THE DINER

Lab at Rockwell Group - 2018 - Milan, Italy
Client: Surface Magazine
Partnership: 2x4
Role: design strategy, design development documents, 3d modeling, rendering

To celebrate the 25th anniversary of Surface magazine, we united visitors to the 2018 Salone del Mobile around a quintessentially American concept: The Diner. During the furniture fair, the public was invited to relax and connect in an intimate, contemporary interpretation of the classic American eatery.

Creating a distinct, colorful visual style, we were able to explore the enduring attraction of diners: their ability to make strangers into a community, elbow-to-elbow; their call to locals and nomads alike; their celebration of casual yet intimate encounters; and their existence at the crossroads of different cultures and eras.

Located in an historic vault under the famous Milano Centrale train station, The Diner offered a number of opportunities for partnerships, from food and drink to furnishings by designers and brands that represented a global perspective.

The Diner was conceived as the ultimate gathering place, taking guests on an experiential road trip through iconic elements of American diner culture (“counter” culture) and different vignettes that drew on our expertise in set design and hospitality.