Techno-marvel

By Savitha Hira

Photography: Courtesy Park Associati

The Cube is a design marvel with the lightness and versatility of an exhibition stand and the design complexity of a building; adapting to its various locales with minimal physical adjustments, whilst the original exterior and interior flavour of the structure is still intact...

A year after its launch at Bruxelles in April 2011, The Cube continues to reiterate its success story as it travels to exotic locations, providing a fine dine experience, inviting top international chefs to offer a show-cooking service with especially created menus.  When Electrolux introduced the idea of an itinerant restaurant to be stationed atop various celebrated buildings in happening cities across the world, architect firm Park Associati, Milan, and graphic designers Studio FM Milano, joined hands to create a chic white laser-cut aluminum skinned cuboid that offered a sleek exterior finish; was held slightly above the ground, as if floating in air; and sported an equally stylish interior that held an open kitchen, lounge and terrace space, easily reconfigurable with a fold-away table for 18.

The Cube at Bruxelles 

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Conceived as a modular structure, easily assembled, one that suits even the most extreme climatic conditions, whilst always expressing the maximum in living comfort with its refined aesthetics and use of high-quality materials, The Cube is fitted with high-tech appliances in typical Electrolux style.

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Constructed from highly innovative material in terms of technology, eco-sustainability and energy saving as well as enabling constant re-use, the structure has been garnering bouquets of accolades, from being experienced as a “surrealistic endeavour” to being perceived as a “great challenge of international rating”.

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Thoroughly appreciated by patrons and chefs alike, here is a new-age marvel that flatters luxurious aspirations, offering à la mode singularity as a week-end perk. 

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So, with luxury as the new aspirant and its fulfillment as the new nemesis, methodologies and tenets in architecture and design are being constantly revisited to carve niche success stories.

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The Cube has just opened on the roof of the Royal Festival Hall in London on June 1, 2012; it will enjoy the English weather till Sept. 3, 2012 with a simultaneous opening atop the Royal Opera House, Stockholm: June 15 to October 14, 2012.

The Cube at the Royal Festival Hall in London