MAO is a Chinese restaurant located in Kharkiv. It was to become an authentic Chinese place: with Chinese chefs, equipment and packaging shipped directly from China.
The restaurant's mascot is Mao, a young man from China, whose family moved to Kharkiv and opened a restaurant using modest funds but with fond memories of their native China. There are many hints of unfinished DYI renovation in the interior: open plasterboard, unframed mirrors, and wooden boards stacked in the fashion of construction hypermarkets. Throughout the interior one can spot ironic drawings and other Easter eggs by illustrator Myroslava Shevchenko. The inspiration for this decor stemmed from the notes that construction workers leave on the walls.
We designed an amphitheater made of wooden planks in front of the entrance. In this area, guests wait for their takeaway or have a coffee. The amphitheater is part of a large architectural volume that zones the space of the restaurant. It starts from the wooden countertop of the bar, flows into a multi-level staircase, then smoothly transitions to the wall panels and door. These panels then lead to the bathroom area, where the structure ends with the custom-made sink.
To the right of MAO’s entrance begins the first hall, the center of which is a contact bar. The stools are upcycled stadium seats to which we welded new legs. In the second hall with an open kitchen, seating by the windows consists of custom-made tables and benches. Countertops and seats are made of over 33 thousand recycled plastic bottle caps. To make the window awnings, we upcycled sailcloth.
To the left of the amphitheater begins the third hall. A focal point of this area is a 100-feet bench that snakes across the room and wraps around columns. Handmade emerald green tiles resembling reptile scales were ordered from Morocco.
A dominant feature of the space is a bamboo mezzanine at the far end of the hall. We planned to construct it using ordinary scaffolding, but in the end, to uphold the Chinese aesthetics opted for bamboo. As the second level of the mezzanine is shorter in height, lower seating with custom-made poufs was placed by the table. Under the mezzanine stands a round table made of perforated metal, modeled on classic outdoor picnic tables. A Lazy Susan, traditional in Chinese restaurants, was mounted onto it. To the right of the second hall is a bathroom unit.
