Project name: Aonami Pasta Restaurant
Interior design: AODADesign Studio
Location: Hsinchu, Taiwan
Photo: @ivan.chuang.52
Year: 2024
Project description from design firms AODADesign Studio
Aonami Pasta, a Japanese-style Italian restaurant in a Hsinchu alleyway community, derives its name from the chef’s pure and simple aspirations. The aim is to immediately evoke an association with Japanese culture and inspire a unique design concept. The brainstorming process led to a theme that dives from the fresh waves into the ocean’s depths, were deep and dark seabed’s house cabins and exquisite creatures. The design departs from traditional ocean-themed spatial designs, interpreting burnt cedar, galvanized steel panels, and copper materials to create a truly unique and intriguing aesthetic bound to captivate.
The restaurant, nestled in a residential area, aspires to become a focal point while reflecting the brand’s Japanese essence. Ink-burnt cedar is chosen to clad the entire exterior walls, with its rough and primitive material texture arousing curiosity and reflecting the chef’s unwavering commitment to using only the freshest ingredients in cooking. Additionally, three circular windows are incorporated into the walls, echoing the imagery of abandoned cabins and submarines underwater and satisfying the chef’s desire to glimpse the outdoors while cooking.
The front landscape of Aonami Pasta is a testament to our commitment to Japanese aesthetics, showcasing lush vegetation, trees, and stones inspired by Japanese gardens. Combined with galvanized steel panels to create the base, the fragmented metal patterns are likened to sea spray, creating a bright and airy visual ambiance that is distinctly Japanese.
Crafted by an artist, the entrance sign, on copper, incorporates a turquoise rust effect to convey the restaurant’s theme. Similarly, the pendant lights inside employ the same technique, using blue paint and hand-carved grooves to depict the shimmering patterns of sunlight refracting through the sea onto the ocean floor, further enhancing the design theme.
The bar counter and dining tables are crafted from black and white marble with a texture resembling leather patterns. The surface texture is rugged, echoing the burnt cedar used for the bar counter facade, with galvanized steel panels accentuating a sense of suspension at the bottom. Additionally, the orderly arrangement of electrical and plumbing metal pipes above the bar counter creates a unique visual effect when illuminated, integrating them into the overall aesthetic.
At Aonami Pasta, our chef’s culinary prowess is not just a hidden talent, but a prominent feature of our design. The semi-open design of the bar counter seamlessly integrates kitchen functions such as food preparation, cooking, and serving, transforming it into a stage where the chef’s skills are prominently showcased. The countertop’s height and distance shield the chaos of the cooking process, presenting a carefully curated sense of beauty that adds to the anticipation of the dining experience.
