Patina Restaurant (Walt Disney Concert Hall)

At Patina Restaurant in the Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles, visitors first encounter the warm glow of light that radiates from the ceiling and outward past the glass façade. The ceiling in the dining area is composed of a contoured surface that drapes down into the space, billowing across the room as a fluid form. First an abstract surface with a curvature in three dimensions, the ceiling form becomes striated then separated to open up light channels along these striations.

The wall paneling in the Restaurant suggests the condition of being behind. In this design, a thickened, laminated wall material is impressed upon by the contoured movement of a rippled surface. The superimposition of ruled wood grain with fluctuating surface pattern registers as a curtain drawn around the perimeter of the dining room. The activity and ambience of the restaurant is held behind the fluid enclosure as a kind of backstage post-performance experience.