The V in Fan Life’s project probably stands for Vintage, and in fact going into the café is like going into a miniature art, crafts and antiques market. A thousand different objects on a thousand different shelves divide the room into intimate, refined spaces, making visitors feel like they have stepped outside of the flow of time.
V+Coffee is the result of the latest new project by the Chinese designers of Fan Life, an affirmation in contrast with the frantic pace and bright lights of our age. As soon as we cross the threshold, through the wooden-grilled windows painted retro green, we get the feeling we are going back in time.
Once inside, the impression is that of being in a little arts and crafts market selling traditional handicrafts and antiques, a vintage market where we won’t find things like neoclassical plaster busts but old typewriters and radios, animal sculptures and bric-a-brac of all kinds.
Going into V+Coffee is a bit like entering a contemporary version of the wunderkammer, containing marvels of all sorts. The style of the place might be defined as mix 'n' match, in which black iron and solid wood provide the background for dense decorations, including artificial plants hanging from the ceiling, all made by hand, leaf by leaf, by four people over two months.
V+Coffee is, in the architects’ own words, a place to "find an answer to what it means to live well, not so much in contemplation of luxury as in the authenticity of experience, as when enjoying a cup of coffee".
Francesco Cibati
Location: Qingdao, Shandong, China
Year: 2017
Surface area: 287 sqm
Design: FAN Life – www.fanlifestudio.com
Team: Liu Jing, Huang Guanyu, Pang Liyuan, Liu Xin
Photos: Cai Zehong
