Donna
Type
Restaurant
Location
West Village, New York
Status
Completed, 2023
Area
950 square feet
Scope
Interior design, Custom furniture design, Custom lighting design
The design of Donna’s West Village location juxtaposes the future of hospitality with an acknowledgment of its past.
Designer Michael Groth was inspired by the work of artists like Sandu Darie, Pedro Alvarez, and Lygia Clark, all emblematic of the constructivist art movements of Latin America in the 20th Century (specifically Cuban Concretism and Brazilian Neo-Concretism).
Donna’s new worker-owned cooperative model also serves as a jumping-off point for its architectural style, which includes elements that serve multiple purposes and prioritize guest and worker health.
01
Value 1
02
Value 2
03
Value 3
Michael collaborated with several other cooperatives in the design and materials, including Moroccan artisan cooperative The Anou in developing custom wall hangings, and Brooklyn Stone and Tile, a worker-owned cooperative stone fabricator, (where the Donna team held their first in-person co-op meetings!) for the bar tops.
Antique embroidery hoops were repurposed as shades for a feature light in the space. Cellulose based paper and simple triangular wooden frames complete the structure.
The use of any new materials was limited to those that are natural, biodegradable, and healthy for guests and workers. This helped the team further prioritize human health, equity, and circular material cycles.
Shades in the space were developed specifically for Donna utilizing upcycled embroidery hoops as structure to stretch & weave cellulose-based paper to soften and add warmth to the space.
Shades above the bar were grown over the course of a week using Pleurotus ostreatus (Oyster mushroom) mycelium.
