IIDA Award Winner: East by YOD Studio of Commercial Design
Asian cuisines share ingredients, but overall flavor profiles differ. Similarly, Asian design is regionally seasoned with national and ethnic influences. So YOD Studio of Commercial Design needed to prepare an all-encompassing look for East, a pan-Asian restaurant in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev. “Eastern philosophy unites the various countries,” YOD founder Volodymyr Nepyivoda explains. He also referenced the Asian cultural reverence for nature by featuring wood, stone, metal, water, and fire.
At the front of the 4,300-square-foot space, near the hostess station—prime real estate among the restaurant’s 170 seats—a booth’s high wood sides recall a sake cup. A massive granite counter is positioned at the lower height typical of sushi bars. The seating resembles Chinese scholar’s chairs. And small tabletops are wood imported from Java, Indonesia, their straightforward form highlighting the exotic surface.
Pendant fixtures have shades the size and color of boulders: huge quasi-dodecahedrons in fuzzy gray felt. In the natural world, boulders often accompany waterfalls, but the cascade in East’s restroom is of a decidedly different sort. Above the washbasin, water streams through three descending ceramic channels when a visitor waves a hand at the motion sensor. Waiting for the water to reach the washbasin, there’s a moment for Zen contemplation.
Project Team: Dmytro Bonesko; Natalia Timoshenko; Sergiy Andrienko; Maksym Netreba; Gleb Melnik.
