Photo by Naho Kubota, view more in the Gallery

Jeffrey Inaba's firm INABA has recently completed a pop-up café in New York's Whitney Museum, as part of the 2010 Whitney Biennial. Take the jump to read the press release, and go to the Gallery to view more images of the project.

Previously featured on Archinect by INABA: The Waiting Room & Noodling in Chelsea

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As part of 2010, the Whitney Biennial, Jeffrey Inaba's firm, INABA, was commissioned to design a pop‐up café located in the museum's interior courtyard. The project consists of three (3) large‐scale lanterns that occupy the courtyard's double‐height space, a 24‐foot long service counter, communal tables, high‐top counters and 'droopy' seat cushions.

However bold in form or expressive in materials, it was striking to us that postwar architecture is vulnerable to appearing cold, incomplete and lacking in detail. Depending on the character of the interior design, even the strongest statements of modern architecture can today sometimes verge on feeling unadorned, like a dentist office waiting area. We wanted to add another scale of detail and information to the Breuer building's interior. Only instead of using stark simple forms and exposed natural materials, we tried to enhance the space, to 're‐humanize' it, with curved shapes and a palette of synthetic materials (fiberglass, resin, nylon, acrylic and vinyl).

As part of 2010, the Whitney Biennial, Jeffrey Inaba's firm, INABA, was commissioned to design a pop‐up café located in the museum's interior courtyard. The project consists of three (3) large‐scale lanterns that occupy the courtyard's double‐height space, a 24‐foot long service counter, communal tables, high‐top counters and 'droopy' seat cushions.

However bold in form or expressive in materials, it was striking to us that postwar architecture is vulnerable to appearing cold, incomplete and lacking in detail. Depending on the character of the interior design, even the strongest statements of modern architecture can today sometimes verge on feeling unadorned, like a dentist office waiting area. We wanted to add another scale of detail and information to the Breuer building's interior. Only instead of using stark simple forms and exposed natural materials, we tried to enhance the space, to 're‐humanize' it, with curved shapes and a palette of synthetic materials (fiberglass, resin, nylon, acrylic and vinyl).