Café Bourgeois
DOCKLANDS VICTORIA, 2010Contemporary urban design flourishes despite the most stringent limitations. Everyone wants maximum effect for minimal expense, to stand out while fitting in.
A gargantuan post-Riley Op-Art ripple swirls across two walls, up onto the roof and down across the floor, effecting a continuous architectural synthesis of lights, visuals and ergonomics. It’s a highly economical solution, too, a simple sticky-back vinyl print. Yet the striking photographs don’t do the subtlety of the interior justice.
The juxtapositions effected by the ripple unify the diverse zones of the café, from the dangling hula-hoop spangled with tiny LED string lights, to the display cabinets, jazzing up without overwhelming the space.
One inherent difficulty of designing such spaces requires enhancing function without obtrusiveness: nobody wants to feel that they’re being too-obviously directed this way or that.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY ALBERT COMPER