“RATTAN” bar restaurant
Faliraki – Rhodes, Greece
325m² (indoor), 120m² (outdoor)
October 2015 – May 2016

Rattan is a bar-restaurant which is located on the main road of Faliraki in the island of Rhodes. In Faliraki, the architectural anarchy and aesthetic confusion, which are easily perceived when visited, are dominant; this fact however, does not prevent the area of being one of the main touristic attractions of the island due to its really beautiful beaches. The location of the building was totally absent of any interesting characteristics and consequently neither the built nor the natural environment of the wider area could have been used as a source of inspiration for the project. The restaurant actually occupies the ground floor of a building, in the center of an area which is outlined by absolute architectural arbitrariness and ugliness; Its only advantage is its distance from the city of Rhodes as it is relatively close and as a result the new restaurant could focus more on the permanent residents of the island without, nonetheless, excluding the tourists or the passing by potential customers.

As a result, the space had to be designed so that it could become a destination for the island’s residents as well as a restaurant which by itself could attract tourists to its location. The main goal of the general design process was the creation of a space where its volumetric components would be a harmonious synthesis interrupted only by “green” and natural elements which also had to play a major role and have clear references to nature and specifically to the tropical garden, trying to give a continuous and at the same time distinguishable flow between the interior and exterior.

Regarding the materials and colors of the overall design, vertical and horizontal surfaces in earthy tones, with the use of wood as the dominant construction material, surround lighting fixtures and furniture made of rattan of different types and weaving. All these elements together create a composition of wood and rattan which is only interrupted by the diversity of tropical plants and colorful fabrics which create an illusion of some kind of a tropical “paradise” that charms the visitor and defines the “Rattan” restaurant’s mystery.