Wes Anderson, who recently took home a brace of awards for the effortlessly wonderful “Grand Budapest Hotel,” is arguably one of the few remaining cinematic auteurs. His films manage to tap into that same space between the innocent wonder of childhood and the horrors of adulthood which Roald Dahl built a legacy on. Indeed, he even adapted one of Dahl's most beloved novels with the equally splendid “Fantastic Mr Fox.” Not only is there a unique look to Anderson's films, but there's a unique atmosphere to them as well, and it's this more ethereal quality that makes the film maker such a natural designer.
Wes Anderson has lent his own inimitable style to a new café for the Prada fashion house in Milan, Italy
The director has lent his own inimitable style to a new café for the Prada fashion house in Milan, Italy, which takes a kitsch, 1950s diner aesthetic, and adds a hefty dose of vintage Anderson charm. The “Bar Luce,” which opened last Saturday (May 9), is located inside the Fondazione Prada gallery, which was designed by Anderson and OMA Architects, and is made up of old and new buildings on the site of a former distillery dating back to 1910. That collision of the vintage and the modern is what typifies most of the director's best films, so was a natural fit for everyone involved. Formica furniture and pastel ice-cream colours contrast with references from some of Anderson's best films, with wallpaper inspired by the Grand Budapest Hotel, pinball machines adorned with artwork from “The Life Aquatic,” and a quirky décor style that looks like it fell right out of the beloved late 90's classic “Rushmore.”
Speaking of which, Rushmore star and frequent Anderson collaborator Jason Schwartzman recently worked with Anderson create a short film for Prada called “Castello Cavalcanti.” The shadow of that film, which took inspiration from two masterpieces of Italian Neorealism, both set in Milan, (“Miracolo a Milano” and “Rocco e i suoi fratelli”) is cast in the nostalgic atmosphere of the café. This atmosphere is further reflected in its arched ceiling, which has been preserved from the original structure, recreating a scaled-down version of the glass-vaulted roof of Milan’s Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, one of the oldest shopping malls in the world.
Anderson is also reportedly working on creating his very own theme park, designed with Mark Mothersbaugh of the art-punk band Devo
Inside the bar itself is a fully functioning, traditional Milanese café, as well as a children's area designed by a group of students from the École nationale supérieure d’architecture de Versailles. Launch exhibitions for the space will include a show by filmmaker Roman Polanski exploring his cinematographic inspirations, site-specific installations by sculptors Robert Gober and Thomas Demand, and artwork from the Prada Collection. Anderson said of the project: “There is no ideal angle for this space. It is for real life, and ought to have numerous good spots for eating, drinking, talking, reading, etc. While I do think it would make a pretty good movie set, I think it would be an even better place to write a movie. I tried to make it a bar I would want to spend my own non-fictional afternoons in.”
In related news, Anderson is also reportedly working on creating his very own theme park (move over Dollywood), designed with Mark Mothersbaugh of the art-punk band Devo (of “Whip It” fame). The pair have a long and fruitful working relationship, with Mothersbaugh having scored a number of Anderson's films, including “Rushmore” and “The Royal Tenenbaums.” Of this incredibly ambitious potential future project, Anderson said: “I hope to soon secure the means to commission the construction of an important and sizeable theme park to be conceived and designed entirely by Mark Mothersbaugh. For 40 years he has set about creating a body of work which amounts to his own Magic Kingdom, where the visitor is amused and frightened, often simultaneously.” I honestly don't know whether I'd be delighted or terrified by a Wes Anderson/Devo theme park, but I'd certainly be willing to find out!
PRADA presents “CASTELLO CAVALCANTI” by Wes Anderson
Benjamin Hiorns is a freelance writer and struggling musician from Kidderminster in the UK. His favourite Wes Anderson film is “The Life Aquatic,” because he loves David Bowie and Bill Murray.
