Hasta La Ideas

On the ninth floor of NYC’s new Museum of Arts & Design, the even newer restaurant Robert adds a definitively modern look inside the controversial building. The dining spot, opened just a week ago, offers sweeping views of Manhattan, all the better taken in from the confines of the sculptural furniture designed by Philip Michael Wolfson.

An extension of Wolfson’s Line and SoundForm series, the furniture designed for the restaurant includes cocktail tables, reception desks, a dramatic 15-foot long steel communal table and bar stools. Coated in powder aluminum, the stools’ mirrored finish reflects the neon pink acrylic and metal rectangles hanging from the ceiling above—an installation designed by Johanna Grawunder—creating an optical illusion of the bright forms floating on the surfaces below.

Playing to the restaurant’s vast interior, the oversize communal table and reception desks elegantly command volume while their radically abstracted forms also speak to Wolfson’s previous experience working with cutting-edge architect Zaha Hadid.

Like his mentor, the upshot of Wolfson’s recent work fuses sculpture with ergonomic design, harmonizing form and function while keeping with the ongoing movement of throwing a little art into the design mix.