Hospitality’s Next Frontier: Underwater
I was recently engrossed by the 40-second time-lapse video showing the submersion of Under, the first underwater restaurant in Europe. Designed by Snøhetta, the entire project took three years to complete, with the 111-foot long periscope-like structure constructed on a barge off the coast of Båly, Norway. The footage captures the final day of maneuvering and anchoring as the elongated concrete monolith is submerged some 18 feet below the North Sea.
An abundance of natural biodiversity provides Danish chef Nicolai Ellitsgaard plenty of inspiration for his artfully plated dishes that draw on the surrounding bounty, like local mahogany clams, traditionally used only as bait. As for “fitting contextually into its environment,” as my architecture professor Vincent Scully used to say, the roughness of the concrete exterior shell will support a natural evolution into an artificial reef. How’s that for blending into your surroundings?
