architects AKSL / Špela Leskovic, Aleš Košak
project Restaurant Cubo, Ljubljana, Slovenia
written by Maja Ivanič

 

The tide of globalization has brought cultural and ethnic diversity to the Slovenian capital, on the whole enriching the life of the city. In more recent times, theme restaurants are the trend, which along with a palette of world cuisine provide gratuitously authentic seeming settings. Plaster peeling in an artful manner and decorations from straw are meant to evoke the atmosphere of an Italian osteria; the “authenticity” of a Mexican restaurant is emphasized by an orange spazzolatto façade, applied on the fronts of stately city houses. The scent and patina of traditional Irish or English pubs, often expanding rapidly on the ground floors of modern office buildings, are supposed to be guaranteed by equipment from a catalogue. Unfortunately, the intentional affectation during the planning of the space, interior equipment and decorations devalues most of the ethnically themed establishments, in fact tends to make them ridiculous. In any case, such strained, artificial semblances can rarely satisfy the fastidious guest.