The Italian classic turns on its head (Part 2)

By Annie Aggarwal

Photography: Eric Laignel;; courtesy Ippolito Fleitz Group

Read Time: 2 mins 

Peter Ippolito (L) & Gunter Fleitz (R).©Mirjam Kluka

Ippolito Fleitz Group leads you into the traditional surreal with their interior design of the White Monkey Pizza Lab and Bar in Stuttgart…

Ippolito Fleitz Group’s surreal design concepts for White Monkey, Pizza lab and bar, inherently rooted in the traditional Italian lifestyle, create a surprising story spatially with tantalizing twists. 

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Identity strikes right at the entrance; sleek tables and chairs with colourful graphics on tabletops, a friendly monkey as a neon sign on the façade against the traditional serif font, bold and large of the logo welcomes customers to White Monkey, inherently Italian intertwined with the new-age element of quirk.

 

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The monkey accompanies guests throughout as a recurring element, popping up as a table, lamp or a signpost. It becomes a friendly reminder of the White Monkey identity.

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As one steps in, the conjunction of traditional and modern elements continues. A ceiling of wooden lamellae fans out from the entrance area over the space, with chains of festoon lighting; and a rough tiled floor underfoot evokes memories of balmy summer evenings in Italy, drinking wine under the stars.

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The ceiling lines, graphically, lead one’s gaze to the pizza oven as a centerpiece of the room. Pizza ingredients displayed on a wood veneer counter, is where pizza is reinvented, using unusual recipes and ingredients from around the world; also reinforcing White Monkey’s assurance of top quality and exceptional freshness.

 

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The striking dining bar, a counter of black saturated and lacquered MDF appears to emerge from the floor and grow upward, a touch of organic cohesiveness,  and is the ideal casual setting for a cocktail or a plate of antipasti. Additionally a range of seating, from red leather-upholstered booths for intimate moments to square tables for informal meals coordinate with different times of the day, from breakfast to bar service.

 

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The room is zoned by incisions in the lamellae ceiling and underscored by white pillars - a touch of modern antithesis in the form of spheres and ellipsoids that reflect the pizza shape and are strung together to form giant chains of pearls. These reappear as table legs, room dividers and two-dimensionally, as a motif on the walls.

 

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The colours offer a retro charm; the graphics of Italian motifs in combination with modern, abstract forms become wall-filling collages throughout, even in the toilets. While a large billboard, reminiscent of simpler advertising media of times past, conveys White Monkey philosophy through tongue-in-cheek slogans. The lighting enhances the entire space, generating the right atmosphere at all times, through targeted use of different lighting sources, from an illuminated monkey, pendant luminaires to strings of light.

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For those, who love Italian food and lifestyle as much as they relish new culinary delights and cocktails, White Monkey enhances the Italian memories, smells and colours in its modern and chic setting.