‘Moshu Tree House’ by Hitzig Militello Arquitectos, Buenos Aires 2022 – Photos by Federico Kulekdjian.
Interior Design – In an old house in the Palermo neighbourhood, Hitzig Militello Arquitectos has completed the Moshu Tree House restaurant and bakery inspired by a typical American pastry shop. For example, the American custom to cool cakes on the windowsill led to proposing a facade of multiple windows by the courtyard entrance.
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The whole venue underwent a complete overhaul with two new entrances leading to different yet complementary interior designs. “Another determining element has been the abstract representation of cakes or pies made by cardboard rings as a system of ‘skins’ covering certain areas,” the studio’s founder Fernando Hitzig and Leonardo G. Militello told Archipanic. “These cakes and pies also include two traditional symbols of pastry baking, the colander and the beaters, merged into a single piece.”
The overall interior architecture language is a vernacular composition of the typical demolished industrial style simulating an under construction environment with wooden scaffolding, iron from construction sites and metallic fabrics. “Together, such neutral materials create a universe of constructive layers surrounded by a run-down, abandoned house where the dry vegetation has taken over.”
A ‘symbolic’ Lagerstroemia – Moshu – tree In the tree-house-inspired courtyard and lightings built with wooden structure supports surrounded by dried vegetation complete the interior design. A private refined cocktail bar on the upper floor with plants creeping up through abstract wooden windows.
“We started the realisation of the interior during the pandemic.” From here, Hitzig Militello Arquitectos conceived the interiors by keeping in mind a renewed conviviality and the will to be together again. “Traditionally, patios in old Buenos Aires houses have been a space for congregation,” the architects told Archipanic. “Our first major design strategy was hence to create an access courtyard immediately adjacent to the façade as both a symbol and shock effect.”
“This allowed for a new façade with its own language and, consequently, preserved the old style of the main façade. From a functional perspective, the patio is integral to the takeaway model while also exploring a post-covid exterior use.”
“By exploring a post-pandemic situation, we found new ways to communicate to clients how the pandemic affected our behaviours and habits. Vegetation, both natural and artificial, is an element that offers the presence of nature. Natural light, areas always connected to courtyards, and well-ventilated interiors are always a plus.”
All photos by Federico Kulekdjian – Courtesy of Hitzig Militello Arquitectos.
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