ACID P-Berg: Chestnut Against Raw Concrete
ACID P-Berg: Chestnut Against Raw Concrete
Plantea Estudio completes a raw shell rather than rewriting it, in a room that reads closer to a home than a café
Name:
ACID P-Berg
Location:
Berlin, Germany
Interior:
Plantea Estudio
Architecture:
Pysall Architekten (existing building)
Images:
Daniel Faro
Madrid-based Plantea Estudio approaches each project through the character of the place it belongs to, which is why their two Berlin cafés for ACID look nothing alike. The first ACID café designed by the studio opened in Mitte, and the second is this one, on a corner in Prenzlauer Berg. Asked about the difference, the studio described them as two different Berliners, and the one they imagined here is modern, culturally sophisticated and drawn to Japanese culture.
The café sits on a corner overlooking Teutoburger Platz, a short walk from the former industrial complex that has housed studios for artists including Ai Weiwei and Olafur Eliasson. It occupies a ground-floor space in a building originally designed by Pysall Architekten, and came with its own material language of exposed concrete, aluminium carpentry and galvanised steel shutters. Plantea read it as a space waiting for time to wear down its exact geometry, and set out to complete it with stone, chestnut, ceramics and textiles, preserving its original character while revealing its more sensitive side.
Warmth arrives through a chestnut volume running along the back wall. It conceals the staircase down to the basement, carries shelving for bread and equipment, and holds a pair of wooden speakers that give the room its sound. The counter stays quieter, pairing stainless steel with a granite base whose muted tones sit close to the surrounding concrete, so the wood keeps the eye.
Near the entrance, a square wooden table displays merchandise beneath a three-tier paper lamp by Ingo Maurer, with a rounded vase by ceramicist Raúl Mouro placed alongside it. Ceramic pendant lights by Berlin artist Wendy Taylor run along the window line and add tactility to an otherwise minimal setting, and Mouro's piece is made from commercial stoneware blended with earth from Asturias. Seating comes from FRAMA, with Symmetry armrest chairs, Petit Rond stools on leather and a Table 57 whose wooden top was made to match Plantea's millwork, while a Shelf Library in stainless steel and canvas is mounted directly onto the raw concrete. Outside, the same stools appear without their leather seats, drawing a line between the terrace and the room.
FRAMA describes the collaboration as creating spaces that make people feel at home. Plantea puts it as a preference, telling us that the environments they feel most aligned with are always layered, complex and a little contradictory, much like truly interesting people.
ACID Prenzlauer Berg is included in the VISUALPLEASURE Berlin City Guide.
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