Fast Feast Culture (Georgian Restaurant Urbanity) Ilia Osiashvili

Fast Feast Culture

Project by Ilia Osiashvili VA[A]DS / re–city

Fast Feast Culture

The central Values that “Georgian restaurants” sell to customers are: “Supra” (Georgian feast culture), domesticity, rural lifestyle, wine and winemaking, old Tbilisi and rarely vernacular architecture These selling points work equally effectively on both natives and foreigners/tourists Natives are already distant from these traditions in their everyday lives.

Feast in the garden of the Shervashidzes

Feast on a raft in Mtkvari

Tbilisi, Metekhi Bridge

Fast Feast Culture

“Georgian restaurants” are becoming a way to satisfy natives’ desire to be connected to traditions in the fast-paced, urban environment On the other hand, tourists visit the Tbilisi with expectations about Georgian culture. In this case, too, restaurants easily live up to shallow knowledge. But the urban environment is not suited for representing traditions that originate from a rural lifestyle

a Native’s fantasy

Restaurant “Koloriti” & an unfinished housing block

Unfinished restaurant building on A.Beliashvili str.

A visualisation of the restaurant building

Fast Feast Culture

Old Georgian Traditions, lifestyle and history are translated into decorations, signs, facades, interiors, sometimes locations of the restaurants and rarely building forms.

Fast Feast Culture

Fast Feast Culture

Artificial facade at “Shemoikhede Genatsvale”

Decorated entrance on A.Beliashvili str.

Parking in front of the restaurant

Interior of “Shemoikhede Genatsvale”

Interior of “Shemoikhede Genatsvale”

Fast Feast Culture

Visitors’ desires require architectural expressions only on the surface, visual resemblance is enough to create the aura natives imagine and tourists expect.

Decorations acting as signs on roads

A Design guide, that can make any restaurant a “Georgian Restaurant”

“Georgian Restaurant” Hot spots

Fast Feast Culture

Some of the insides of the guide

These ways of self-expression are most common because the masses don’t require more depth and these methods are easily mass-produced. As a result, Tbilisi has a lot of mass-produced Georgian restaurants designed for the masses. Any one of them can be recognized easily by some of the visual hints. In a way “Georgian Restaurants” slowly become similar to a chain of restaurants, but with multiple owners.

Fast Feast Culture

Restaurant on the first floor of soviet Univermag

Interior of the restaurant

Interior of the restaurant

Restaurant “Machakhela” on the first floor of GTU

Fast Feast Culture

“Georgian Restaurants” can be divided into four types by their purpose, primary function and the way they deliver Georgian culture. (most of the time, these are combined). The most common type would be casual urban restaurants, which are close to busy areas of Tbilisi and are situated in already existing infrastructure – varying from the first floors of historical buildings to soviet blocks, etc.

Interior of the restaurant “Machakhela”

Interior of the restaurant “Machakhela”

Restaurant on the first floor of a soviet block

Restaurant on the first floor of a soviet block

Interior of the restaurant

Interior of the restaurant

Fast Feast Culture

Kintos having a feast in ortachala, 1926

Feast in Kakheti

Fast Feast Culture

of the urban type could be the

in the “nature” - these kinds of restaurants try to create an environment that reminds visitors of the Georgian rural lifestyle and old Tbilisi.

An opposite

Feast

Absurd installations in restaurant courtyards

Backyard of “Riverside Babilo”

Backyard of “Keria”

A Georgian type of outdoor sitting constructions

Fast Feast Culture

A restaurant cluster on A.Beliashvili str. may be a translation of the History of river Mtkvari being an essential part of the city and the tradition of having feasts near a river, but in reality, the restaurants located near Mtkvari are completely isolated from the river, and the river does not have any properties or conditions for a feast.

Tbilisi, river Mtkvari

Tbilisi, river Mtkvari

Fast Feast Culture

Tbilisoba festival, river Mtkvari

Restaurant near Mtkvari

Fast Feast Culture

A.Beliashvili street plan

Fast Feast Culture

Fast Feast Culture

Backyard of the restaurant “Riverside babilo”

Outdoor space of the restaurant “Riverside babilo”

Fast Feast Culture

Backyard of the restaurant “Golden mug”

Interior of the restaurant “Golden mug”

Backyard of the restaurant “Cruise”

Interior of the restaurant “Cruise”

Fast

Fast Feast Culture

Performance at a restaurant

Performance at a restaurant

Fast Feast Culture

Some of the restaurants offer a “cultural” event - these facilities try to gather as much Georgian culture as possible in one space. All of Georgian history is compressed and translated into mediums that are easily consumed while having a feast.

Theatre on A.Beliashvili str.

A stage at a restaurant

Performance at a restaurant table

Fast Feast Culture

People who desire a feast outside their homes but with familiar people and comfort choose restaurants that offer a “private feast” - this type results in real architectural decisions to create more privacy at a public establishment. These spaces allow for socializing if one desires to, but can provide full privacy otherwise.

Interior of “Pasanauri”

Interior of “Dzveli Duqani”

Interior of “Shemoikhede genatsvale”

Interior of “Machakhela”

Fast Feast Culture

Methods of creating privacy

arrangement

backrest extension

partition wall

elevation

Fast Feast Culture

Physically these configurations are most expressed as a phenomenon of a „kupe“ – a private space inside or outside of a restaurant for only one group of people.

Interior of “Mapshalia”

Interior of “Shemoikhede Genatsvale”

Interior of “Dzveli Duqani”

Courtyard of “Urmuli”

Fast Feast Culture

Methods of creating privacy

Fast Feast Culture

Adjarian House, village Vaio home of S.chikvadze

Fast Feast Culture

The meanings and the main ideas of the cultural values are lost in the translation process. “Georgian Restaurants” learn from the old domestic lifestyle, which has nothing to do with public establishments, it is translated to be public and appropriately scaled. Winemaking equipment is displayed but has no use at all, old building technologies are imitated but not repeated, and the building materials only act as wallpapers or stickers. This artificial authenticity becomes the only representation and a leftover from the actual identity, which, in its nature, has to change and doesn’t work to preserve itself. The leftovers only exist in self-focused buildings which create idealized experiences. Every new representation learns from the previous one and not the original. This way, identity is gradually distorted, and a general expectation of what authentic means is easily deformed.

Fast Feast Culture

T4

T2

R3 F2

Fast Feast Culture

R3

T4 R3 T2, T3

T4 T2, T3

T - transported: sold or gifted and transported to tbilisi.

R - replicated: inspired by or copied to create the sa me visuals.

F2

Feast Culture –Project by Ilia Osiashvili. VA[A]DS / re-city

R3

R4, T5

F2

F1

T1

R2

R4, T5

R4, T5

T1

T1

F1

F1

T - transported: sold or gifted and transported to tbilisi.

R - replicated: inspired by or copied to create the sa me visuals.

–Project by Ilia Osiashvili. VA[A]DS / re-city

R1

R2

Fast Feast Culture

R2

R2 R1

R1

T - transported: sold or gifted and transported to tbilisi.

R - replicated: inspired by or copied to create the sa me visuals.

Fast Feast Culture

Street market of dismantled vernacular architecture

Fast Feast Culture

Fast Feast Culture

–Project by Ilia Osiashvili. VA[A]DS

/ re-city

Fast Feast Culture

Georgian traditional theme park

Fast Feast Culture

Fast Feast Culture

–Project by Ilia Osiashvili. VA[A]DS