Looking beyond the touristic craze, there is a local life present in the Barceloneta neighbourhood. The air smells like the sea, and early in the morning fishermen stock some of the restaurants that still speak to the memory of the local community. These places have become symbols in the city, offering an authentic experience of the Mediterranean gastronomic culture and cuisine. When asked to redesign these kind of mythical spaces, how should we intervene as designers? How do we create a sense of timelessness, in between tradition and contemporaneity?

▼餐厅爆炸轴测图， the exploded axon of the restaurant ©MESURA

The Cheriff restaurant comes from a long tradition of local family businesses. It has turned into a culinary classic, known for its history and quality, with fresh fish coming in directly from the neighbouring docks.

Cheriff is part of Barceloneta’s memory. A classic in the neighbourhood, it needed an atemporal design that preserved the authenticity time bestowed onto the restaurant. As part of a strategy seeking timelessness, the distribution into compact areas (typical of the fish shop), was kept in tact in order to speak to the local community. As designer Massimo Vignelli described it, timelessness is created when things are easily understood. He spoke of “intellectual elegance”, as simplicity is by no means “simple”, but rather the result of a long process of experimentation, revaluation and refining.