Cinc Sentits

A design by Destila Arquitectura and Zoo Studio inspired by the characteristics of a townhouse, Cinc Sentits transports patrons into a chef’s home for a modern take on traditional Catalan cuisine in Barcelona.

  • area / size 5,490 sqft
  • Year 2019
  • Location Barcelona, Spain,
  • Type Restaurant,
  • Cinc Sentits is a gastronomic restaurant located in Barcelona, awarded with a Michelin star. Cinc Sentits offers an interpretation of the Catalan traditional cuisine taken to our days by the chef Jordi Artal. This is a total design project, from the concept conceiving, the interior design, the works management, till the corporate identity.

    The visit at to his family natal town at La Torre de l’Espanyol, was the initial point of the concept intervention; FIELD – TOWN –CITY, in reference to the chef’s career evolution, from the countryside to the city, passing through the family town house, linked with its avant-grade Catalan cuisine that he practices with quality and proximity products.

    The architectural and interior proposal wants to transport the diner to the the three stages of the concept, from the rough and untreated materials, arranged in their purest state of the field, through the warmth of the town, until reaching the refinement, luminosity and light colors of the Mediterranean city. A system is created for the arrangement of materials throughout the intervention to unify the proposal, but at the same time enhance the characteristic elements of each stage of the restaurant.

    The tour begins with the reinterpretation of the lines of the field responsible for designing a plot for the lining of the walls, formed by wooden pivots that simulate fruit trees and provide rhythm and dynamism with the shadows that are generated while stimulating sense of touch. Mirrors are also used to amplify the space and stone of Sant Vicenç to create an abrupt environment. In the middle there are 4 wooden totems to taste a country snack.

    The space is designed from the most characteristic traditional elements of the town house with the desire to transport the diner to the kitchen of the chef’s house. The walls reproduce the irregularity of the openings of the streets and the cement finish simulating the facades of the houses of the town. In the openings the vitrified ceramic of the kitchens is incorporated as a reflection element. A large communal table connects visually with the show cooking and is placed under large copper bells, making reference to the old fireplace that appeared in this type of room.

    It is based on the grid of the Eixample Cerdà for the modulation and distribution of the tables in the room while joining the walls of the perimeter with those of the central patio. This modulation emphasizes the monumentality of the space and reinforce the verticality of the coverings and thus gain a sense of interior height. The ceiling reproduces the Catalan vault and allows visual rhythm and unify the space. In the central point and for a visual rest, there is a patio lined with golden ceramic pieces in contrast to the neutral colors of the interior and reminding the interiors of the Gaudí patios.

    Design: Destila Arquitectura and Zoo Studio
    Photography: Ivan Raga