(photo: Rafael Pinho)

L'Idiot Restaurant

Taipei

Haute French Cuisine is not heralded at L’Idiot Restaurant. Like a humble peasant of hearty constitution, L’Idiot is in touch with the origins of food its food. L’Idiot offers patrons the enjoyment of a simple and memorable meal, be it hunted, farmed, or fished. “A carrot is a carrot,” says client/restaurateur Fudy Chen. “I asked BAM to design a restaurant which compliments this philosophy.”

The design for the L’Idiot Restaurant Interior consists of two large sculptural objects. These objects, clearly the product of a digital design process, take a new and unique position among today’s architectural installations inspired by the concept for the cuisine. High French Cuisine has become a fashion for food just as smooth digitally driven forms have for architecture. Although entrancing and beautiful, these smooth forms almost remove themselves from the low realms of simple human emotion and basic mental connection. They are elevated to a realm which only few masters can execute on an enjoyable level. Their range of expression is vast, but also esoteric.

The design of L’Idiot Restaurant is an attempt to create the architectural equivalent of desireable peasant-food The directness with which the sculptural objects seem to represent and evoke parts of food runs the risk of actually becoming ugly. However, there is a lack of pretension; nothing is covered up. These objects, like the food, are laid bare to be enjoyed for exactly what they are.
The 3 meter tall objects define soft and amorphous spaces inside the restaurant. The first, a polychrome, fish-like object swims through the front window, displaying the menu and welcoming diners into the restaurant. Upon entering, fluid marble steps cascade into the dining space, trailing into liquid curves to embrace the second object. There the bar, hand-tiled in aqueous mosaics, sits in the dreamlike state of a frozen wave. Onwards a gigantic horn emerges, sheltering a cave seating area bathed in firelight, reminiscent of the origins of cooking. In the flicker of the fire a cave banquette draped in rabbit fur beckons napping. Finally one finds the fireplace, an exquisitely shaped two-sided affair, showcasing a ruby and gold mouth shellacked like a hard candy confection.

Like a spatial Rorschach, the materiality and form of the objects create unexpected and personal associations in people’s minds. People “see things” in the forms. This sense of connection and intrigue allows them to understand the space in their own way. Thus, every experience is a new and individual one, and when interpretations and feelings are shared a democracy of ideas is created.

During construction one of the construction workers on the project was convinced that the fireplace-bar object was a whale. He was furious at the design for having a wood floor, and insisted that a grave error had been made because we had not provided the whale with an ocean in which to swim. While interpretations range from “something out of a dream”, to pre-historic creatures, to sexual intercourse, the fact that people are engaged and interacting in a mentally prolific manor demonstrates the power of using digital design to make strong and direct associations.

Excellent peasant food is served seven days a week in Taipei’s financial district at L’Idiot Restaurant.

Project Facts Client: Fudy Chen

里帝欧餐厅

台北

在里帝欧餐厅我们看不到法式菜肴。它更像热情纯朴的农民,提供的所有食物都是最原始、最绿色的。在里帝欧,每一位主顾都能享受简单而难忘的一餐,这些食物原料都直接来自从猎户、农民和渔民之手。BAM的客户,饭店老板陈福迪(Fudy Chen)说,“胡萝卜就是胡萝卜。BAM为我设计的饭店一定要体现这种经营理念。”

本设计包含两个大型的雕塑。很明显,这两个雕塑的灵感都来自于农家菜,都是数码设计的产物。在当今建筑安装领域中,这些雕塑都是全新的、独一无二的。数码流线设计在建筑领域中很盛行,就像法国快餐在餐饮业中很盛行一样。尽管看上去很迷人、很漂亮,但这些流线设计超出了人们的基本情感和精神的范围。以至于只有少数大师才能体会到这些设计所表达的境界,因为它们的表达范围很广,也深奥。

本设计竭力通过建筑手法再现香喷喷的农家菜形象。我们通过直白的表现手法再现事物的部分样子或使人们想起食物的部分样子。我们采用这种表现手法也面临一定的风险,就怕出来的形象让人难以接受。然而,这些雕塑就像农家菜一样,没有娇柔,没有造作,本色的展现在主顾面前,等待着他们去欣赏,去品味。

雕塑高达三米,把舒适和、不规则的店内空间重新定位。首先,彩色的鱼状雕塑游动于窗前,向食客展示着菜肴,欢迎着食客到店内小坐。一进入餐厅,流体状大理石台阶就引导您进入餐饮区,台阶尾部是流体曲线,向第二个雕塑招着手。在那,有瓦片镶嵌的手工流体方案,酒吧就座落在这定型了的波状梦幻境界之中。酒吧外面是个巨大的角状体,角状体的正下方是一片沐浴着火光的洞穴休息区,使人想起最原始的烹饪方式。闪闪火光之中,一条凳装了兔皮垫子,向食客招手,欢迎他们来此小睡。最后,我们看到一个壁炉,一个精致的两头尖尖的庞然大物,里面像个深红色和金黄色混合的大口,外面像个坚硬的糖果蜜饯。

人们对雕塑的材料和形状有意想不到的个人吸引力,通常会对雕塑的形状产生幻觉。这种幻觉使他们以自己的方式对店内空间进行解读。所以,每个人的感受都是全新的、独特的,当大家把各自的想法和解读都拿出来分享时,思想的民主也就诞生了。

在施工过程中,一个工人坚信:壁炉酒吧的形状像个鲸鱼。对于木质地板的设计,他很恼火,觉得这是个严重的错误,因为没有为鲸鱼提供生活的海洋。人们以一种多产的精神方式参与到这项互动中来,解读范围很广,从梦中之物到史前动物,再到交配,这些都充分表明了数码设计的优势,它能使人们产生直接而强烈的联想。

里帝欧餐厅位于台北金融区内,一周七天,天天都在为食客提供着纯正的农家菜。

工程有关方面: 客户: 陈福迪(Fudy Chen)

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