There is a much-repeated notion that artificial intelligence is the death knell for the creative industries as we know them. For Barcelona-based architecture studio External Reference, led by Italian PhD architect Carmelo Zappulla, that notion is nonsense; the designers instead using the technology as a means to expedite and improve their processes.
“For me,” Zappulla says, “the topic of artificial intelligence is a way to substitute that capacity that architects or designers in general have lost, which is the ability to draw freehand.” By feeding Midjourney with prompts to create a restaurant where the “roof was snowy,” the team were able to sequentially produce better and better iterations of the visual concept they had in mind; countless hours of sketches saved by the processing power of AI. Once the visualisation was completed, a 3D modelling process also underwent multiple trials and morphological experiments, including the use of simulation software, before that model was eventually 3D-printed into reality.
Midjourney ‘sketches’ prompted by External Reference to develop their visual concept.
The result is a dreamlike snowy landscape informed by the snow-covered trees and mountains of the Alps, under which diners can engage in a truly unique restaurant experience. The restaurant? The second from lauded self-taught chef, Pietro Catalano, who combines tradition and innovation through modern techniques and a respect for nature and sustainability; his menu offering what he calls “a journey of surprise.” A Michelin Guide restaurant in them Swiss city of Lucerne, famed for its medieval architecture and backdrop of those snowcapped mountains, CAAA by Pietro Catalano is as creative and expressive as the tech-forward design from External Reference.
The 3D-printed ceiling-scape, put together with the help of Barcelona-based studio LAMÁQUINA, is not the only nod to the Alps at CAAA; the serene tones of Switzerland’s mountainous climate and the spirit of its forests also referenced through ash wood selected for the chairs and tables, which are delicately crafted to evoke tree branches. Stainless steel, glass, and marble flooring complement the restaurant’s bar, where cocktails crafted through fermentation, dehydration and distillation are an integral part of the dining experience.
Embracing the most progressive of modern technologies in a homage to the eternal beauty of the natural world, External Reference’s delicate design for CAAA by Pietro Catalano results in a singular culinary experience for this most beautiful of Swiss cities.
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CAAA by Pietro Catalano Lucerne Photography, Filippo Bamberghi.
