Café Bookstore Winners

ArcAce, the world architecture platform for emerging designers, has announced the winners of the Café Bookstore.

These student winners presented thoughtful design solutions to foster vibrant, fun, and engaging interior spaces for a cafe bookstore to enhance the experience of their universities. The comfort and ambiance that welcome the bookstore students are impressively designed to accelerate their learning and experience.

The First Prize goes to Naphat Jantaphan, a second-year student at the Khon Kaen University, Thailand.

The concept was built to provide a special calming and inspiring experience for the users.

His “Simalai” café was inspired by “sim” to create a calm, peaceful and relaxed ambiance. According to the designer, Sim (sim) is a local language in the Lan Xang culture of Laos and the Northeast of Thailand, referring to the building where monks perform Buddhism activities.

An abundance of natural lighting with a natural feeling was given to the project within a contemporary style, to make it a place of attraction for the students. Different settings were created to facilitate the needed activities. Also, the design took into consideration the safety measurements of this pandemic age.

The Second Prize goes jointly to Rahym Irfan, Hassan Khan, Abhimanyu Madaan, Ujjwal Aneja, and Laiba Noor, a group of fourth-year architecture students at Jamia Millia Islamia University in New Delhi, India. The design entry was a rhetoric of the academic work carried out for the UG

interior design studio of the B. Arch program under the guidance of Ar. Ramya Kuchhal.

Their design is built around a strong theme inspired by the idea of mosaic which is driving a sense of harmony, unity, and variety all at once. According to the designers, “A mosaic is a phenomenon of artistic sensation that arises out of what is experienced today. In the modern mosaics of our age, the ‘manifestation of tiles becomes a veiled memo of oneness’ and reveals our dissimilarities and our willingness to engage in mutual adaption, where all creativity arises. With their concept ‘Mosaic’, the team conceived a bookstore at a prime academic location in Mumbai to suit the interests of college and school students.

The entry dictated the changing standards of the normalcy of academic reading spaces and interaction considering the technological advancements and the pandemic era. The proposed design followed the ethos and principles of the Crossword brand, a reputed Indian chain of bookstores that started in Mumbai. With its unique interior spatial divisions and furniture ideas, the team explored the algorithm of segregation, transition, and interspersing.

“Memories with which we attach ourselves to places are more important than our work experiences. The comfort and ambiance that welcome us leave a lasting impact. Our mental belongingness to places is a result of the sensitive design, movement patterns, and spatial transitions that we encounter. Interior Design is a balanced creation of textures, materials, and colours that make a wholesome space,” the team said.

The Third Prize goes to Kannipa Wongkasem, a second-year student at the Khon Kaen University, Thailand. The design may seem straight out of a fairy tale world, but it is meant to exist in the real world to bring the feeling of a sweet, dreamy ambiance. It was planned to be located on the third floor of the main university canteen.

The designer described the idea by saying: that “Sweet Dreams” aimed to be a relaxed and fun café for students in the concept of “Living in the Magic”.

“Once students walk in Zone 1, they will feel like living in another world as it was designed to be decorated in the “Alice in Wonderland” theme. This zone is a co-working space. At the back of the big mug-shaped chairs, there is a private individual zone where bar tables and macaron-shaped chairs with own windows”.

The inspiration for Zone 2 was Harry Potter. This was designed to be a quiet zone for reading. Like a part in the novel, bookshelves were built in a mazy shape. At the same time, chairs and tables are made like travel bags. Moreover, there are shelves with bottles of medicines together with chairs that look like pots to make medicines. Other decorations like lamps and candles were made in the “Harry Potter” theme.

The Fourth prize goes to Auttapan Angkaew, a second-year student at the Khon Kaen University, Thailand.

Biophilic design inspired by the tree. The designer created a plant-driven theme. Used this theme from the beginning to choose a related name and logo which then becomes all the mills’ work and the planters. The whole is imitating a natural environment.

The Fifth Prize goes to Monthicha Phasukhas, a second-year student at the Khon Kaen University, Thailand.

The designer created a place that embraces community. The shape is curved with an intimate human scale. The design has a homely feeling with warm colours. Beautiful timber cladding and mill work increased the calming ambiance.