OLIVOCARNE – A PIECE OF SARDINIA IN LONDON
Olivocarne
61 Elizabeth St London SW1W9PP
www.olivorestaurants.com
When designing the new venue for London brand Olivo, Pierluigi Piu’s intention was to tell a story about Sardinia (its proprietor’s home island) through iconographic references to the main features of its traditional economy (handicrafts – weaving, in this case – and sheep farming). Included also were quotations from the works of a Sardinian contemporary artist, Eugenio Tavolara, who worked throughout his lifetime to express and safeguard the traditional culture of that island. Far from wishing to evoke Sardinia through trite images good for “low cost” tourism, the tale has been told with a language which winks at contemporary design. Also featured is the work of Sardinian artisans who have moulded a huge terracotta bas-relief of bucolic inspiration and given life to a crowd of peasants, horsemen, shepherds, wild boars and hunters, which animates the restaurant’s walls.
Photographs by Riccardo Sanna.