Restaurant design

There are few planning tasks that so clearly show the effects of globalization as the design of restaurants. This often has less to do with the uniformity of international companies such as Starbucks and McDonalds, and more to do with the central concept of corporate identity in system gastronomy. The result is a visual design that requires the same chairs for Starbucks in China as for Starbucks in Alaska. McDonalds employs the same notion, varying local decoration from time to time. In contrast, individual concepts - the main theme of this book - are as diverse as ever. Perhaps it's even possible that the will to experiment has increased, thanks to new materials and innovations in lighting. Contemporary restaurant design, however, seems to be taking less and less notice of regional culture, at least in cities. Whether Mark Newson creates a property in London or New York - such as the Lever House, opened in 2003 - the design displays his signature, unmistakeably and regardless of location. But this design-internationalism is anything but uniform. Just the opposite: one notices a willingness to "quote" from different references. These references connect to anything that induces a positive effect in us and helps us to make sense of our world. Architects and designers have always bound up their own ideas with everything that they have observed and enjoyed. Today, through the joy of travel and instruments such as the internet, they can see even more, and on a global level. Just as chefs around the world amalgamate different national and regional cuisines into "fusion", so are new worlds of spacial experience constructed, with unusual combinations of style, colours, materials and lighting. This publication presents 57 examples of this phenomenon, from Los Angeles to Sydney, from London to Tokyo and from Berlin to Lima. On 400 pages with more than 600 vivid colour images and sketches, it shows a diverse range of the newest developments in restaurant design from around the world - a wonderful source of inspiration.
Предисловие к изданию на английском, французском, немецком, испанском, итальянском языках.