Atmosphere Desing
Ala is the project of a gastronomic experience located in the neighborhood of La Candelaria in Bogota, Colombia. This project is inspired by the streets and houses of La Candelaria where the topography is mixed with the architecture that characterizes this neighborhood. The skirting boards of the houses make a visual game in which the inclination of the streets disappears, so that the visitor does not perceive the mountain he is climbing.
"Ala" is a project that combines architectural and design elements to create a gastronomic and sensory experience inspired by the La Candelaria neighbourhood in Bogotá. This project is the hypothetical approach to a restaurant and all the elements that make up the experience of the place, so elements are used in the architecture, food, menu and others that contain visual and sensory effects that stimulate the senses.
"Ala" is inspired by the streets and houses of Candelaria where the topography blends with the architecture that characterises this neighbourhood. The skirting boards of the houses make a visual game in which the inclination of the streets disappears, making the visitor not perceive the mountain he is climbing. Likewise, the food is an experience of the traditional flavours of Bogotá mixed with molecular food, to stimulate the pupils and create sensations in the mouth.
Concept
The passage of time in the wear and tear of the materials and the invasion of nature on the buildings was the first thing that captivated us as we walked through Candelaria, precisely this nature, led us to lose the notion between what seemed to be inside and outside, up and down. The sloping streets with straight lines painted on the baseboards of the houses complemented the distortion in the spatial perception that was given, and their stories, narrated voice by voice added more layers of perspectives, which inspired the creation of different establishments within the town, allowing to preserve the spirit of the time to which each story refers.
Based on the above, the main elements taken as main elements are the loss of limits and the game with perspectives that seek to distort the perception of space. Ala, whose name comes from a Bogota idiom, seeks to lose the notion of what is seen and tasted through food and space.
The elements inside the place are designed for people to get lost in the space. First, they will find at the entrance a play of perspective between the water and the mirror that welcomes our customers, here they are invited to leave their belongings to comfortably enjoy the experiences inside. Then, they will find a corridor that will take them to the interior of the first space, where the immersion into the play of lights and perspectives that evoke the appearance of being an infinite corridor will begin.
In the first space the Mapping will be the protagonist, this will show geometric figures that transform and distort the space. Then, we find a second space separated from the previous one by means of a screening, in this space the furniture and walls will be intervened with an optical game (anamorphosis), so that people when moving find geometric figures, which are created from the perspective and the point of view of each person.
Continuing in the quest to stimulate the senses and allow them to lose themselves in new experiences, Ala takes the traditional flavors of Candelaria to molecular gastronomy. It seeks to deconstruct the usual perspective of the dishes, presenting them in such a way that it is not clear what they are just by looking at them. When tasting them, the memory will be able to associate what is being tasted with those typical flavors. Therefore, we invite you to enter this place where different times converge and the limits are lost, where there is a past that has been traveled, but still ongoing, living the essence of a place that we usually go through with the eyes of a passerby, the Candelaria.
"Ala, we invite you to this little gem in Candelaria."
Referents
M.C. Escher
M.C. Escher is a conceptual referent of the restaurant. In his engravings perspectives are distorted and give way to optical illusions which allow what is above to be below and vice versa. This leads to the loss of limits within the same space, in his engravings we can see how layers of realities are articulated and this is connected to what we perceive of Candelaria.
Apple Perspective
Apple's short film 'perspective' makes use of optical illusions in space to communicate its values through typographic messages. The video makes use of anamorphosis, in which what is represented is distorted depending on the point of view of the person, as he moves and sees the right point of perspective, the image is formed. This tool helped us formally to understand how to generate optical illusions that change depending on the point of view.
Regina Silveira
She is a Brazilian artist who seeks to transmit in her works games of light and shadow, create volumes and in general generate optical illusions. In this particular work, called "Do not shoot the artist", the artist seeks to generate an optical illusion from the contrast between black and white (light and shadow) and architectural structures.
Architectural translation
Facade with Corten steel screening and glass doors.
Plan view
Cut view complete space
Cut view space 1 and receptionón
Cut view space 2
Axonometry exploited.
Materials catalog
White brick
Corten steel
Dark wood
Black aluminum tubes
Black marble
Black aluminum
Concrete (floors)
Glass
Art direction
Reception
Reception hallway to first space
Space 1
Space 2
Branding
These two typefaces were chosen so that the restaurant's visual identity would convey the convergence of different eras (the past and the present), as well as the concept of food and space. Thus, Bebas Neue is a typeface that conveys modernity, while Baskerville conveys a past time and a history inscribed in it.
Similarly, the colour palette seeks to convey the same concept of different temporalities coexisting in the same moment or space. Thus, we play with colours that represent modernity such as black, grey and red as a contrast. On the other hand, we play with a warm earth tone that evokes history.
"ALA" is a colloquial expression used to refer to the interlocutor in a conversation or fraternal greeting.
Contact points
Costumes of waiters
The costumes of the waiters in our restaurant are designed to blend and get lost in the space, generating a play of perspective with the interventions made in the space, the furniture, as well as the mapping of the first space. In this way, the wardrobe is perceived as something 2D and as part of the space.
History of the restaurant
card with RFID technology
One of the points of contact of our restaurant is a transparent cube, which will be given to the diners at the reception when they enter the restaurant. This cube will have the history and concept of the place, so that diners can get into the space and concept of the restaurant. In the same way, the cube works as a souvenir of the place, also getting people to tell others about our restaurant.
Another point of contact is a card with RFID technology, which will function to keep track of diners' consumption in the place. In this way, people will be able to move freely through the entire space and consume in the first and second space, without the need to have a specific table. The card will have names of localities in Bogota and will function to keep track of each group that enters.
Menu
Ala has 3 different menus. A main menu to share, a small bites menu (in the islands) and a drinks menu. The main menu is designed to be ordered at the center of the table and shared with the other people in the group. It has names and descriptions of the dishes very evocative of feelings, not to mention the elements that make up the dish, so that diners can be surprised to taste them.
The idea of Ala's menu is that it also generates a game with perspectives, aligned with the restaurant's concept. To achieve this, the menu is printed on parchment, so that black borders are displayed decreasing in size and generating a kind of "tunnel" in the menu. In addition, these lines play with the furniture and walls of the space.