The project starts from a great challenge, to preserve the identity of the existing bar hidden behind its back door and merge it with the new project. The existent restaurant & bar, Victoria Brown, has a british steampunk identity, that has nothing to do with the new project.
The superposition of identities had to respect the current hidden bar identity, achieving an integration with the new project. The decision of an alley in Tokyo helped with the aesthetics of street graffiti, achieving a mix of identities on the façade and the fictitious wall of access to the bar, as if it had been spontaneously intervened by street artists.
The existing fictitious wall (door entrance to the hidden bar) served as a scenography of a typical wall at a city Tokio's alley. We started from the concept of visual contamination typically from the "Piss Alley", where they usually eat the traditional yakitori, top product of this restaurant & bar.
The use of electric cables simulates the typical visual pollution of Tokyo. The reinterpretation of street lightings turned into artifacts hang from a bunch of electrical cables forming pyramidal figures, creating a plastic vegetation ceiling.
The structural modulation that divides the space at the bar area, with their wooden beer creates and branded hanged flags is a direct reference of the alleys street food stalls of Tokio.
The fuchsia and electric blue tones are an integral part of the identity from the influence of the neon atmosphere typical of Tokyo. The branding team has worked with the use of images of traditional pop & tropical musicians for visual identity. Their logo and isotype compose a set of figures that simulates the Kanji alphabet, under the simple name of elyaki (reductive of yakitori).
The idea of street art and popular culture is an integral part of the decoration, all this fused with the isotype intervened with stencils on the printed graphic applied on the interior and facade.
The presence of the Japanese sacred masks Hannya, Tengu, Ko omote, Hyottoko, Kitsune, specially painted with the colours of the bar’s identity, all form part of the aesthetics of the space.
In addition, the presence of an imposing hydroponic orchard forms part of the visuals of this Tokyo alley, proposing a scene that is more than interesting for its visualisation. The garden is full of species for consumption in both elyaki restaurants and its hidden bar Victoria Brown also designed by us.
Facts:
Design Concept / Predesign / Project / Construction Documents / Interior Design: Hitzig Militello Arquitectos
Construction Management: Hitzig Militello arquitectos
Collaborators: Arch. Jeanette Zotta
Promoter: Privado
General constructor: Stigma constructora
Providers:
Artificial gardens: Just green
Graffiters: Raul Ramirez & Perlazone
Branding: Remolino
Photographer: Federico Kulekdjian
Architectural Program: Grill & Bar
Surface: Covered ground floor 57 sqm
Year: 2018
Material Used :
1. Lighting - Interior & exterior ambient lighting - E-27 ILUMINACION
2. Flooring - Interior & Walls - Moltrasio
3. Artificial gardens - Just Green
4. Graffitis - Raul Ramirez & Perlazone
5. Stainless steel fittings - Frinox
6. Exahust Hood - Tekno Ventilacion
7. Glasses - Alvy
8. Garden - Jardines El Ceibo
9. Furnishing -Kikely
10. Contractor - STIGMA CONSTRUCCIONES
