VitrA Çağdaş Mimarlık Dizisi - Arkitera

The project is a transparent restaurant building designed for one of the important urban
nodes of Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. The structure consists of a steel roof and
a hanging mezzanine floor, attached to a hard surface intended to be perceived as an
urban wall. The perforated roof projection has been designed to provide shading for the
exterior spaces. The completely transparent façade contributes to the perception of the
interior as a part of the urban space.
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Chinar Restaurant is located adjacent to the first station of the funicular line that connects
the hillside Dağüstü Park, one of the largest parks located at the southwestern
district of Baku; with Neftçiler Street, the most well-known and luxurious street of the
city that continues along the Baku Bay. The place that has served as a tea garden under
the plane trees for a long time has been reconstructed as Chinar Restaurant, which
consists of the bar, the lounge and the restaurant sections. The old plane trees that the
place is named after have been preserved and included in the design.
Located in Baku, one of the most important cities of Eurasia; designed by Turkish architects
and operated by a London based international company specialized in restaurant
management; Chinar Restaurant maintains this cosmopolitan character with the Pan-
Asian fusion cuisine that it presents. This hybrid character that allows the co-existence
of diverse identities has also been reflected in the architectural identity of the building;
succeeeding to integrate its contemporary and modern language into the area surrounded
by buildings from the Neo Classical and Soviet Union periods. This plain and
modern persona created by the facade of the building conceals the metropolitan spirit
created by the diverse Asian identities in the interior; increasing the tension between
the inside and the outside in spite of the transparency.
With the service units of the restaurant gathered together around the existing retaining
wall and organized between two walls, the design provides a free organization of the
two storey volume of the restaurant. The dark colored dramatical interior atmosphere
created by the use of diverse components, motives and materials taken from the Azerbaijan
and Chinese cultures allows the creation of various theatral scenes and spatial
effects. The open kitchen located at the ground floor of the 420 person restaurant has
been fictionally organized as a theater stage for the chefs to present their performances.
The facility also houses two private dining rooms that can be united when necessary
and Bambu Bar at the ground floor; and the 30 person VIP Hall and the Dragon Lounge
at the mezzanine floor.
Presenting the refined synergy of precision, luxury and atmosphere; Chinar Restaurant
constitutes a significant momentum point within the plurality and metamorphosis observed
in the architecture of Azerbaijan after the growth initiated by the Third Oil Boom.
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