OSTERIA BBR by Alain Ducasse

BBR by Alain Ducasse at Raffles Singapore is another Jouin Manku’s  adventure with the renowned chef. Bringing the Mediterranean to Singapore, Jouin Manku designed a restaurant space that would complement Ducasse’s latest culinary concept, Bodega, fusing the cuisines of the Mediterranean in a tapas-style of preparing and enjoying food.
With a large open kitchen at its heart, oversailed by a striking blue sculpture that suggests a giant fish moving through the sea,BBR by Alain Ducasse offers a convivial and relaxed setting for guests to enjoy not only the cuisine itself, but also the art of its preparation. Within the historic and protected structure of Raffles’ Bar & Billiard Room, Jouin Manku has created a contemporary setting which is sympathetic to the colonial architecture but that will transport guests to the sea, the light, the tastes and the smells of the Mediterranean.

Jouin and Manku wanted the interior concept to evoke the feeling of the Mediterranean sea and the culture of the region which it defines. They arrived at the idea of the great sculpture which floats above the open kitchen, suggesting perhaps a large blue fish, reflections animating its surface. By day it is translucent and calm, a diaphanous silvery blue, then at night it is lit from inside to become more energised, more scintillating. Visible from the street, it draws the attention of passers-by and for those who enter the restaurant it creates a spectacular effect.
The sculpture is a complex piece realised with local contractor Sunray and the Japanese company Asahi Building Wall who previously collaborated with Jouin Manku on the façade of the Van Cleef & Arpels flagship store in Tokyo. A feat of engineering, it cantilevers dramatically at either end of the restaurant, fixed only with slim lateral hooks to the supporting structure of the kitchen beneath, creating the illusion of an extremely light object, floating independently of any structure, at once aerial and aquatic. The sculpture is crafted from carbon fibre behind an aluminium surface, copper-coloured inside and blue outside.