Unagi Japanese Bistro in Paris by Uchronia.

Uchronia has brought some fun to the 16th arrondissement of Paris with a new popsicle-coloured Japanese bistro for David and Kelly Amzallag. Unagi, the name taken from that Friends episode, draws on both the traditions of an izakaya as well as the neighbourhood itself, creating a space that combines the past and present in one new restaurant.

Inspired by the area’s nostalgic 70s-era apartment buildings with inventive, brutalist and decorative lobbies, Uchronia imbued the same energy into Unagi’s interiors. A curved bar covered with Japanese copper leaf and encased in resin, expertly made by Atelier Roma, sets the tone of the space. The monolithic shape, combined with the delicate yet graphic surface treatment, reflects the dualities throughout the rest of the design.

A wood and upholstered banquette winds along the supporting wall, shifting colour from green to rust along the way. The curves continue in the tables, which were inspired by traditional Japanese lacquerware, with its polished surface and inlay of mother of pearl.

The colours of the furnishings run in two tonalities. The natural tones of wood extend to deep rust fabric on the banquette, the copper-leaf of the bar and highlighted by a citric orange of the occasional tabletop, contrasting with a wide variety of greens, all against the neutral sandy background.

A Nod to Renoir: Citrons et Huitres Paris Oyster Bar by Marion Mailaender.

At 57 boulevard Rochechouart sits the latest project from Marseille-based interior designer, reminiscent of a local fishmonger storefront with a raw steel facade and floor-to-ceiling windows.

The joyful curves and organic colour of the furnishings provide a deliberate contrast to the Japanese minimalism found in the structure. The oversized natural stone tiles in black and white reference the essential form of the tatami mat, whilst the concrete walls and grid of back-lit beams spanning the vast volume of the space bring to mind the work of the minimalist Japanese architects that have inspired the studio.

Completing the space is the large mural painted by Atelier Roma. Leading the eye from the front door through the space to the back, the mural takes the colours of the space and combines them into one strong, graphic piece that recalls the art found in the extraordinary lobbies of the surrounding buildings of the 16th, which the studio have admired whilst strolling around the neighbourhood.

Tsukimi Restaurant in New York by Studio Tack.

In Japanese tradition, both ‘tsukimi’ and ‘kaiseki’ support ideas of ritual, ceremony, and sequence regarding seasonality and change. While inspired by Japanese interiors, Studio Tack evoked such principles in an elegant and simple design in Manhattan’s East Village.

[Images courtesy of Uchronia. Photography by Félix Dol Maillot.]