The FMA Architettura studio has completed the renovation project for the venue Showbiz – Modern Brewery in Taviano (Lecce, Italy), a restaurant/hospitality intervention covering approximately 240 sqm. The project goes beyond simple restructuring, aiming for an immersive and theatrical spatiality inspired by the aesthetics of 1950s American diners, skillfully reinterpreted in a contemporary key. The architects have created an experience defined by the rhythm of the spaces, the skillful use of light, and the selection of highly expressive materials.
The entrance, featuring glass block walls and an industrial-style door with expanded metal inserts, introduces the aesthetic found within. Upon entering the first room, the bar counter takes center stage: placed at the back, it is clad in perforated clay bricks, specifically the BLOC NATURAL by Mutina model. These bricks are backlit with LED lighting, a choice that highlights their texture by creating a dramatic backlighting effect.
Passing through a lit archway, visitors arrive at the core of the venue: a double-height room spectacularly enhanced. Here, a red enameled corrugated metal tunnel wraps the entire space, transforming it. In this dynamic context, an elevated stage for live music sits beside the large window, seemingly floating above the floor. The setting is completed by a feature wall dotted with wooden hand sculptures, conceived as both an installation and an interactive element, with a clear visual impact.
The atmosphere is made simultaneously intimate and refined thanks to the soft lighting and the dialogue between the red eco-leather upholstered seating and the coffee-colored walls. The room also houses a second stage for live performances, whose backdrop is a backlit cellular polycarbonate wall. Ascending to the mezzanine level, the experience intensifies. The vaulted ceiling is clad in corrugated metal panels, whose surface is accentuated by grazing light.
The overall effect recalls a “futuristic shell” that has the power to transport guests to another dimension. Showbiz is a space that captures attention, invites photography, and becomes memorable, constituting an iconic and distinctive feature that strongly defines the identity of the venue.
