06/08/2020 - Three icons by Gebrüder Thonet Vienna, Targa upholstered furniture by GamFratesi, Wiener Stuhl chairs and N.18 stools decorate the exclusive Rêver restaurant designed by Patrick Wu in Guangzhou, a Chinese port city that extends northwest of Hong Kong on the Pearl River.
The name, Rêver, 'dream' in French, is symbolic. Its spelling refers to the word river in English while its Chinese name, 玥 means 'sacred pearl in the sky' with a pronunciation similar to the Chinese word 粵, an abbreviation for Canton, another name of Guangzhou. The name, therefore, perfectly embodies the dream of the Rêver team: to celebrate the Pearl River flowing through southern China with the first modern, high-quality French restaurant in the city. Over the millennia, the Pearl River has been able to grow excellent ingredients for delicate Cantonese cuisine.
The colour palette of the walls, as well as the velvet upholstery of the Targa sofas and lounge chair and the Wiener Stuhl chairs, draws inspiration from the ever-changing shades of the river during the day, creating a quiet and relaxing environment; the floor in precious white marble recalls the movement of the river water. Moreover, the special metal cladding of the ceiling creates a play of reflections like a perfect river that connects to the sky, an intriguing reference to the 'Tianhe' (sky river) district just a few steps from the venue.
The protagonists of the interior design are the two-seater sofas and the Targa lounge chair chosen as the seat for the tables facing the windows. Ideal for contract environments that want to encourage more intimate and cosy socialising while maintaining an original and unpredictable personality, Targa sofas lend character to the space.
All in all, 40 Wiener Stuhl chairs, a design of the early twentieth century, with a structure that revels in its simplicity. Composed of just a few elements in steam-bent solid beech. The backrest and rear legs are formed from a single piece. Wiener Stuhl is available with different types of seats: cane, beech plywood, also perforated, or alternatively with padding and upholstery in leather or fabric to match the backrest.
The design is completed by the N.18 stools in solid steam-bent beech. Created to meet precise functional requirements, it is an iconic proposal, part of the historic GTV collection, together with the chair of the same name, which has increasingly been used in bistros all over the world.
