Nam Modern Vietnamese Cuisine by Yod Design Lab Wins 2019 IIDA Award
Adaptive reuse transformed this former clothing store—built in a stolid neoclassicism known in Kiev, Ukraine, as “Stalin Empire”—into a stage set for Nam Modern Vietnamese Cuisine, a 6,000-square-foot restaurant by Yod Design Lab. Traveling to Southeast Asia for research, creative designer Dmytro Bonesko became familiar with the region’s French colonial style. To replicate that sultry feeling, he had the restaurant’s natural materials aged artificially, “as if Vietnam’s extremely humid climate had made its mark,” Bonesko says. Months of ex-
perimentation perfected the patina for the plaster ceiling, while exposed brick walls got painted to highlight their rough texture. The floor’s weathered oak parquet is reclaimed from century-old wine barrels. Ditto the CNC-sculpted decorative panels skirting the front of the bar and the lath doors with carved round plaques.
> Read about all six winners of the 2019 IIDA awards, featuring online exclusive photos
Tropical plants bask in sunshine entering through multi-pane windows, and brushed-brass pendant planters containing pots of additional greenery are reminiscent of the birdcages typically found at Hanoi marketplaces. For lighting, nylon-net pendant fixtures reference Asian fishing culture, and narrow-beam spotlights add theatrically after dark. Balancing such spirited and diverse elements are subdued burnished-brass pendant fixtures and upholstery fabrics in a restrained blue and gray palette.
Project Team: Volodymyr Nepyivoda; Dmytro Bonesko; Maksym Netreba; Kostiantyn Kyrychenko; Oleksandr Kravchuk; Gleb Melnyk.
