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Oddball Madero Cafe In Guatemala City Would Gel Well On Clark Drive

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Restaurant Porn is a regular column of daydreams presented as a means to introduce Vancouver diners and designers to concepts, looks, and fully-formed ideas that they might draw an inkling of inspiration from. We do our best to pair the foreign rooms with local addresses so as to let everyone in on the daydream.

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(via) Beauty and style without a hint of whimsy is usually a fatal combination in restaurant design. It’s vital to have a little fun. Even the most sleek and self-serious eateries get playful in one way or another, usually with branding, menu design or clever motifs. This place in Central America takes their answer to the equation to the next level…

What it is: Madero Cafe is a 4,844 sqf diner built in 2016. Designed by New York / Guatemala City firm taller Ken, it’s all about light and bright colours, the sort of place we imagine Roald Dahl conceiving for one of his fantastical novels (with Wes Anderson adapting it for the big screen). Conceived as a greenhouse, the ceilings are 15 meters high with tropical plants almost reaching to the very top in places. Helping to achieve this effect are custom sawtooth skylights and a rainwater-capture system incorporated into the aesthetic (those big blue tanks). The exterior is essentially a huge red cube with several cars appearing to have partially smashed through the wall. There are even a couple of brightly painted cars parked inside the dining room (their trunks and hoods appear to be used as staff service stations).

Where it is: Next to one of the busiest highways in Guatemala City, Guatemala.

Where we wish it was: Clark Drive between Venables and East 1st Avenue.

Why we wish it was there: Because Strange Fellows Brewing deserves an interesting neighbour.

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Photography: Marcelo Gutierrez

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