Challenging All Senses - The Restaurant by Caesarstone & Tom Dixon

06/04/2016

Caesarstone

A surprise by Caesarstone: groundbreaking collaboration with the international designer Tom Dixon. ‘The Restaurant’ – a conceptual stand set at the heart of an ancient monastery, transformed into a children’s museum, guarantees an unforgettable architectural and culinary experience during the world’s leading design week – the Milan Design Week in April 2016.

Dixon, one of the leading and most influential designers worldwide, has designed four conceptual kitchens inspired by the four elements: earth, air, fire and water. Dixon transformed the four elements into formations in space, into color of surfaces chosen from the Caesarstone^® range, and into complementary furniture from collections of his own designs. The result is a multi-sensory experience combining design and culinary art. The nature of each kitchen influences the variety of culinary concepts created by the Arabeschi di Latte food design studio, led by Francesca Sarti.

The impressive surroundings of the display are an additional layer contributing to the experience: ‘The Restaurant’ is set at the Milan’s Children Museum (MUBA), located in the La Rotonda della Besana – a Baroque historic site (Via Enrico Besana, 12). It is a monastery built in 1732, with a vast garden surrounded by a rotund colonnade with a church (currently inactive) at its center. Each of the four kitchens designed by Tom Dixon was given its own wing in the special structure. The meeting point of the four provides a panoramic view into the wealth and variety of Caesarstone^® materials.

Earth, Air, Water & Fire

The exhibition in Milan is the highlight of the collaboration with Dixon, which began in January at the Exhibition in Toronto, Canada and will continue throughout the year around the world. The exhibition in Canada introduced the first kitchen in the series – Ice, dedicated to the water element, deriving inspiration from the icy lakes and the intensity of the northern country’s extreme nature.

The three additional kitchens will have a debut in Milan, each telling its own story: The Earth Kitchen was inspired by ancient Roman structures and integrates Caesarstone^® brown tones colors (the Tuscan Dawn 5380, Emperadoro 5104, and Concetto Albero 8330). Complementary natural wood accessories and white lighting fixtures, with touches of gold from Tom Dixon’s collection were selected to complete the atmosphere. This kitchen will serve vegetarian food prepared in an old European cooking method, using, among other things, a hay foundation to emphasize the natural flavors.

The Fire Kitchen has a characteristic basalt look with touches of gold and copper – Dixon’s favorite design materials, suggesting flames. The Caesarstone^® colors selected for this kitchen have a dramatic black and dark gray appearance (Vanilla Noir 5100, Raven 4120 and Coastal Grey 6003 models). The food served in this kitchen will be smoked and seared.

>Inspiration for the Air Kitchen came from the urban architecture in modern cities. It is assembled from thin Caesarstone^® slabs in a design that combines cooking and work surfaces with frames and shelves floating in the air (Raw Concrete 4004 and Noble Grey 5211), thus creating an urban ambiance. Loyal to the air element, the kitchen will focus on light and exciting desserts.

Challenging All Senses

Since establishing his own independent brand in 2002, Dixon is considered to be a bold original designer, a leader of exciting and innovative design trends, with work that is both outstanding and that attracts an audience. According to him, the intention behind the cooperation with Caesarstone^® was to inspire architects and designers “using a radical reinterpretation of the various possibilities for food and surfaces to interact and provide a dining experience that challenges all senses, while combining materials, light distribution, and textures.”

In 2013 he revived the Museum of Science and Technology (MOST) where he exhibited, among others, the Adidas Future Capsule collection. In London Design Week 2015 Dixon opened the MULTIPLEX – “Tomorrow’s Convenience Store”, in an attempt to examine how shops in the future would look, sound and smell. This was also his first collaboration with Caesarstone^® along with famous brand names like Sony and the prestigious Wallpaper* magazine. This year, Wallpaper* decided to throw its annual party at the Caesarstone^® and Tom Dixon’s exhibition pavilion in Milan. ‘The Restaurant’ by Caesarstone^® and Tom Dixon is another chapter in the company’s significant presence at the Milan Design Week for the past four years, in association with world-leading and influential designers. In 2013, it was the Nendo Japanese design studio’s “Stone Garden” and “Stone Edge Table,” which was received with admiration, immediately winning a high rank among the mandatory sites at the Milan exhibition. In 2014, the designer team, Yael Mer and Shay Alkalay, the owners of Raw Edges Studio, created the impressive “Islands” project; and last year, it was the swings and planters stand “Movements,” by the designer Philippe Malouin. Each exhibit was a skillful creation of surprising and unconventional usages, stretching the possibilities of working with Caesarstone^® surfaces.