Serving curves and a spicy sun-kissed palette, Living Bakkali is a restaurant like no other. It’s a place where guests are invited to “live sensorial experiences” through its menu offering, heightened by a spirited atmosphere crafted by Valencia-based design studio Masquespacio. Inspired by the Middle East, Masquespacio’s founders Christophe Penasse and Ana Milena Hernández Palacios wish to take diners “to the most profound part of the desert,” through their design response, connecting them with “a marvellous environment that, for many, is unknown and full of mystique,” they say.
The way in which the Masquespacio team has presented the restaurant encourages diners to meander through a layout of key sitting areas, likened by the designers to “small corners as if you were at the fantastic Orient, with its lounge seats that invite different dining groups to relax and connect with each other”. At the same time, guests are further tempted to discover what the hidden corners of Living Bakkali might contain, partially revealed through a series of openings or internal “windows” realised in the style of Arabic architecture.
Living Bakkali restaurant in Valencia by Masquespacio
Connecting the entry with the kitchen, the central hall is responsible for guiding diners and staff through the space, from the more intimate seating areas (perfect for two), to the long benches intended for bigger groups. A space raised up on a higher level offers wider views of the bustling restaurant. “While the first part of the hall makes you feel as though you were walking through a street of ancient houses, the second part takes you through a corridor between curtains,” Christophe and Ana suggest. “This incorporates a private dining room and the restaurant’s bathrooms.”
Zooming in on the details, organic forms interact with each other in every moment of Living Bakkali. A sun-baked adobe effect is created on the walls, floors and ceilings, finished by hand in the tradition of the ancient houses that are aimed to be represented here. “On the ceiling, a more neutral but slightly contrasting colour palette that clearly reminds us of the desert has been applied,” the designers say. “Last but not least,” they reveal, “the lighting effects aim to highlight the mystery and beauty waiting to be discovered.”
Zooming in on the details, organic forms interact with each other in every moment of Living Bakkali.
In Italy, Masquespacio also designed the Bun burger restaurant in Milan and in Turin. Near Florence, famed Italian ceramics-maker Bitossi has opened a museum displaying its 5000-piece catalogue. Catch up on more hospitality architecture and design and retail design, plus subscribe to receive the Daily Architecture News e-letter direct to your inbox.
