The interior design of Ding Dong, restaurant owned by the Spa Esprit Group in Singapore's historic Chinatown, is the work of Viewport Studio, a design firm based in London and Singapore.
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- Ding Dong, new restaurant in Singapore by Viewport Studio
You won't hear it said out loud but let's admit it, we're all starting to get a bit sick and tired of all the minimalism dominating so much interior design at home and in public venues like cafés and restaurants.
Without trotting out the famous Mies van der Rohe quote, if they're skilfully proportioned, then abundance and kitsch can be really eye-catching components, helping to generate a friendly, welcoming atmosphere. Which is exactly what Viewpoint Studio have done with their latest interior design for Ding Dong, a modern Southeast Asian restaurant owned by the Spa Esprit Group, in Singapore's historic Chinatown. The Singapore-based group operates sixteen lifestyle and wellness brands and embraces the holy trinity of quality, value and innovation, which is where the new restaurant falls.
Voon Wong from Viewpoint Studio has come up with a mood that he calls “nostalgic familiarity” for the ground floor space in a Shop House on Amoy Street. A successful mix of colour and excess, with clear visual references to the 1970s and 1980s and no fear at all of kitsch.
Accompanied by a disco soundtrack from those decades, guests step into a world dominated by vintage film posters papered across the walls. The comfy, padded furnishings reach out with their mismatched fabrics and colours, while the whole space is defined by white lattice architectural elements inspired by the wrought iron trellising used everywhere throughout Southeast Asia in the twenties and thirties.
The result is a constant reference to past and present also reflected in the menu itself, which includes contemporary reinventions of traditional flavours.
Ding Dong in Singapore by Viewpoint Studio is a riotous, colourful, loud, engaging restaurant - a true example of how you can mix and match things from different periods of time without falling into the trap of melancholy or vintage rhetoric for a really vibrant, innovative effect.
Christiane Bürklein
Project: Viewport Studio
Location: Singapore
Year: 2016
Images: Courtesy of Viewport Studio - Photographer: Darren Soh
