Juan Valdez Flagship

Juan Valdez Flagship in Manhattan, New York by Hariri & Hariri - Architecture

Photographs by Paul Warchol.



Passers-by on East 57th Street will notice the familiar visage of Juan Valdez, the fictional farmer who's been the symbol of the National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia since 1981. The image of Valdez and his donkey is sandblasted onto a three-story high screen of woven stainless steel in front of the Juan Valdez Flagship cafe, designed by Hariri & Hariri - Architecture of New York.

Below the screen, at pedestrian level, is a butt-glazed storefront system set into a curving wood surface that moves from floor to wall to ceiling and the signature of Juan Valdez above the door. The view inside reveals a mixture of dark teak and stone surfaces that "represent the warmth and earthiness of Colombia."

Within the teak floor/ceiling is a back-lit channel glass wall that emits a soft glow, acting as a backdrop for the serving bar. These features work well together, helping to create a central anchor for the long interior space. Across from this wall, the Hariri sisters cut loose and undulate a "liquid wall" from the front door to the back lounge. The architects intended this wall to represent the ephemeral flow aroma of coffee, intended as something that would last within the visitor's memory like the smell of coffee itself.

After the completion of this flagship cafe, there are expected to be an additional 300 Juan Valdez locations in the United States in the next three years. While they probably won't have the budget and size of this Midtown location, this design sets a decent precedent for a chain that will need to set itself apart from not only the Starbucks but also the McDonald's as everybody tries to tap into the astronomical popularity of coffee in this country. The dynamic contrasts of dark/light, hard/soft, orthogonal/flowing, and so forth -- meant to exhibit the coming together of Colombian and American cultures -- should help do the trick.

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