ENIGMA – A RESTAURANT FROM ANOTHER WORLD

While browsing the Internet, we came across a photograph of an interesting interior. Initially we were not planning to pursue the issue, because it seemed that no stone was used in the construction.

However, it turned out that although there is no natural stone anywhere in the building, it is in fact made of sintered stone, also called synthetic stone.

Although we tend to think that sintered stone is a material used by lazy builders, this belief does not hold true in this case. Sintered stone is considered a luxury, but is typically used for larger areas. On the other hand, it is hardly ever used for more complex solutions.

At first it seemed that we would not be able to get hold of any photographs, because the owner of the restaurant does not allow the interior to be photographed. Fortunately, as the stone used in the construction was supplied by the company TheSize, who is the manufacturer of sintered stone Neolith, we were able to obtain photographs as well as a great deal of information from them.

The building we are introducing today is a restaurant called Engima located in Barcelona. Enigma is a project of a famous Spanish chef Albert Adria. The restaurant was awarded the first Michelin star in 2017.

The restaurant was designed by RCE Architects led by Rafael Aranda, Carme Pigem, and Ramon Vilalta and supported by Paul Limon. The architects worked in close cooperation with Albert Adria and the manufacturing company TheSize.

The chef’s vision was to create a mysterious, enigmatic and mystical space that gives the impression of being from another world.

The design started with a watercolour painting on three sheets of A1 paper. The architectural studio planned to apply this image on all the surfaces in the interior and create smooth colour transitions – from deep green and blue to light grey and white.

To accomplish this task, TheSize used a recently developed digital printing technique called NDD, short for Neolith Digital Design, in which images are printed directly onto the sintered stone. A part of the process was also to gain new colour pigments, because blue and green hues come out differently when sintered.

“We had to expand the project and at the same time ensure that the finished panels kept the look and colour of the original design,” says Carlos Garcia, the TheSize product designer.

Designing the floor was the greatest challenge of all. Due to the large area and irregular layout of the restaurant, the curved walls and narrow corridors, each floor panel is an original that has been designed and manufactured to fit the given space. The whole floor is like a giant jigsaw puzzle that had to be put together with extreme precision.

The interior of the restaurants features a number of unusual details, including cloud-like ceiling made of a crumpled material, cave-like rooms with glass walls, and chairs that look as if they are made of ice blocks.

Although the restaurant covers an area of 700 square metres, it seats only 24 diners.

If you wish to visit the restaurant, you need to book a table several months ahead and pay a €100 deposit that will be deducted from the final bill. The restaurant only accommodates groups up to 6 people.

Upon reservation, the guests will receive a code that opens the restaurant door.

Source: Kurier kamieniarski

Author: Kurier Kamieniarski | Published: 26 June 2018