Puck & Pip: Design by Mark Pimlott (2007)
Interview-feature with the designer of Diederik van Lieshout’s Puck & Pip restaurants in the Hague, the Netherlands.
artdesigncafé | café library | Published 24 August 2011
This interview took place in April 2007.
Imagine having the opportunity to design the interior of your favorite restaurant. That’s in fact the opportunity that designer/artist Mark Pimlott recently had, using the inspiration of the cuisine and clientele as the starting point. This then led to pulling in— and fusing— his wealth of architectural and artistic talents.
For Diederik van Lieshout’s Puck & Pip restaurants, Mark Pimlott with Zeinstra van Gelderen architects aims to create simplicity and innovation with a surprising set of spaces, textures, and visual devices within spaces that “look at each other”. The motive? To generate curiosity— and unique and personalised experience— much in the tradition of the restaurant, as well as that found in the courtly city of the Hague.
Born and raised in Montreal, Canada, Pimlott has pursued a practice criss-crossing fine art, design, film and writings. His previous work includes being a design coordinator for Ian Schrager design studio, Philippe Starck, and Harper Mackay architects for the Saint Martins Lane and Sanderson hotels, London (1999; 2000); designing interiors for the RIBA award-winning Red House in London (2001, with Tony Fretton architects). He has also designed monumental public artworks including Guinguette (2000), an outdoor party zone, and La Scala, an open air theatre facing the Irish Sea (2003). He has also been commissioned to design a major public space for central London with World, at the BBC Broadcasting House in London (2002-2010).
To learn more about his inspiration and design for Puck & Pip, R. J. Preece interviewed Mark Pimlott.
R. J. Preece: First, could you inform, how did you get the commission?
Mark Pimlott: Before, Diederik van Lieshout had a restaurant down the road, which I was familiar with, as I was a regular customer. I’ve been visiting the Hague a lot over recent years as I’ve been contributing to the research and development of the Interior Architecture department at the Technical University in Delft. I like good food, and a friend introduced me to the restaurant. Very quickly, the place grew on me. Not only is the place very friendly, but it is known for its cuisine— consistently ranked within the top 3 by food critics in the Netherlands.
One night over a very fine meal, Diederik casually proposed that I design his new space— and discussions moved forward from there.
I began to work with Diederik on the basis that I knew his cuisine very well, and I knew the light-hearted atmosphere of Puck. All of this would somehow come together in a completely different way in the new space.
R. J. Preece: How were you inspired by the food?
Mark Pimlott: Typically, the cuisine presents elaborate combination of very simple elements. It uses aspects of French cuisine. It’s not fusion food; Puck is about simplicity and innovation. Diederik just invents these things, based on the sensations one will have when eating them.
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Photo of the main "theatre", the main dining room of Diederik van Lieshout’s Puck & Pip in the Hague. The tiled mosaic column refers to the shape of Mies van der Rohe’s iconic glass skyscraper, and features Catifa chairs, custom-designed overhead lighting and a terrazzo floor, reminiscent of Venetian palaces. Photograph courtesy of Hélène Binet.
I remember early on eating there and having the “Surprise” menu. At Puck, I always have the Surprise menu. Early Spring was evoked by a delicate composition of simple elements: all together, they were so surprising, so unlike anything I had experienced before. At once, simple, complex and very inventive.
And this was my inspiration for the main dining room.
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