freedom movement
Occupying a corner location in a northern residential neighbourhood of Bogota, Colombia, Masa is a new restaurant that stands out in its simple yet bold, graphical playfulness. Conceived by New York and Bogota-based architecture practice Studio Cadena as a series of distinct but interconnected spaces, marked by triangular cutouts of different sizes, the building is a sculptural tour de force that nevertheless respects the area’s low-rise residential scale yet still appears to stand tall.
From the exterior, the building, standing on a terracotta base, appears as three concrete cubic buildings of different sizes each one housing a different function: a café in the corner, a reception and bakery in the middle and a restaurant on the side. Apart from a separate retail space, all the other spaces flow into one another. “The idea is that everything is connected, but the spaces remain fragmented for intimacy”, architect Benjamin Cadena explains. “The design defines distinct spatial volumes yet allows you to move through them with the freedom of an open plan.” This freedom of movement also extends to a large outdoors patio in the back of the building, which becomes an extension of the restaurant area during the summer months.