Sichuan Culture and Industrial Elements Meet at Da Ya Li Restaurant
In Chengdu’s creative East Music Park, restaurant Da Ya Li was designed by Beijing studio IN • X to represent Sichuan food culture and introduce new customers to the 20-year-old restaurant brand. Lead designer Wu Wei shares more about how he approached revitalising the brand and giving the space a localised appeal
Design Anthology: What’s unique about the building and the location?
Wu Wei: The building is located in the Chengdu East Music Park, a former industrial hub that became a creative zone for music production, and now includes spaces for music, art, drama and photography. It’s similar to Beijing's 798 Art Zone in that it has a strong industrial and creative atmosphere, and it’s one of the city’s top cultural attractions.
What was the brief to you for the project?
Da Ya Li has been around for more than two decades and so the brand needed an image update. At the same time, the restaurant was to reflect the local culture of Sichuan.
What design references or narrative did you try to incorporate into the space?
We wanted locals to understand the brand better, so we opted for strong symbols that diners would associate with Da Ya Li. In Chinese culture, the colour red is a traditional symbol of royal architecture, and it also represents the peppery taste of Sichuan cuisine. We wanted to use the colour as the main design element in order to evoke the taste of the food as well as national culture, and we custom designed the red rattan ‘tree house’ that’s the focal point of the entire space. The idea is that symbolising the brand with strong visual elements will strengthen and deepen the brand experience.
Please tell us a little about the material choices for the space.
We used simple, traditional materials like rattan, brick, antique-surface stone and wooden logs alongside more industrial materials like metal.
How long did the interior fit-out process take?
The entire project took four months from design to completion.
Images / Shi Yunfeng
