Tropical

Restaurant

Oct 22

Client

Tropical Rotisserie

Located in the Kingsbridge neighborhood of The Bronx, Tropical is a popular Dominican-American grill located on a busy corner.

Part of Design Advocates’ work with Neighborhoods Now, Tropical is one of the neighborhood restaurants we are working with through outreach efforts in the neighborhood.

Project Brief

A collaboration with Kingsbridge-based artists Dexter and Felix Ciprian and a Design Advocates team of architects, the project is an outdoor dining installation as a substrate for a site specific art installation.

Design Approach

Tropical is an evolution of the basic restaurant barrier, which has emerged as a welcome and ubiquitous feature of the NYC streetscape. At Tropical the barrier is an open air dining room and also a substrate for an art intervention and a platform for community engagement. D/A designed a modular barrier and table system and coordinated the fabrication and installation of the shop-built pieces. The barriers came to the site as pre-built units to speed installation and facilitate customization and future adaptations. The hollow cavities allow the barriers to be weighed down with sandbags for additional mass, and a pole secured between the units can be used to support lighting or shade structures.

Generously spaced tables are integrated into the barriers to mitigate distancing concerns. After installation the barriers were transformed by our local artist partners to produce a vibrant community space that hosts events and celebrates the Dominican heritage they share with Tropical's owners and staff. All materials and labor for the barriers and tables were generously donated by our fabrication partners. Fundraising from our partners at Neighborhoods Now supported the artists' commission.