Humble Pizza Restaurant / Child Studio
A new restaurant recently opened on London’s King’s Road, the neighbourhood synonymous with British fashion, music and pop culture movements of the 20th Century from mods and hippies to punks and New Romantics. Child Studio drew from these cultural references when creating the interior. The inspiration for the design came from the staple of British vernacular post-war architecture – the ‘Formica caffs’, which first appeared in London’s West End in the 1950s, several of them surviving intact to this day. Established by Italian immigrant families, those coffee bars served simple snacks and drinks in a pared-back modernist setting featuring laminate surfaces, pastel colours and cosy seating nooks and crannies. This was the beginning of the ‘cafe culture’ in London with King’s Road at the epicentre, attracting writers, musicians, photographers and bohemian characters of all styles.