Excerpt: Da Pietro Pizza, an interior design project by Neuhausl Hunal, represents SSC Naples with a significant use of blue colour, complemented by pink hues. Blue ceramic tiles line the floor, while subtle materials and colours highlight the interior’s purity. The overall ambiance creates a vibrant yet serene atmosphere, inviting patrons to enjoy their meals in a space that reflects the spirit of the iconic football club.
Project Description
[Text as submitted by architect] Pizza and football: The Pilsen pizzeria Da Pietro has managed to gain such a reputation that many people used to come here from Prague for Neapolitan pizza, which is the best in the country. Opening a branch in Prague’s Vinohrady district was therefore not an illogical step. The building program was built on two cornerstones: a custom-made pizza oven by an Italian pizza master and a custom-made statue of Diego Maradona in a Neapolitan jersey with Da Pietro on his chest.
A cultural and social interlude: the million-strong city of Naples has one main football club, SSC Naples. This is a major difference to, say, Milan, where the fan base is diluted between the two biggest rivals, Inter and AC. As a result, there is a single, literally city-wide shared value in Naples that extremely amplifies the general Italian passion for football. The latter, led by the icon Diego, therefore forms the identity of the city more strongly than nearby Vesuvius, and Naples is thus paradoxically more symbolised by the turquoise blue of its football jerseys than by the yellow and red combination of its official emblem.
However, back to the architecture. There was no question that blue had to play a significant role, but its use in excess could end up looking like a Greek restaurant. So the key question arose: which colour ideally complements the baby blue colours of SSC Naples? Pink, of course.
The interior is therefore dominated by a pink floor, from which two essential blocks stand out: the welcome desk at the entrance and the gargantuan tasting table for 18 beings. The floor is lined with a single row of blue ceramic tiles that rise to the required height in the appropriate places (dressing room, bar). The materials and colours of the remaining elements are rather subtle, to underline the distinctive colour and purity of the interior. Worth mentioning is the rough acoustic plaster enclosing the ceiling space and the artificial stone used for the table tops and kitchen and bar counters.
The kitchen, which opens onto the restaurant and the street, is dominated by a pizza oven and, behind it, a tiny alcove housing the aforementioned statue of Maradona. The architects discovered the alcove on their first visit and it was immediately clear that Diego would be carved out for this opening. Care has been taken to formulate a generous entrance area and behind the pink counter opens up a large coat closet. A long, longitudinal opening to the main room closes with a glass block wine room. The structured layout is put to work with different types of seating: in addition to the tasting table, there is also high seating, a bench and smaller tables in the spirit of Italian bistros.
A key benefit of the space is the many sources of natural light that come in through the original and new skylights, windows and wooden extension to the courtyard, creating an unmistakable atmosphere during the day. The evening atmosphere is enhanced by warm artificial lighting in the form of light bulbs.
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