JANUS is a whisky and cocktail bar with a social aspect.
According to the operational function of the project, the first floor is the supporting space and the second floor is the main venue. The first floor is loose, open, relaxed which serves coffee. The seating is relatively spacious. Bar counter and loose seating area on the second floor is different, more compact but not crowded. The sense of distance between people familiar or unfamiliar is more subtle. We hope more conversation and stories can happen there.
I decided to create the façade with clean and simple geometric blocks, which is the style of contemporary. But it also has classical features in the details. To this point I felt that these designs were not enough because the conflict had not reached its climax. So I added a cantilever platform to place a classical sculpture. It was at this point that I felt the importance of such design planning came to the fore. The pure black and hard blocks together with the classical sculpture bring the sense of power and make it attractive. Such not complicated aesthetics give audiences more possibilities to imagine.
The spatial atmosphere of the second floor is basically the same as what I had conceived. Everything is as it is. There is no conflict, no exaggerated arrangement, no criticism and no attempts. I am like a director who arranges the work of each department and position in an orderly manner. Covered wood veneer with vertical grain delivers both hard and warm feeling. Mirrored stainless steel breaks the calm and refract light and images that change with the activities of the people in the space. Sometimes it is cold, sometimes warm, sometimes noisy, sometimes quiet and ambiguous.
They are at once traditional, strong and thick, even a little archaic and they are at the same time receptive, inclusive, interesting and experimental.