The Italians are simply unbeatable when it comes to minimalism in design. And that’s exactly what Italian architect Francesco Gatti of 3Gatti arhitectural studio proves with his Zabar bar project. Started in 2010, Zabar is a live bar in Shanghai which was created on a very tight budget and small time frame. “The budget was very low but the client was incredibly good and open-minded to us. The schedule was very tight and fortunately they immediately liked one of the first concepts I proposed to them: a caved space formed from of a digital Boolean subtraction of hundreds of slices from an amorphic blob.” – says Francesco Gatti
This cave like structure was conceptualized through a 3D modelling process and later built onsite using manual labor instead of cutting edge technology. Each of the section was cut into the desired shape by drawing them on a plasterboard and later projecting them onto the sections. Even though manual labor was utilized, the entire process took a couple of months and cost much lesser than passing it through machines. Gatti sympathizes with the Chinese laborers saying, “….but we were in China where the work of machines is replaced by the work of low paid humans. The cost was surprisingly low and the sense of guilt towards the workers higher.”
The design process which started in 2006, took a good 5 years to reach the completion stage as the project was on hold for 3 whole years. What matters at the end of the day is that the end product is commendable and an inspiration to designers like me who love minimalist design.
+ 3 Gatti
