Located in a common, crowded and old community full of marketplace atmosphere, Banana Coffee is nearby the core block of Qianjiang New Town, Hangzhou. The designer tried to break the tranquility of the community with strong modelling language and create a dispute against the original marketplace status, which indicates that the industrial revolution has brought a strong impact and great fast forward to the originally quiet human development history. Covering an area of 60 square meters, the project emphasized the concept of dynamic and static separation and combination, namely, five curved steel plates are inserted into the building in a dynamic manner, and the boundary between indoor and outdoor is blurred. The designer imagined it as the wreckage of a fallen plane, which broke the inherent living condition of the community. In a way of deconstruction and fragmentation, they became the core visual point of the whole design. Seats were arranged around them, so that audiences could observe the different forms of the artistic installations from different angles while tasting coffee, and the visual interaction and aesthetic taste could be kept. In construction, five huge shaped stainless-steel installations bring a challenge undoubtedly. In order to restore the original design idea to the largest extent, the designer spent a lot of time in communicating with the plant and solving problems. In the first place, they constructed a model of the same-size ratio in the plant, ensuring the one-off molding of each installation. Then, through the experimental construction, the unpredictable difficulties were reduced in the on-site construction. At the end, because the large-sized cutting and welding couldn’t be realized on the construction site, the designer made construction and assembly at night, so as to protect the surrounding residents from being disturbed. The originally complete metal plate was cut into five different shapes after extrusion. Among them, three curved metal plates covered with the storefront signboards of the original building were arranged at the entrance, so as to attract the passersby. The partition on the left of the entrance was transformed into a mirror integrating three circles, which became the clock-in point for every customer and met their online social demands. With regard to the design of chairs and tables, the designer abandoned the unnecessary overlays of shapes and materials; while accurately controlling the proportion of geometric modeling, the strong sense of power was showed. With the seats and tea tables which can afford a cup of coffee in the outdoor courtyard, customers can pay more attention to products after sitting down. The oval chairs in the hallway form a strong visual conflict with the surrounding stainless-steel texture and luster due to its sound-absorbing cotton texture. The bar counter in the middle was cut transversely, so as to realize the dynamic and static separation and combination. The self-service table sticks to the long table like a black box, emphasizing its existence.
Banana Coffee
Mango Design Studio
Bronze

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Natalie Badenduck
Associate Professor
at Mount Royal University
4
4
5
4
4.25

Melvyn Law
Director / Principal Designer
at Limelight atelier
5
4
6
5
5

Manuela Mannino
Architect
at THDP
5
5
5
5
5

Nina Sickenga
Founder
at MOSS
Although I do think it is an impres...
5
4
5
4
4.5

Wen Hao
Founder and Chief Curator
at Design Spring– Contemporary China Furniture Design Fair
6
6
6
5
5.75

Ken Hu
President/Principal Partner
at CHENG CHUNG DESIGN (HK) LTD. CCD
6
6
6
4
5.5

Ester Bruzkus
Founder
at Ester Bruzkus Architekten
7
5
7
5
6

Golnar Roshan
Creative Partner
at Rive Roshan
6
5
6
6
5.75

Anna Gavrichkova
Founder
at LEFT design
Although the design is very impress...
6
4
6
4
5

Justin Donnelly
Creative Director
at Jumbo
5
5
5
5
5

Hamish Guthrie
Founder and Director
at Hecker Guthrie
6
5
7
5
5.75
Designer
Mango Design Studio
Client
Hangzhou Bihuo Catering Management Co., Ltd
Floor area
60 ㎡
Completion
2020
Chief Designer
Jason Fan
Design Company
Mango Design Studio