Best Ugly: Restaurant Concepts and Architecture

SYNOPSIS

How did the James Beard award–winning design and architecture team AvroKO become one of the hottest restaurant design firms in Manhattan? They start with a concept, which blossoms to images, ideas, colors, and objects. One of the design lexicons that stuck with the design team is “best ugly”—a term that AvroKO came across when traveling together in China. The oxymoronic yet interesting term is used to describe something that is beautiful and charming in an offbeat, awkward, and obtuse sort of way. In their design book, Best Ugly, the thirtysomething design team of best friends shows readers how each idea and concept can be integrated into a sophisticated design touch. For anyone interested in design, restaurants, architecture, or sexy photography, Best Ugly is a visual feast.

AvroKO is a design and architectural firm made up of Greg Bradshaw, Adam Farmerie, Kristina O’Neal, and William Harris, and they are changing the way the typical restaurant looks and feels. Since 2000, the team has been steadily rising to the top of New York’s design scene, making a lasting impression on the harshest of New York critics. The designers of some of Manhattan’s hottest eateries in town, AvroKO has its name stamped on Public, The Stanton Social, Odea, and Sapa. From antique lighting fixtures to elaborate soaps in the bathroom to the graphics on the menu, AvroKO brings unique creativity and sturdy teamwork to the restaurant scene.

Best Ugly takes AvroKO’s design skills out of the restaurant and onto the pages of a beautiful book. When simply dining at one of AvroKO’s restaurants, the average eye may miss all that is held within the walls. With gorgeous, full-color photography, Best Ugly reveals the smallest details, the brilliant quirks, and the lavish décor. The reader will learn of the tweed and Chanel hidden in the dining room of The Stanton Social, the fire and ocean elements of Odea, and the earth-toned French garden urns of Sapa. The perfect book for burgeoning designers learning the ropes or veteran architects looking to expand their libraries, Best Ugly will illustrate AvroKO’s design process from initial concept to rich dining experience, fully explaining their artistic motivation and design techniques. They will reveal the secrets to achieving the most unique concept—the best ugly.

AUTHOR PROFILE

AvroKO is Greg Bradshaw, Adam Farmerie, Kristina O’Neal, and William Harris. The four friends met at Carnegie Mellon University, and after graduating from college and working in the design and architecture world, Bradshaw and Farmerie founded their own practice, Avro, in 1998. Meanwhile, O’Neal launched KO Media, and Harris joined five months later. After the two firms worked together to design an office and website, AvroKO was born. Since 2000, the team has worked together on designing Manhattan restaurants and lounges such as Public, The Stanton Social, Odea, and Sapa, among others. They are currently working on a real-estate venture, SmartSpace, AvroKO’s answer to space-efficient city living. All four friends live in New York City.