Architect：Rockwell Group

Location：Milan, Italy; | ;

Project Year：2018

Category：Restaurants

The Diner, a week-long pop-up restaurant at Milan Design Week, offered a coast-to-coast experience through the United States. The site was transformed from the previously abandoned arch under the railway tracks at the Milano Central Station. The Diner’s entry vestibule took cues from Airstream trailers, with metal-clad walls and ceiling and its perimeter displaying postcards depicting diner life. Inside the vaulted space, four distinct environments were created: Roadside Diner, East Coast Luncheonette, Midwest Diner, and West Coast Diner. Each environment’s aesthetic was reinterpreted with a modern twist. The installation became the place for conversations about American design during Milan Design Week. During the day, The Diner offered a contemporary take on American food and drink and featured a conversation series. At night, the space transformed into a nightclub, featuring performances and parties. The Diner attracted over 25,000 visitors and won the award for “Best Engagement” from the Milan Design Awards.

Pure + FreeForm's metals were featured at The Diner’s entrance portal, as well as the airstream-inspired entry vestibule. Visitors entered the blackened metal portal from the street into the vestibule, which was paneled on the walls, ceiling, and porthole doors leading into the main space by “Specter,” one of the eight finishes in The Chameleon Collection, designed by Marcel Wanders for Pure + FreeForm. An intricate design built around six different geometric units over a blue and black base-coat, the crystalized gloss matte layers emerge in natural light, imparting an astounding level of vigor and life. The optical effect created by this finish, printed on aluminum, created a sense of multi-dimensionality and depth in this otherwise compressed space. From the vestibule, visitors entered the stunning vaulted space crossing beneath the train tracks at Milano Centrale railway station, where the fully operational pop-up restaurant and event venue unfolded.

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