Architectural studio Annvil, with Anna Butele at the helm, has designed an unusual store. In the centre of Riga, in a historic building designed by Šefels dating back to 1908, is the iBar. The name reveals the key elements of the business: a bar and bistro combined with an Apple store.
But if you are expecting minimal total white design in the usual Apple style, you’ll be in for a surprise. The iBar has a rather rustic look featuring bare brick, only partly painted white, plants, wooden furniture and a metal bar counter. The idea that inspired Anna Butele – director of Annvil – was Newton’s discovery of gravity, which began precisely with an apple – hence the Apple logo. But here gravity is inverted, so that all the objects float weightlessly without interfering with their surroundings.
Francesco Cibati
Location: Riga, Latvia
Year: 2014
Floor space: 180sqm
Design: Annvil – www.annvil.lv
Team: Anna Butele, Diāna Kūla, Ilvars Jermacāns
Photos: Ingus Bajārs