The Press and Flask

Journal → The Press and Flask

The Press and Flask
By Alberto Caiola

journal

25 / 02 / 2015

To bring back the charm of speakeasy bars, the designer Alberto Caiola designed The Press and Flask. From a busy street in Shanghai, clients can only see a sandwich shop, the The Press, that functions as the visible part of the business. This small space with cement walls and neon lights with fluorescent colours, has as its main element a vintage Coca-Cola vending machine. It is precisely this piece that makes the connection to Flask, the bar that lurks behind the sandwich store.

Crossing the threshold, the client encounters a new space that completely contrasts with the previous joyful and bright coloured environment. «Together, they're a juxtaposition of light and dark, funkiness and elegance, playful and personal», says Alberto Caiola.

At the Flask what prevails is the sobriety of colours and materials, with pieces that send us back to the past, such as the oversized whisky glass bottles, that serve as decorative elements in an installation conceived by the designer. A series of boxes suspended from the ceiling, evoke a path that invites visitors to explore the space of this hidden bar.