Project Interior & Franchise Strategy
Design Ateljè Sotamaa (Kivi Sotamaa, Tuuli Sotamaa, Filippo Fabi)
Client Cafe Aalto
Location Helsinki, Finland | Kyoto, Japan
Year 2019 (ongoing collaboration)
Collaboration with the design office Atelje’ Sotamaa at Research & Insights, Concept Development, Brand Strategy & Communication, Design & Franchise Guidelines, 2D/3D Design, Interior Design, Manufacturing Coordination (furniture production).
Cafe Aalto is one of the most beloved cultural cafes in Helsinki. The cafe is located in the Rautatalo building designed by Alvar Aalto in 1955. The Cafe, which features most of the original furniture and products designed by Aalto specifically for the Rautatalo project, has been established in 1986 and it’s a family-owned business. In recent years has gained great attention internationally, especially in Japan, thank also to a series of pop-up cafe opened in cities as Nagoya, Osaka, and Tokyo.
To help Cafe Aalto to expand abroad and become a successful franchise, we designed a strategy that was then developed into a Design and Franchise Manual that contains and communicates all the key values and design elements that define what Cafe Aalto has been and will be. What are the ingredients that made Cafe Aalto what it is today? How to redesign an institution without being a mere historical replica of itself?
The first Cafe Aalto abroad was therefore opened in Kyoto, in line with the Design Strategy developed by the studio, which also took part with the interior project of the restaurant. The café is located on the street level of the brand new Scandinavian capsule Hotel Maja designed by Harri Koskinen. “Japanese people often visit our café in Helsinki to admire Finnish café culture. We now have the opportunity to bring a similar cultural experience to Japan. We are working with skilled Finnish designers such as Iittala and design agency Ateljé Sotamaa to update Cafe Aalto’s recognizable style for Kyoto.” says Marco Saracino, owner of Cafe Aalto.
One of the most challenging aspects of the project was to design and reproduce in every single detail – with the special permission and quality control of the Alvar Aalto Foundation – the furniture designed in 1955 by Aalto. We took care of this process gathering a net of Italian artisans who participated in making of the products with the same quality and materials as the originals, such as premium bovine leather and Carrara marble.
