Waterfall Restaurant

Amsterdamse Hogeschool voor de Kunsten (AHK)

2017

Water... as binding element, which connects different dining experiences in one.

As a means to provide sensory experience, water was used in this restaurant project integrating its visual aspects as well as sound and touch. Water is such a precious element and beautiful to be seen in architecture, around the world we find architecture integrating nature, trying to find its place among nature and nature being merged with architecture, as an attempt to bring into architecture the so called biophilia that so many of us seek. In the big cities, is not always possible to be near natural elements, so for this project my point of departure was a quest to find a way to integrate water into the project.

Waterfalls always uplifted me, for they are so powerful and majestic parts of mother nature. A waterfall restaurant idea then started to be born.

When we go to a restaurant, mostly what is expected is that we are served a nice meal, but subtle aspects such as, good lighting, comfortable chairs, accessibility, ambient sound and a nice interior design are also involved and add to the experience of eating, but what if we can go a little further and create a sensorial water experience together with the dining experience? The result of this study was a restaurant where people can dip their feet in water while dining and a cascade would drop from the first floor into the outside pool on the ground floor, bringing waterfall sounds and visual effects, all about sensorial experience and pleasure for the eyes. The pool in which tables are placed for people to dine is an option, there are different areas in the restaurant, mostly dry, but the visual experience is still present as the waterfall gives a beautiful effect, binding the outside and the inside of the restaurant.

The main material chosen was the concrete. Concrete can be moulded into any shape desired, it is initially a malleable material, mixed with water, that hardens over time. It can be delicate and strong at the same time. Concrete is rigid and water is fluid, like yin and yang in architecture. For this project, the use of poured concrete was ideal, for its flexibility in design, for its visual effects and also for its symbolism and the effect it brings onto people, its grandeur and strength are in a certain way also sensed in being near a waterfall.