A_Mi Bar

View into the interiors of the restaurant.

Project Details

• Project Name: A_Mi Bar
• Client: Marco Cattaneo, Sergio Zappella
• Project Type: Retail Design
• Principal Designer: Gianluca Milesi
• Design Team: Carmen Barrantes, Gianna Caravello, Giacomo De Feo, Giorgio Villa
• Contractors: Luigi Novelli, Giorgio Beretta, EOS Structures, Ing. Landi
• Date of commencement of project: February 2006
• Date of completion of project: July 2006
• Location of site: Milan, Bicocca, Italy
• Cost of Execution: 300,000 Euros

Exterior view of the restaurant.

The Building

The brief required the creation of a restaurant-bar space which was highly flexible in terms of its function and character.

Furthermore there was a need for the place to be an easily recognizable site, which through its identity and character would reflect a strong brand.

View of the restaurant from the main entrance.

These main inputs generated the concept of a structure that was 'consistent and closed in itself'.

The design is thus realized as a sculpture wrapping the entire space and defining the different areas.

The creation of the sculpture is the result of experimental studies through 3 dimensional digital models and physical models that directed the design process.

View of the sculpture as it bends to articulate table surfaces.

This 'sculpture' was treated in a consistent and minimal manner in order to underline the impact of the spatial and formal synthesis.

The 'sculpture' defines the functions though its physical path in a double-heighted volume facing an open public plaza.

View of the sculpture as it articulates counters in the restaurant.

The materials used for the project include steel, concrete, glass, metalized paint and plexiglas.

The 'sculpture' is built with MDF panels which are shaped and assembled over a steel skeleton and coated with gray metalized paint.

View of the interiors from the mezzanine level.

Concrete, treated with resins, is used in the floor and the columns while glass is used to create partitions and rails in the bathrooms and kitchen. It is also used in the under-lit islands located in the points where the volume touches the floor.

Stools and wall sofas were designed in accordance with the minimal undertone of the design.

The back of the bar is realized in Plexiglas.

Credits

• Text: Courtesy of the architect
• Photographs by Gianna Caravello, Atelier Gluck, Courtesy of the architect
• Compiled and edited by Mitesh Saraf