Studying this, we strove for a suitable architectural expression and found it in a simple plan, lighting that supported the cadence of the room and the use of materials in ways that amplified their color and texture. In the same way that Tom selects food that is seasonally available or the product of a local artisan, we composed the surfaces in Craft from a palette of materials made available to us by talented craftspeople. The resulting composition renders bronze, leather, blackened steel, glass and wood as self-evident constituents of the space. We took advantage of the preexisting building fabric, a 19 th -century retail and manufacturing building stripped of its ornamental detail by years of neglect, as a counterpoint to what we added as new. Rather than assigning a stylistic language to this material palette, we orchestrated the pieces according to their color, texture, scale, surface features, as well as the ways they are cut, tooled and finished. Craft demonstrates that the architecture of building interiors is, perhaps more than the architecture of building exteriors, an exercise in the manipulation of space and then of surfaces, textures, color and light, often artificial, to further articulate those spaces. In the distinctions of one interior surface from another, our goal is not to create visual variety but rather to affirm the qualities of space that we have developed in plan. We place soft and acoustically absorbent materials next to diners, rough and textured ones where we have an opportunity for light to emphasize the quality of surface, dark where we need background for a visual feature, reflective where we seek a spatial expansion and light-transmitting to emphasize the texture and colors of the human face. The restaurant called Toku features textured slate on walls adorned with candles and lit from below, which serve as a welcoming gesture at the point of entry. Adjacent columns in the same textured surface march through the space and provide cadence and rhythm to the experience. Reflective ceiling planes identify the territory of the main dining area as distinct from the bar. Meanwhile, the banquettes are backed by acoustical material behind an uplit sheer fabric, dramatizing the seating niche, offering acoustical comfort to those seated in front and providing a color and texture that is complimentary to their faces. Just as locally sourced food offers a tangible connection between a restaurant and the region it calls home, honoring local materials and working methods binds restaurant architecture to its locale. Craft has its terra cotta fire brick, a characteristic (but typically hidden) building material of its city. Reclaimed snow fence planks at Island Creek Oyster Bar recall the color palette of New England. Market by Jean- Georges at the W Boston Hotel features the local granite and cool hues of the waterfront. Craft LA carries forward the rich materials of the earlier Craft restaurants, but with a more essential treatment with less texture and more reflectivity to balance the interior with the directional sunlight of Southern California outside. North End Grill has its bracing palette of white porcelain and charred black wood inspired by oyster shell, fish scale and the black coal on which they are cooked. These are not stylistic references or visual graphics so much as they are spirited incarnations of a relevant local material culture.
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