Dishoom Popup

Picturesque collaborated with Honest Entertainment to recreate the colourful experience of Mumbai’s famous Chowpatty Beach on London’s South Bank. We proposed establishing a ramshackle pop-up beach bar adopting a “jugaad” creative approach – based on the Hindi/Urdu colloquial term meaning to fix or work around a problem using innovation and simplicity, 'making do', ‘reusing’ or ‘creative improvisation’. Using the “jugaad” ethos, the design was based on up-cycled materials and furnishing. Brilliantly coloured oil barrels, reclaimed railway sleepers as alfresco seating set the scene for an unforgettable environment. 48 tons of sand were imported! We built a bar out of recycled plastic bottles, piled up street junk, and constructed a wall from tightly rolled newspapers. Most of the materials for the restaurant were either recycled, found or purchased secondhand and then reinvented to create a colourful, welcoming and exciting atmosphere. We even re-purposed a fishing boat that was used for selling coconuts. These are just a sample of the quirky innovative treatment that made this project totally unique, winning a nomination for The Restaurant Bar Design Awards.