A unique style
Wally Koval, author of Accidentally Wes Andersonsays it best: “When you see it, you know it right away: whether it’s symmetrical lines, pastel hues, an immaculate composition or a beauty you can’t describe, Wes Anderson has a style that is instantly recognizable in his films”. The book, which was born from the homonymous Instagram account, 1.7 million followers, pays homage to many settings (hotels, trains, boats, lighthouses, etc.) whose aesthetic is similar to that of Wes Anderson. It must be said that the American director cultivates a very particular style in his works, especially in his films The Royal Lieutenants, Grand Budapest Hotel or The Darjeeling Train; his style captivates fans who, all over the world, compete in discovering “accidentally Wes Anderson” places.
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The décor obsessions by Wes Anderson are based on very specific codes: graphic lines, almost perfect symmetries, contrasting colors mixed together, and unusual (the vermilion red walls of The Royal Lieutenantsthe facade candy pink Of Grand Budapest Hotel…); but also places which, in a perspective of continuity with the rest of the world, are capable of creating a highly evocative atmosphere (the micro submarine of The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, the monochromatic pastry shop of Grand Budapest Hotel…). Wes Anderson also seems to be a fan of the maximalism: rococo style wallpapers and a triumph of ne objects The Royal Lieutenantsmonochrome yellow in Hotel Chevalierwalls covered with frames in The French Dispatch… A rich universe, with multiple vintage references, such as a cabinet of curiosities.
15 Wes Anderson-style restaurants
If Wes Anderson’s aesthetic is very popular on Instagram and inspires many interior designers, some of them are imbued with this very specific decorative style, without the director having anything to do with it (or almost). TO has selected for you the restaurants which, due to their original décor, could appear in his next films.
The newest in our list is Josettea French restaurant in Dubai designed by British designer Luke Edward Hall, “a colorful and playful restaurant, but at the same time refined and elegant”. The decor is inspired by that of French brasseries, Baroque architecture and the glamor of Paris and London in the 1920s and 1930s. The candy pink of the walls, dear to Wes Anderson, brings us back to that of the house of The French Dispatch or the pastry shop of Grand Budapest Hotel.
TO Stockholmthe Soho House recently opened. The particularly unusual location is a deconsecrated church. The gigantic organs, vaults and stained glass windows posed a challenge to the interior renovation team, but were sure to appeal to Wes Anderson, an aficionado of historic buildings. The Tenenbaum villa or the Grand Budapest Hotel, with their sometimes neo-Romanesque, sometimes fairy-tale spirit, are examples of this.
It is impossible not to mention the new furniture of the gallery-brasserie The Gallery inside the London restaurant Sketch by India Mahdavi. “Warmth” is the key to the atmosphere sought by the French-Iranian designer, with the help of the copper and gold tones present throughout the space, as well as the canary yellow benches. How not to think of Natalie Portman’s all-yellow room in Wes Anderson’s short film Hotel Chevalierfilmed at the Hôtel Raphaël in Paris?
From Mondaine Paris, a restaurant with a playful mood furnished by Daphné Desjeux, one has the impression of being projected into the great room of the Grand Budapest Hotel: red velvet, mezzanine, large chandeliers, exotic plants and seats upholstered in printed fabrics. The architect wanted it to be a chic and vintage reception, with an 80s atmosphere: a period dear to Wes Anderson, who celebrates it through the sets of several of his films, including The Royal Lieutenantswhere we see animal prints, (the zebra wallpaper in Margot’s room), just like at Mondaine.
The Beautiful worldin London, boasts a bright and bold color palettes, typical of Wes Anderson’s aesthetic. The floor is a floral carpet, like the vintage carpets from Moonrise Kingdom. “A perfect mix between a summer palace on Lake Garda and the bachelor apartment of a cool guy from the 80s” Bel Mondo has a joyful and playful atmosphere. The atmosphere of the Bel Mondo is joyful, playful, from other times, like that of a film; you also think about The Darjeeling Train and its bright orange, just like the armchairs of the Bel Mondo.
At the bar of Pink Mom, in Paris, olive green is the protagonist. A green strangely similar to that of the interior of the boat in The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, also enriched with gilded elements and round portholes that recall the sphere lamps of the Pink Mamma, conceived as a Tuscan trattoria. The place has a particularly cinematic atmosphere, with a rounded copper counter and vintage lighting.
Banacado in Stockholmis the perfect marriage between the eccentric barber shop candy pink of Grand Budapest Hotel and the 50s minimalism of the animated film Fantastic Mr. Fox by Wes Anderson. The Swedish café, with its perfect symmetry – right down to the decorative details – delivers “a dynamic, warm and pleasant environment”which the American director would undoubtedly like.
Bright orange, sofas gold and baroque decorations: Makoto, to You love meit looks like the ice cream parlor seen in the film The Royal Lieutenants, where Margot is seen indulging in a bowl of ice cream. We recognize India Mahdavi’s style, which she created “a feminine idea of Japanese restaurant”: soft, warm, almost unreal with these saffron colors, coral, floral motifs maximalists… All to recreate “the light of a sunset on the beach”.
India Mahdavi also designed this venue which has many affinities with Wes Anderson’s style. The tea room of Ladurée in Tokyo“It is the story of a 21st century Marie Antoinette who takes us to her garden of delights”. Wicker armchairs, tables designed like meringues: “an ultra-contemporary sensory journey” whose universe is centered on pleasure. Again, the green evokes the de boat The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou and the playful forms those of the Grand Budapest Hotel.
Leather armchairs, vintage typewriters, books and frames on the walls… We are in the principal’s office in rushmoreor rather to the Bar Hemingway at the Ritz in Paris? A true Parisian institution, a legend, the bar is dedicated to the American writer and has an atmosphere similar to that of the film, second work by Wes Anderson (1998). And here we can identify the first stylistic obsessions of the director.
To the Connaught Mayfair Of Londonthe Red Room seems almost modeled on the reception of the Grand Budapest Hotel: rounded curves, copper elements and above all a luminous arch whose pink, extended by the onyx bar, contrasts with the underlying red lacquer. “Soft creams, pinks and pearly blues form a soothing palette, accentuated by the dramatic red works”, they explain from the structure. All designed by Bryan O’Sullivan, with the aim of creating an “enveloping” environment.
Undoubtedly the bar in the lobby of the Seattle Graduate Hotel is very successful among Wes Anderson fans: it was shared by the Instagram account @accidentallywesanderson. The hotel, which in the 1930s was one of the most prestigious structures in the United States, has been redesigned in a contemporary key by interior designer Robert Reamer. The vintage-style sofa is reminiscent of that of The Royal Tenenbaums; but the geometry of the shapes and the symmetry of the whole give the place a decidedly soul a la Wes Anderson.
This is the Nickel Bar of London, with a decidedly Art Deco atmosphere. While the green marble columns, leather stools and pendant lamps recall the ship’s reception room in The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissouthe benches lined up like those on a train remind The train to the Darjeeling. The vintage shapes and patterns and copper-coloured decorative elements are more reminiscent of a railway carriage than a bar.
Welcome from Cecconi’s a Barcelona. The eye is immediately drawn to the magnificent glass ceiling, from which hang antique chandeliers. The majesty of the venue, always in the spirit of Art Déco, is worthy of the most beautiful locations in Wes Anderson’s films, such as the Tenenbaum villa. At the bar, the inlays and lamps seem to pay homage to the Grand Budapest Hotel.
We conclude our selection with the Bar Light of the Prada Foundation to Milan. If this venue looks so much like a Wes Anderson set, it’s because it was designed by the director himself, in 2015.”The approach I used to design this bar is exactly the opposite of what I usually use for my film sets”, says the director. However, the choice of colours, the use of formica and the design of the furnishings defer to the Italian aesthetics of the 50s and 60s, which also inspired his short film Cavalcanti Castle of 2013.
Article published on AD Franceadapted by Paola Corazza.