A Rooftop Dream

Manhattan Rooftop introduces contemporary urban aesthetics through a prominent New York style, turning each one of its inspiration points into singular design elements in an environment enriched by the views from the city.

In front of Thessaloniki’s commercial port there is a rooftop where you can combine fine cocktails with sushi. Manhattan Rooftop, designed by Ark4lab of Architecture in collaboration with Patsios Architects introduces contemporary urban aesthetics through a prominent New York style.

It’s about the reconstruction of an apartment building in the densely populated center of Thessaloniki with excellent views of the commercial port of the city. A strong point of reference is the illuminated sign mimicking the inscriptions of an urban motel of the 1930s with the background of an imposing green wall.

Manhattan Rooftop
Plan

The design team attempted a leisure area to be a continuing urban event- an exceptional urban experience. The basic layout of the bar refers to a modern redevelopment of a square borrowed form from natural soil formations. The amphitheater layout results in a “lake” expressed by geometric patterns. Wood-made levels fold and form the basic linear bar placed under a shelter that resembles an old trench terminal in New York.

The rise is an experience of alternate colors applied concurrently with quotes that introduce you to the basic sign of the bar "dreams and cocktails", a title borrowed from the bar that Tom Cruise used to work at the “Cocktails” movie. When you reach the third floor, a flower-bearded man welcomes you to a place where urban dreams mix with leisure just as Edgar Allan Poe said: “All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream.”

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