Maria Jarema, Diuna and.... biblical stories? Kacper Gronkiewicz is responsible for the interior design of the vegan restaurant Manna 2 on Poznanska Street in Warsaw, where you can eat steak from a 3D printer. This unusual mix of inspirations has wrapped up a one-of-a-kind space, an oasis amidst the soaring skyscrapers and post-modern office buildings of the capital. How did they manage to pile a dune in it without using a single grain of sand?
Tall pillars, concrete and huge sheets of blue glass. These are the words to begin a description of the Koszykowa 54 office building, which was erected in 1993 to the concept of SAP Projekt and Ilbau Austria, on the corner of Koszykowa and Poznanska streets. The postmodern giant is today home to "serious" institutions - the embassies of South Africa and the United Kingdom, the Kosovo Consulate, as well as a technology company or a law firm. However, in the arcades beneath the bulky block of the office building on Koszykowa Street, amid the bustle of the capital's center, there is room for a culinary oasis of calm - the vegan restaurant Manna 2 on Poznanska Street.
Interiors of the Manna 2 restaurant in Warsaw
designed by Kacper Gronkiewicz © press mat.
Diuna-inspired interior
The premises conditions were not favorable for creating a welcoming space for the new restaurant. Imagination came to the rescue, thanks to which the architect connected the dots: since, according to the description from the Book of Exodus, biblical manna fell from heaven in the desert of Sin, let the interior of the restaurant be an oasis, growing in the desert wilderness straight out of the movie Diuna. Unsurprisingly, this unconventional combination was followed by an interior with light, sandy tones and organic shapes:
When an interior is dark and low, you have to really work hard to turn the space's flaws into assets. We took advantage of the found tectonics of the ceiling by softening its corners with clay. In the center above the bar, we stretched a creamy, membrane ceiling, which not only hid the installations, but became a mirror for the illuminated crescent disk
- tells Kacper Gronkiewicz.
Interiors of the Manna 2 restaurant in Warsaw
proj.: Kacper Gronkiewicz © press mat.
A dry garden and a sandless dune, i.e. unusual elements of Manna 2's interior.
Opposite the entrance was a structure that the designer called a "dry garden." It is in fact a large shelf, acting as a checkroom, and at the same time a camouflage for cables and other installation elements.
Interiors of the Manna 2 restaurant in Warsaw
design: Kacper Gronkiewicz © press mat.
Its openwork form is a reference to the numerous shoots of the mistletoe cactus, the only species of cactus found naturally outside North and South America, and at the same time a continuation of the choices made in designing the interior of Manna 68 in Gdansk, the first restaurant run by the same owner. There, too, guests are welcomed by a "dry garden," only that instead of cacti, they opted for native birch trees.
Interiors of the Manna 2 restaurant in Warsaw
design: Kacper Gronkiewicz © press mat.
Jarema at Manna, or abstraction in space
The organic forms that reign at Manna 2 reflect the Polish work of two figures that Kacper Gronkiewicz was inspired by when designing the interior of the new vegan restaurant in Warsaw. Although Maria Jarema, an artist associated with the postwar activities of the Second Kraków Group, did not create in the capital, her abstract compositions have long filled the halls of Warsaw museums. The interior of Manna on Koszykowa Street also joins the places where one can encounter Jarema's work:
Jarema's works oscillate between organic soft lines and strong geometric shapes. In Manna 2, we interpreted this tension through, among other things, spatial stained glass windows, which are my interpretation of monotypes from the "Penetrations" series. These are installations of interpenetrating shapes made of various materials - from colored plexiglass to mirrors, which generate a visual pulse and depth
- explains Kacper Gronkiewicz, the architect responsible for the interior design of Manna 2 restaurant in Warsaw.
Interiors of the Manna 2 restaurant in Warsaw
design: Kacper Gronkiewicz © press mat.
However, it seems that Maria Jarema's flagship abstract work in the case of the interior of Manna 2 restaurant is expressed not only in such obvious references, but also through the geometry of the space itself. As in the compositions of the Krakow artist, in Manna it is in vain to look for sharp angles, right angles, and therefore also "absolute" verticals and levels (well, except perhaps for the countertops, ceiling and floor). Instead, both the walls and furnishings take on organic, splayed forms, and the restaurant's spaces intermingle much like the colorful blobs in Jarema's paintings.
Interiors of the Manna 2 restaurant in Warsaw
design: Kacper Gronkiewicz © press mat.
organic forms, clay and cashmere
The material choices, in turn, are inspired by the work of Cezary Poniatowski, a Warsaw-based artist who works in printmaking, painting and art installations. The material microcosm that is created in Poniatowski's works became the inspiration for the elements that co-create the interior of Manna 2 in Warsaw. Just such a "composite" is the bar, the front of which is composed of copper sheet metal and ash construction and cladding, lacquered in intense red. Natural materials also play a big role, the walls are covered with clay decorated with sgraffito, and cashmere fabrics hang on the seats.
Interiors of the Manna 2 restaurant in Warsaw
design: Kacper Gronkiewicz © press mat.
Manna's informal character encourages you to experience the interior with all your senses - not only with sight, smell and taste, but also with touch:
It's hard for the desert to be like from a ruler. Cashmere blankets hang from the backrests in a natural, unforced manner. One can walk barefoot on the bolon carpeting, and if one feels like eating a meal while sitting on a dune, here one can - because we also designed a dune
- says the architect.
Interiors of the Manna 2 restaurant in Warsaw
design: Kacper Gronkiewicz © press mat.
dining on the level
Although Manna 2 is meant to be an oasis in the concrete desert of Warsaw's Downtown, there will be no sand in the teeth of its guests. The dune referred to by the architect is in fact a small platform located by a glass display window, which restaurant guests reach by climbing three low steps. Sitting down at tables covered with rounded tops, they will dip their feet.... dune. Kacper Gronkiewicz dispensed with chairs, plunging the legs of the tables into the carpeted platform and spreading soft cushions on it. In this way, a distinct accent was achieved in the topography of the restaurant's interior, while avoiding elevating the seats too high above the floor level.
Interiors of the Manna 2 restaurant in Warsaw
design: Kacper Gronkiewicz © press mat.
A steak from a 3D printer and a kitchen without a dress code
As always with design, in addition to a bold concept, you need a developer who is open to fresh ideas:
When designing the interior, I was given a lot of freedom, and I think that's why Manna is today a space of freedom and wind in the hair - not only when it comes to design. It's a place for casual meetings without a dress code and free cuisine celebrated with truly desert hospitality
- concludes Kacper Gronkiewicz.
Interiors of the Manna 2 restaurant in Warsaw
design: Kacper Gronkiewicz © press mat.
Manna on Poznańska Street in Warsaw is the second restaurant run under this banner by Anna Orzech. The first was Manna 68 in Gdansk, where the founder combined inspirations from the cuisines of Sri Lanka, California, Mexico and France into a vegan mix that is, as she puts it, "a celebration of life." Will the kitchen at Warsaw's Manna jump the bar set high by its interior designed by Kacper Gronkiewicz?
