VyTA is located in the former first class waiting room of the Santa Maria Novella train station in Florence, a masterpiece of rationalist Italian architecture of the 1930s designed by Giovanni Michelucci.
A pink copper element in the form of a overturned “L” combines functionality and design: it is the site of the installations and lighting that hang over the central gourmet espresso bar and bakery counter. It serves as the primary visual element due to its texture, which is composed of an alternating pattern of voids and volumes achieved by the use of thin copper plates. It serves as a partition while also enabling space to flow through it, breathing life into a timeless place with intimacy and accessibility, removed from the constant bustle of travellers.
The use of sleek and mirrored surfaces nullify the volumes of counter and workspace; the thin and elegant lines of the design create tridimensional elements. The counter, which is covered by a pink mirrored surface with a finely-striped pattern, rises from the Verde Alpi marble floor.
The lighting generates a soft and welcoming appearance: minimal Pentagon pendant lightbulbs illuminate the vintage pictures across the boiserie and antique white glass wall lamps highlight the copper wall macrograph.
A strongly “material” countertop in Verde Alpi marble and the Miunn stools with their thin structure welcome customers who, during their meal breaks, observe a fast moving city.