dr. Clark in a building where the highly touted karaoke bars Winnie’s and Lalito both enjoyed a good run.

Bringing the Dream to Life

When Kanayama visited the Bode store on Hester Street in late 2019, he was instantly struck by the space. The constructive aspects appealed to him, but what really awed him was the coffee-stained natural plywood that seemed to dominate the interiors. He realized he would require similar skills to make what he affectionately called his “dream project” a reality, and proceeded to seek out the designers who created the store, Aaron Aujla and Benjamin Bloomstein of Green River Project. He pitched his vision for Dr. Clark to them, describing an evocative and engaging gathering place reminiscent of his home in Hokkaido, the second biggest island in Japan notorious for its jingisukan (Genghis Khan lamb BBQ) and healthy agricultural history.

Once they were on board, the dream mingled with nightmarish moments as the details of the project’s one-month timeline began to take shape. “We had about four weeks to make 60 pieces of furniture,” Aujla explains. This included 14 handsewn African mahogany barstools, eight aluminum barbecue tables, and 25 linen-upholstered table stools. Then there were the extensive ornamental embellishments: homemade aluminum sconces, a Kubrickian rectangular bar surrounded by soft illumination, and a miniature clay sculpture of the eminent Japanese agriculturist Dr. William C. Clark himself (a life-sized duplicate of which still stands in Hokkaido). But the most painstaking details in Dr. Clark are the Japanese characters carved into the floor and exterior facade that, when translated, convey little details about the restaurant, including booth numbers, hours of operation, and so on.

The Menu

Kanayama will offer Genghis Khan lamb BBQ, also known as Mongolian barbecue, as Dr. Clark’s signature dish. The complex entrée is a dish local to Hokkaido comprised of grilled mutton, lamb (a younger and less gamey tasting sheep), and vegetables prepared on a special grill with a raised mound in the center. The dish is served in restaurants and outdoor barbecues alike, with the meat either being seasoned ahead of time or grilled unseasoned and dipped in a seasoned sauce before eating. For Dr. Clark, the lamb will be sourced from upstate New York’s own KinderHook farms. Kanayama believes it will be a bigger hit in the Big Apple than his hometown as “Japanese people don’t understand the flavor.”

Another specialty dish offered at Dr. Clark will star sea urchin, a favorite of chef Mumetake Ogata, a former fisherman who’s personally caught a ton of the spiky critters off the northernmost tip of Japan. Kanayama adds that the unique eatery will also feature a late-night milk parfait that he playfully calls “Hokkaido’s drunk food.”

The post Dr. Clark: Yudai Kanayama’s New Chinatown Restaurant “Dream Project” first appeared on Dornob.

When interior design firm Commune set out to create a warm, welcoming atmosphere for a gluten-free bakery in Los Angeles, they channeled the versatility of the stuff: its capacity to act as a vessel for other flavors or stand as a simple pleasure in its own right. The result conjures all of the right sensory aspects of one of humankind’s most basic and beloved foods for a space that’s simultaneously chic and down to earth.

Breadblok began as a farm stand (also designed by Commune), drawing in hungry customers with a streamlined wooden frame wrapped in natural canvas. As it transitioned to its first brick and mortar store, the bakery wanted to maintain this essential aesthetic and its inherent Instagram-friendly nature, expanding it to develop a more well-rounded identity.

“For Breadblok, we wanted to celebrate our client’s roots in the south of France, but for the space to feel unmistakably Californian,” Commune’s Roman Alonso tells Wallpaper. “I feel we were particularly successful in doing that through the juxtaposition of certain materials like the plaster walls and rough travertine counter, reminiscent of buildings in Provence, with the Saltillo tile floor, which has a strong connection to LA’s Spanish Colonial past. Ultimately, Breadblok creates a high-quality artisan product and the space needed to communicate that in a nuanced way.”

Whether it’s intentional or not, the bakery’s name sounds like a reference to the importance of bread in cuisines around the world for practically all of human history. It’s only fitting that the designers would use materials found among the most essential building blocks of our architectural history, too. The terracotta floors root the space in a feeling of warmth, while the stone pedestals holding up the counters grant a sense of solidity.

Various tones of wood, metallic copper accents, and tinted glass let the loaves of bread being displayed on the back wall shine, while the handwoven rope baskets by local artist Dax Savage, which themselves have been transformed into pendant lighting, are another callback to the original farm stand.

Does this bakery design make you hungry for some fresh-baked bread or what? If you don’t live in the Los Angeles area to experience Breadblok yourself, now’s probably a great time to experiment with some bread making of your own, whether wheat based or gluten-free.

The firm describes itself as a “Los Angeles-based design studio with a reputation for holistic work across the fields of architecture, interior, graphic, and product design. The firm has designed residential, commercial, and hospitality projects worldwide, a wide array of home and lifestyle products, as well as graphic and branding concepts for the fashion, arts, and entertainment industries. The studio values the strength of the collective mind, believing that authentic creativity and innovation come from collaboration. The true virtuosity of their work comes from their collaborations with their clients, as well as with other members of the community.”

The post LA Bakery Design Takes Inspiration from the Simplicity of Bread first appeared on Dornob.

Here’s a new one for you. IKEA has teamed up with Pizza Hut for a limited-time-only collaboration. The first half of the campaign, created by advertising agency Ogivly, isn’t nearly as weird as the crossover sounds: Pizza Hut offered its standard pepperoni pie topped with IKEA’s beloved Swedish Meatballs. A little adventurous, maybe, but not totally out of left field. Available only at Pizza Hut’s Hong Kong locations, the special lasted for a week.

There’s probably something lost in the translation of this caption posted on Facebook by Pizza Hut Hong Kong, but here it is anyway, for humor’s sake:

“When the old man first knew that he wanted to approve this meatball batch, in fact, he refused! Because he felt that we couldn’t ask him to approve, he immediately [did]. He wants to try it, and see if the batch is big! Very Round! Very Juicy! At this time, one of the colleagues studying the new batch of sleepless day and night suddenly picked up a batch of big praises: ‘It! Home! Batch!’”

“The crowd was shocked in the room, and the old lady who had always [been] serious, could not help but laugh. He asked the colleague to pass him a batch. After the taste, he knew it was IKEA batch. The old man bit down… the fragrant spicy sausage and cheese even more called him to refuse to reject it. That’s it, this ‘must win IKEA’ approval. Thank you for your support for us and IKEA yí jiā jiā jū. We will be able to eat at Pizza Hut from March 2nd. Takeout, take-out delivery, or delivery.”

But that’s not all. Pizza Hut X IKEA also produced another unexpected mashup in the form of actual furniture. If you’ve ever wished you could scale up that little white “table” that comes in your pizza box to keep the cheese from getting stuck to the cardboard, you’ll appreciate this.

The Säva Table, named for the Swedish word for “pizza saver,” is instantly recognizable with its simple, three-legged white design. The center is even stamped with Pizza Hut’s signature logo. It comes flat-packed in a pizza-style box, and its instructions include a few steps you wouldn’t find in any other IKEA product, telling you to order a pizza and place it on the table at the end.

On top of all that, the table isn’t even available at IKEA stores. Pizza Hut customers who ordered the meatball pie had the option to add it onto their order at the time, so if you want one, you’ll have to chase down what’s probably destined to become a collector’s item.

The post IKEA Created a Full-Scale Version of That Little White Table in Your Pizza Box first appeared on Dornob.