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There's more to the bar than just alcohol
For urban workers, the end of the day's work is a tiring night. In addition to going home normally, people will always look for a relaxing place to digest the busyness and stress of the day, and this is especially important when a space is suitable for the situation.
01 The origin of the bar
02 The evolution of China's "bars".
03 Various developments of modern bars
Cella 酒吧 / FCC Arquitectura
炸玉米饼酒吧 / Chioco Design
Chongqing "Jixu Town" bar / Qing Weishe Studio
The fire pit of Yangying / Real Architects
01
The origin of the bar
▲ English bar
The type of pub we know first appeared in countries like the UK and Ireland as a convenient place to serve fast food and socialize.
A cabinet full of drink bottles and a bar counter turned into a horizontal board are the most classic bar layouts, which is why the bar is called pub, bar, club.
▲ An element of the bar
The translation of the word bar is influenced by American cowboy culture. Cowboys and robbers like to meet and drink in taverns, so we simply called the concept of "drink counters", which was introduced to China, "bars." ”
It can be seen that the bar is never a place where the main purpose is to drink, and even the bar does not necessarily use alcohol as the main product sold in the store.
02
The development of Chinese "bars".
▲ "Qingming Riverside Map" restaurant
The first bars in China were similar to the development of taverns in the first century AD. In the first century, the Romans established many establishments that did not provide lodging but provided rest and drink. In China, such establishments are called "restaurants".
The main product of the restaurant is wine, but people still pay attention to the drunken games, poems, and conversations. Here, the ancients talked freely about ideals and sought social recognition.
The restaurant is full of people every day, exchanging talents and stories. The attic, private rooms, halls, cash chesters, and rooms are enough to meet the social activities required by the ancients. The scene of "Wulin Gaiden" more realistically reflects the layout of the restaurant building and people's behavior at that time.
▲ "Wulin Gaiden" Tongfu Inn
In the late Qing Dynasty, Western culture gradually infiltrated, and the form of bars began to be rich, with drinking parties suitable for high-ranking officials to talk, foreign liquor sold by the cup on the street, and jar liquor shops that have always existed all appeared in the same place. Chinese bars are gradually forming their own diverse atmosphere.
Today, at its extreme, the bar has become a "second home" for young people's nightlife, seemingly for drinking, but in fact for finding a connection to the world between an absolutely private home and a work that seeks to be efficient.
03
Multiple developments of modern bars
▲The X Macallan酒吧
The style of the previous pub has been a continuation of the classic British style, with dim lighting and dark wood furniture.
Nowadays, designers and bar owners alike have abandoned the fixed thinking of bars in terms of bar design and function, and as a result, bars have emerged in a variety of architectural styles and forms.
Cella Bar
FCC Architecture
▲ The building as a whole
The Cella Bar is built on a small abandoned but well-structured classical country building. The new building was renovated by preserving the original building intact and adding additional space.
▲Building section (the original building on the right)
Facing the Atlantic Ocean, the designer could not bear to give up this good relaxing view, and chose to let the new building "flow to the sea" from the old building.
▲ View of the building terrace
In the selection of intentions, the designer still focuses on the wide sea area in front of him. Extracting the elements of "whale", "wave" and "reef", and combining the bar element of "wine barrel", it creates a new building with soft flow, weakening the artificial traces of the old building.
▲ Architectural form intention
The interior of the newly built part of the building resembles a huge oak barrel or an old ship's cabin. The bar seems to shut out all the elements of the city, in order to draw attention to the rare scenery outside the window and the self from the complex society.
▲ The interior of the building
Taco bar
Chioco Design
▲ The building as a whole
Taco Bar is located on Austin's iconic South Capitol Street. The original site was a drive-thru burger restaurant with a classic style of American western culture. The designers wanted the new building to retain the cultural flair of its past, but still meet the needs of a modern restaurant.
▲ The classic form of the American western bar
In the end, the designer designed the building as a portrait structure in the form of X and Y, referencing the prototype of the drive-in restaurant from the 50s.
In addition to the necessary supports and tops, the rest of the place is widely windowed, and from a distance, the building looks like a gas station that is always open. The red element also gives the building a relaxed and pleasant atmosphere.
▲ Building bar
People come here more to get rid of the fatigue and hunger of long driving days than to drink from the starting point, so the bright hues are more conducive to their mental recovery.
▲ Building dining area
▲ Floor plan
Chongqing "Jixucho" bar
Green Micro House Studio
▲ The building as a whole
The air-raid shelter is a foundation project left over from the Anti-Japanese War. At that time, the military and civilians of Chongqing excavated the world's largest network of air defense projects at that time.
With the advent of peacetime, bomb shelters have become a unique element on the streets of Chongqing.
The air-raid shelter with a constant temperature of 4 °C all year round has become a good place for people to enjoy the cool and sing on the street, and then, the use of air raid shelters in rail transit, shopping malls and shops has added another "8D sense" to Chongqing.
▲The history of the development of air-raid shelters
This project is a bar renovated from an air-raid shelter in the former Chongqing No. 1 Printing Factory.
The designer renovated the three disconnected air-raid shelters and the courtyards facing them and the large trees in them, adding modern metal elements and lighting to create a metallic glow in the rock-filled holes.
▲ The inside of the bar
The courtyard, the new 2.5-meter-wide front porch, and the U-shaped bar connect the three bomb shelters, which are closed to the public, while the thick wall in the middle naturally enriches the space.
▲Looking at the garden from the inside
▲Building decomposition analysis diagram
▲ Floor plan
The fire pit of Yangying
Real Architects
▲ The exterior of the building
"Day is life, night is a bonfire, and a fire pit is not just a fire pit. ”
As you can see from the name of the bar, "Fire Pit" colludes with everything that happens in the bar. The building is located in the Xiaoxihu neighborhood of Qinhuai District, Nanjing, and together with bookstores, B&Bs and restaurants, it creates a good place for young people to have fun at night.
▲ Building section
A bar during the day is more like a clean restaurant, with people scattered to the seats by the walls and windows. In the evening, starting with the first drum beat, the people's scattered center of gravity is concentrated in the center of the space. Bonfires, musical instruments, singing bring everything together in the hut.
▲ Dayscape of the building
Obviously, in addition to the floor plan, the designer did not deliberately add too much to the form of the store, but such a direct approach made people enjoy the space more.
▲ Building bar
Yangying's fire pond is not only a small West Lake. Several fire ponds are hidden in different alleys in Qinhuai District. It has become another novel experience to visit Qinhuai. Walking through the streets and alleys, I heard the singing on the other side of the wall, and when I got closer, I saw that the thick bonfire warmed the night.
▲ Night fire pond activities
epilogue
Bars can be set up everywhere to bring in scenery that is often overlooked by busy urbanites. People sit down at the bar, pay attention to themselves, stare out the window, shake off their exhaustion, and get ready to go.
Resources:
1.https://www.chiocodesign.com/
2.https://w.arctelli.cn/CN/928280/zhang-king-ji-su-ding-jiu-pa-king-star-wei-shi-kang-choo-shi?add_source=church&add_medium=project_taba
3.https://fc-arquitectura.com/
4.https://sz-architects.net/works/