Felt and light play a leading role in the new restaurant Nasturzio designed by architects Francesca Perani and Arianna Foresti. Located in Albino, Bergamo, Nasturzio has recently taken shape in the renovated Carmelite complex of the Santuario della Ripa, under the ownership of emerging chefs Cinzia Mismetti, William Bertocchi and Jonathan Signorelli.
The installation project curated by architects Francesca Perani and Arianna Foresti reinterprets an open space of 130 square meters in a subtle way yet with great scenic impact.
A felt aerial textile installation invades the dining room, softening the rigidity of the pre-existing architectural lines and creating a new acoustic balance. The choice to keep tone-on-tone with a warm neutral color and a pattern evocative of the petal narrates the identity of the entire restaurant, which takes its name from an edible ornamental flower originating in Peru, used since ancient times to embellish dishes.
The ceiling is thus enriched with 140 fabric petals, arranged in a regular grid that recalls the compositional accuracy characteristic of the careful and exclusive choices of the chefs. The many felt models move the regular, rigid space of the room, giving depth to the environment and creating a setting that extends also to the back walls of the room.
Two partitions move downward from the ceiling and envelop the space around the guests. The new lighting system integrates with the set-up offering lighting points aimed at giving intimacy and highlighting the dishes served.
A large bespoke wrought iron structure features a felt niche, which houses the bottle storage unit inserted in the curvilinear partition located behind the counter. Two materials in antithesis for their intrinsic qualities, iron and felt, coexist in balance in a new elegant and original space, where even noise is mitigated to increase emotional comfort.