Guggenheim debuts new restaurant

The Wright, a new 58-seat restaurant designed by Andre Kikoski, had been opened at The Guggenheim Museum.

The Wright replaces a former cafeteria on the museum’s ground level with a modern upscale dining space. The 7,100 sq ft space is mostly white with some curvilinear elements thrown in that add a splash of colour such as a curved walnut wall above the bar, a blue banquette and a Corian countertop of the free-standing European bar. These elements recall the classic curves of Wright’s iconic museum building but are here expressed in new materials, some with their own built-in light source, to bask the room in a luminous glow.

Wright left behind designs for an eatery on the museum’s ground level, but Kikoski told The New York Times, “it wasn’t conducive to social interaction and it certainly wasn’t about the integration of art.” For his design, Kikoski put art front and centre with a room-size wall mounted sculptural installation designed by British-born artist Liam Gillick, made of aluminum planks in shades of yellow and orange.