The new DAV Restaurant by Andrea Maffei Architects is located on the first floor of the Allianz Tower designed by Arata Isozaki and Andrea Maffei within the Citylife complex in Milan, Italy.
Project name: DAV Restaurant in the Allianz Tower in Milan
Location: Milan, Italy
Architect: Andrea Maffei, Christophe Colombo, Stefano Sciamarrelli, Luca Pascale / Andrea Maffei Architects, Milano www.amarchitects.it
Client: Allianz Spa
General contractor: Colombo Costruzioni
Lighting design: Jacopo Acciaro, Marija Cekovic / Voltaire Lighting Design, Milan
Mechanical engineering: Gianfranco Ariatta, Alberto Ariatta, Sylvia Zoppo Vigna, Matteo Simonelli / Ariatta Ingegneria dei Sistemi, Milan
Kitchen design: Marco Marchesini, Sara Fatihi Nesrine / Marchesini Cooking
Safety coordination: Vittorio Calvi
Fire protection project: Silvestre Mistretta / Studio Mistretta & Co.
Permit practices: Marco Amosso, Eva Birch, Margherita Testa / DEGW
Project management and site construction supervision: Roberto Giudici, Silvia Aprile, Luca Crivellaro / Artelia
Acoustics consultant: Emanuele Siciliano / Atmos
Audio consultant: Giancarlo Terzi / Sangalli
Suppliers:Wood paneling and countertops: Ni.va.
Indoor seats and tables: Calligaris
Outdoor seats: Pedrali
Stoneware coverings: Laminam
Stoneware coveringsin the kitchen: Casalgrande Padana
Faucets: Ceadesign
Doors: Agoprofil
Lighting: Flos, Lucent Lighting distributed in Italy by Arkilux and Barthelme
Ceilings: NIL
Display cases: IGLU Cold System
Materials
Floors and walls: Pietra piasentina / Laminam
Wood paneling: Hardwood / Ni.va.
Bathrooms: Nero Greco / Laminam
Stone countertops: Pietra Thala, light gray
Countertops: Nero Marquinia / Florim Rex
Data
Restaurant surface area: 530 square meters
Number of indoor seats: 64 / 70
Terrace surface area: 600 square meters
Number of outdoor seats: 94
Schedule
Design: 2021
Completion: 2022
Photographer: Andrea Martiradonna
Communication Partner: Cultivar
Andrea Maffei says: “Restaurants in skyscrapers should evoke the atmospheres of large metropolises such as Tokyo or Shanghai or New York. The floor – that used to accommodate an office space with an outdoor terrace – has been converted to house the first venue in Milan of the three-Michelin-star restaurant Da Vittorio in the new DAV concept, that caters to a younger, more metropolitan audience.”
The tower plan has two cores and a long rectangular space in the middle, glazed toward the terrace. The restaurant kitchen is on the north side, the guest reception is to the south, while the central area is devoted to the restaurant floor and the initial cocktail bar.
The same finishes are applied to all architectural spaces so as to implement a cohesive atmosphere, suggesting the idea of a single fluid space that unfolds clients move from the entrance to their table. The main theme consists of a long wooden paneling, made up of pyramids that have varying orientations, resembling fractals. Grazing lights from above emphasize this geometric patterning with shadows and reflections. The paneling also covers the doors to the bathroom and to the technical shaft to make them disappear into the geometric design.
The walls and floors in the rest of the restaurant are finished in Laminam’s Pietra piasentina stoneware in a light gray color that provides a neutral base. All counters are in light gray pleated Thala stone to continue the idea of a cold gray base on which the textural warmth of the cherry-colored paneling is set by contrast.
The large outdoor terrace is the restaurant’s other backdrop, through the long windows of the Allianz Tower. It includes an additional cocktail and hors d’oeuvres bar in the center, with the same Thala stone finishes as those in the restaurant.
