Dodo Café Bar by Red Arquitectos

Mexican architecture studio Red Arquitectos led by Susana López González has designed a new venue in the city of Querétaro, Mexico. The young architect has created a bold interior visual to give patrons a very warm welcome.



The Dodo Café is an exclusive venue in the historical centre of Querétaro, capital of the Mexican state of the same name and located about 200 km north of Mexico City. As the venue's name suggests, the interiors are inspired by the extinct bird; Susana López González and her team at Red Arquitectos manage this by skilfully creating the warm, cosy atmosphere of a library.





The architect doesn't stop at mere interior design; she also plays on the venue's branding for a creative project that covers everything. She has come up with design solutions that underscore the particular details of the venue, which employs Mexico's most famous barman, and where you can sip on the finest coffees. A bar counter running the length of the venue is the dominant piece, along with wall behind it, covered in shelves to store all the ingredients needed to make cocktails.





Armando Ascorve continues to work with Red Arquitectos and his photographs bring out the cosy ambience and diffused lighting, and do great justice to the old maps hanging on the dark wood walls and to the bespoke glass lampshades. The timber cladding is also a nod to the old sailing ships that travelled the seas to discover the world, including the island of Mauritius, habitat of the luckless dodo - the bird that lost its ability to fly and that was extinct by the end of the 17th century.





As soon as you step across the threshold into the Dodo Café, you leave your hectic routine behind you and find total peace and quiet because there is no connection at all with the outside. Be it library or sailing boat, the interior of the Dodo Café, designed by Red Arquitectos is itself an oasis, where you can spend some real quality time with friends - before that too goes the same way as the poor old dodo bird!

Christiane Bürklein

Project: Red Arquitectos
(Susana López González con Francisco Cano Moreno, Jose Luis Sierra, Brenda Figueroa)
Location: Querétaro, Mexico
Year: 2016
Images: © Armando Ascorve