fig.: The picture shows the Vapiano food bar on the opening day at the Potsdamer Platz in Berlin on 1st June 2006. Above the food bar are paintings of hunting-sceneries like a cat after a bird, a volumized dancer, nature impressions like fruits from under the sea... Photo: Dirk Michael Deckbar; (C) VAPIANO/deckbar.de.

The architecture of a "fuel stop for grownups"

On 23 November 2011, the railway station 'Wien West' in Vienna (with ca. 43.000 travelers daily one of Austria's most important traffic knots) will be re-opened in a new style that combines the historical building and new architecture by Neumann + Steiner (webcam views on the construction area). The 'BahnhofCity Wien West' includes travel services, fashion shops, gastronomy, offices, and a hotel.

One of the announced attractions for culinary and design addicted at the 'BahnhofCity' is the restaurant 'Vapiano' by industrial designer and architect Matteo Thun (keywords: part of the design group 'Memphis' started 1981 by Ettore Sottsass; functional ceramic objects).

Matteo Thun is the creative head of the mediterranean interior design of Vapiano, which is described on the company's websites as a fast casual, hip dining restaurant - a "fuel stop for grownups" - with focus on fresh made Italian pizzas, pasta, and salads. The customers can order in the different zones of the restaurant and pay later with a personal chip card at the end of the visit.

Vapiano, founded 2002 in Bonn (DE), is a fast expanding restaurant-chain. At this time, there are around 100 Vapianos worldwide. Before the Vapiano at the BahnhofCity in Vienna opens on 23 November, one is announced for Budapest (Hungary) on 3 November, followed by a Vapiano on 25 November in Marseille. In the same month, Vapiano opens spaces in Sweden, Taiwan, United States. For 2012, Vapianos in Germany, Switzerland, Hungary, Qatar, Netherlands, are planned.


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