2015

250m²

Restaurant

Beijing, China

Gilles Bihi-Zenou, Li Yapeng

Commission - Opened March 31, 2015

Andrei Zerebecky, Emma Maxwell, Lukasz Kos

Florentina’s interior design sought to capture the reverence of the birthplace of the Renaissance. Both architectural and graphic elements evoking the richness of Florentine culture were sampled and recontextualized into a luxuriously finished contemporary dining experience. Wall details, screens, color palette and marble tiles were drawn from references found in Renaissance Florence, while the wallpaper evokes cartography and old lithography; ubiquitous graphic elements of the Renaissance era. Di®erent graphics were used to define the private dining rooms overlooking Lido Park. The main dining-room’s ceiling and walls carry a monolithic cloud motif that challenges the weightless perception of real clouds, not unlike a frescoed cathedral ceiling. The restaurant extends outwards onto a 160m2 dining-garden inspired by Italian gardens from the same era. This outdoor dining experience is defined by labyrinthine-like hedges encircling intimate table settings, providing privacy and a fresh air microclimate in Beijing’s humid and oftentimes smoggy outdoors.