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Art 101

(June 2011) posted on Thu Jun 09, 2011 EDT

An arresting graphic piece proves even a campus café can be on the design honor roll.

By Mary Scoviak

click an image below to view slideshow
  • Lot6.jpg
  • Lot6_--¼smg_029669.jpg

Lot 6 offers more proof that design doesn’t have to be at the top of the market to make a big impression. Interior designer Hecker Guthrie Interiors (Richmond, Victoria, Australia) used a clean modern style and streamlined fixtures to ensure this wouldn’t be just another college neighborhood java joint. But it was another Australian firm, the multidisciplinary design studio, Pandarosa, that provided the signature art that gives the interior of this Melbourne University area eatery a gallery feel. Principals Ariel Aguilera and Andrea Benyi used an entire wall to create a mural composed of bicycle parts that pays tribute to rebellious fixed-gear riders.

“We based the artwork on the theme of ‘customization’ in bike culture, with enthusiasts commonly modifying their machines by incorporating a range of diverse elements and mechanical components,” says Aguilera. Bicycle parts also form a skull in the center of the mural, partly in reference to brakeless cycling and partly as a metaphor for medicine and science at the university. Adds Benyi, the piece encourages patrons to interact and converse—a nice way to help students far from home strike up a conversation or a way to bridge town and gown for students, faculty and visiting families.
Line, shape and color make this piece not only visually exciting but interesting even to people who aren’t in the know about bike culture. Its modern intensity is powerful without being at all self-conscious or pompous. And its sheer size means the rest of the restaurant can be coolly functional, thoroughly comfortable and completely uncluttered. That’s a lot to say in restaurant category that used to be about plastic trays in dull, fake-granite tabletops. Design for the masses should always look this good.
 
 
 
 

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