The project involves the redesign of the outdoor area of the “Coffee Avenue” café- restaurant, on the square of Nea Smyrni. The square has a marked commercial character, with many recreational areas, and is a meeting point for both locals and visitors. A substantial part of the square features the element of water, with a system of consecutive lakes with waterfalls and fountains, on many levels.

As the cafe extends upon the square, the intervention should not alter the identity of the area but should at the same time be separated from the adjacent cafes that are lined up next to each other. A challenging fact was that all structures had to be movable.

The design returns the private open-air space to the square. Benches either provide views of the sidewalk and the fountains or give more privacy. A central semicircular bench occupying the middle part, reminds the importance of socialization.

In addition to the reintegration of the coffee shop in the public space, extensive planting was introduced to provide the square and patrons with a small oasis, an urban graden that was missing from the square and the city at large. For this, plants were hanged from the wooden trellis but also placed on the backs of the benches.

Lighting plays an important role in the project, creating scenarios for all hours of the day, as well as for special events.

Labarch Design Studio

The post Coffee Avenue was originally published on ek magazine | Architectural Publications | ek magazine – Architectural Publications.

Legend has it that the Italian king of Inotrae was the first inhabitant -and first Greek- to settle in the neighboring Appenine peninsula, that would later be named after the mythical colonizer.

Italus, in the commercial heart of Kallithea, Athens, creates an interesting fusion drawing from the products, flavors and traditions of both countries.

The long and narrow plan extends from a busy street to an equally noisy pedestrian lane, first through a double-story interior, then through a low and narrow passageway with a mezzanine, and ultimately to an interior courtyard.

As a response to this challenge, consecutive ground floor spaces are assigned distinct roles: An outdoor lounge, an open façade with an impressive bar welcoming the patrons, an interior private lounge, a cozy, quiet interior courtyard. The distinctive element of all spaces, as well as the feature of the corporate identity, is the “Italian touch”, highlighted by the slender, linear space partitions.

Natural wood and cement, alternating as cladding materials, are joined at an angle, creating interesting V-shapes that define the space’s identity.

The private lounge is designed as a wooden box with a metal skin, bringing light into the formerly dark part of the space. The horizontal perspective is only “disturbed” by the black beams, perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the plan.

In the background, the interior courtyard, lush in greenery and in diffuse light, creates a hospitable environment that invites visitors to cross through the bar, into an intimate, calm space.

Chadios+Associates

The post Italus was originally published on ek magazine | Architectural Publications | ek magazine – Architectural Publications.

Designed by Italian architect Maurizio Lai, the restaurant is conceived as a real scenographic backdrop. An immersive space, characterized by dark colors, lines of light and a theatrical atmosphere, with a clever use of ceramics to emphasize the lighting project.

The compositional language is resolved in the material dialogues, in the design of the volumes and in the diffused lighting. 

The project, spread over an area of about 1000 m², is characterized by a large central light installation, accompanied by light geometries that create an effect of depth and dynamism. A chromatic continuity favors warm and dark tones, creating elegant, welcoming, and refined environments.

Maurizio Lai Architects

The post Sushi Club Cesano was originally published on ek magazine | Architectural Publications | ek magazine – Architectural Publications.

After the “Seashore Library” and “Seashore Chapel”, “Restaurant y Sea” completes the trilogy of Vector Architects’ seashore series at Aranya Community in Beidaihe New District. The restaurant is situated right behind the library across the beach. The design was initiated by investigating how to create a coexisting relationship with the mighty solid library volume. The library is a spiritual place with a clear boundary. The natural elements, like wind, light and surrounding views, are defined and shaped throughout the space where people can gaze upon the sea while sitting in the terraced library. As for the restaurant, a dispersed and a more casual everyday atmosphere is established. Instead of the seascape being the visual focus for people, as it is in the library, it acts as the backdrop in the restaurant. People will notice what happens on the sea as they dine and inadvertently glance towards it.

Trees are interlocked within the fragmented spatial boundary and courtyards. The architecture appears as a non-directional canopy floating above the undulating landscape, looming in the woods. From top to bottom, the tree crowns, building roof, and dining area underneath constitute the three major layers in the section sequentially. Tree branches sway with the sea breeze and cast their shadow through the skylights onto the wall and floor. The dining space becomes animated with the flickering of light and shadow, cultivating another dimension of indirect engagement between space and nature. The inner tree courtyards bring light and airflow deep into the restaurant, and at the same time, like hinges, they anchor the space. The courtyards simultaneously divide and connect the surrounding spaces. The full height fair-faced cast-in-place concrete walls of the courtyards resist the sheer force of the whole building, which makes it possible to support the load of the thick eaves on columns of only 120mm in diameter. This way, the slender steel elements, similar in diameter to the surrounding tree trunks, blend in the surrounding woods.

There is no designated main entrance for the restaurant. Instead, clear glass sliding doors are placed along the perimeter, which, when fully opened, cause the spatial boundary to disappear, turning the building into a “pavilion”. People can approach the dining space from any direction. They will firstly step into a transitional space with a lowered eave, and then gradually walk into the main dining area under a raised-up central roof, illuminated by immersive natural light. The interference of excessive side light is consciously reduced by controlling the clear height of the eaves, in order to create an atmosphere of being under a floating “cloud” as a result of the light-filtering waffle beams. The waffle beams remit the need for strictly aligned load-bearing elements and minimize the amount of structural walls, which help achieve the staggered fluidity of the plan.

Each type of architecture can essentially refer to a unique lifestyle as well as to the emotional expression corresponding to it. These various public spaces take on a meaning beyond that of an everyday space. The demand of people’s lives sculpts them, while in the other way around these spaces affect people’s lives. Light, wind and view in architecture are all the paths leading people to interact with nature. They closely integrate people with the outside world, and ultimately, an everyday space will imply a kind of spiritual meaning.

Vector Architects

Chen Hao, Su Shengliang

The post Restaurant Y Sea was originally published on ek magazine | Architectural Publications | ek magazine – Architectural Publications.

At Moya, a fusion cuisine restaurant in the North of Italy, bright installations, bold signs, and abstract geometries design a singular degree of experience.

Bright installations and geometric cuts recur within an essential container, building an unexpected identity model, far from the collective imagination of a standardized Asian eatery. In this space of over 1000 m², the masterly use of light, evidently artistic signs and scenic effects describe a plausible and welcoming idea of the future.

The interior design is developed in a material, sensorial and chromatic narrative, divided into diverse environments to involve and amplify perception.

The architectural reconfiguration of the former building is highlighted by the facade design. A process of underlining and accents carries out linear luminous elements, while oversized windows make the interior space permeable.

The synergy between architecture, design and the artistic gesture, which characterizes Maurizio Lai’s work, expresses itself in a joyful light installation. A fluid and climbing light string that connects the space, a three-dimensional signature, introduces a theme of dynamism and verticality and dominates the hall, developing in height up to the second floor.

The backdrop is an emerald green glass wall with a vertical scan of vivid spots. Deep surfaces in bronzed mirrors plaster the walls of the stairwell reflecting the installation indefinitely, expanding the space and its vision.

The spacious principal dining room is embellished with a second installation. An orderly scan of digital prints on backlit polycarbonate plates paints an essentially aquatic landscape, with shades adjacent to the color modulations on the walls, but in contrast with the warmth of the wooden paneling of the room.

The horizontal sculpture interestingly communicates with the design project along the sidewalls, where a series of custom created lamps draw on polychrome glass the sense of perpetual northern lights.

Other luminous accessories in back-painted glass, spinning-off from this first sign, are widespread in the connected rooms, naturally accompanying with their presence the gaze of the guests.

Maurizio Lai Architects

Andrea Martiradonna

The post Moya was originally published on ek magazine | Architectural Publications | ek magazine – Architectural Publications.

This design makes part of a broader hotel renovation project in Stalida, Crete; it is proceeding in stages, to result in the creation of a high-end hospitality unit. The new architectural design is called to transform and complement the existing space in a creative, respectful manner. The present study proposes a multipurpose restaurant space accommodating different activities, also refurbishing its open-air surroundings.

The main idea creates four different places, kept together by the square and immediate sea and road access. Those include the traditional coffee shop, the bar, the Greek and Oriental restaurants. Introducing an all-encompassing architectural vocabulary, a dialogue is established, with Greek features highlighted. The image of a multipurpose space inspired by the Cretan village squares is further enhanced through additional elements: The use of timber and greenery, combined with earthy colors, harmonizes the spaces with their environment. The neighborhood feel and the lighthearted atmosphere are offered to patrons as a unique experience, imbued with the singularity of Greek culture.

Clear lines on the layout and appropriate equipment that frame each space, demarcate the individual units and maintain their direct communication.

Timber and stone, which are traditional building materials, are combined with contemporary ones, such as glass, merging old and new.

Lefteris Tsikandilakis

Michalis Christodoulakis

The post Cactus Paradise was originally published on ek magazine | Architectural Publications | ek magazine – Architectural Publications.

San Miguel de Allende is one of Mexico’s premier tourist sites, with wine activity throughout the region that has enabled significant tourism and economic growth. In recent years, vineyards offering tastings and tours, as well as the region’s breathtaking architecture, have proven to be a popular combination. It is within that context that ASP was presented with the opportunity to engage in a project to develop a multipurpose complex in a field featuring a small hill.

The project consists of a master plan that is divided into private estates of 6,000 to 8,000 m², as well as 87 hectares of vineyards and buildings destined for public recreation and relaxation. Public areas include a boutique hotel, a spa, a clubhouse, a restaurant, an equestrian club, and multiple sports courts.

The intent of the design was to develop an aesthetic to complement, rather than compete with, existing elements. ASP achieved that vision by integrating each volume into the landscape while using strategically-located horizontal concrete and stone platforms to prevent obstructed views from within each space. The materials used, including stone, wood, earth, gravel, and pavers, serve as unifying elements due to their chromatic and neutral finishes, as well as their local origins.

The complex also features an orchard that supplies some of the restaurant’s fresh ingredients. The vineyards are irrigated courtesy of a drip irrigation system, supplied by two existing wells. As part of the boutique hotel, an artificial lake was designed to generate microclimates and microenvironments that favor the landscape.

ASP Arquitectura Sergio Portillo

The post Vineyard “El Pedregal” was originally published on ek magazine | Architectural Publications | ek magazine – Architectural Publications.

Willmott’s Ghost is a product and vision of James Beard award-winning Chef Renee Erickson. The design team drew inspiration for the space from the one-of-a-kind geometry of the building and the bright, airy environments of modern art museums and galleries. The intent was to evoke classical themes written in a contemporary language. Timeless materials such as marble, tile and brass create organic curving countertops, rounded walls and radiused shelves.

Curved walls clad in painted wood pickets define the dining room while curved bars with Italian marble countertops fill out the space. The Italian flag translates into softer pastel hues of white marble, pink tile and mint greens. These timeless materials and colors come together to celebrate both tradition and forward-thinking design. White oak chairs, tabletops and bar stools with brass accents and hardware bring warmth to the space. Behind the bar, custom curved liquor racks are fabricated from solid brass, while in the bathroom sits a custom sink and mirror made of the same material.

Heliotrope Architects PLLC, Price Erickson

The post Willmott’s Ghost was originally published on ek magazine | Architectural Publications | ek magazine – Architectural Publications.