Work began last year on Warsaw's small ice cream parlor Unicorn, which will be enriched by an unobvious element that refers to both the aesthetics of the place and what is served there. The mosaic designed by Malwina Borowiec and Karolina Chodur of the Pigalopus studio is the icing on the cake of artisanal flavors and fairy tale motifs, suggested by the ice cream shop's name. Ice cream, unicorn and good design seem to be a great combination that takes us to an alternative space to 2020.
Unicorn will be the second location of the small artisanal ice cream shop, located in Mokotow, which over the years has won its loyal group of customers. The ice cream recipe was brought from Italy by owner Karol Pietrowski and is prepared on site using a machine that was patented in the 1920s. It allows a lot of decision-making on the part of the person who prepares the delicacies, rather than relying only on the process that takes place inside the machine. In the Unicorn, each serving of ice cream is crowned with a small cone, which is meant to resemble the magical horn of this mythical creature. Anyway, images of unicorns in pastel pink are also visible on the walls of the ice cream shop.
A mosaic referring to modernism in the Unicorn ice cream shop
photo by Malwina Borowiec © Pigalopus
Mosaic like ice cream colors
The second installment of Unicorn is located in a modern but prefabricated building, which prompted the mosaic designers to use modernist-style wall decorations . The mosaic, for which Konrad Trzeszczkowski is responsible, consists of different colored stones based on the colors of handmade ice cream. In turn, the colors refer to unusual flavors straight from Italy, which can be found in Unicorn, as there will be both fior di panna, tiramisu, and pistachio from Bronte, walnut from Piedmont, gianduja, dark chocolate, strawberry or Sicilian lemon. The pattern of the mosaic is organic irregular forms, intended to relate in an unobvious way to the shape of the fruits used to make each flavor of ice cream.
A view of the mosaic at the Unicorn ice cream shop
photo by Malwina Borowiec © Pigalopus
The background, on the other hand, is formed by a gray mass with pebbles of similar color. Colorful shapes are contained in the mass with appropriately selected pigment and different colored stones in natural shades. The mosaic itself will be the background for the rest of the interior, which is currently under construction. It is located behind the future sales counter in shades of ultramarine. The entire premises will be filled with large expanses of materials and colors, creating a smooth base, and the mosaic will contrast with it with its varied textures, but at the same time relate in color to the whole.
Organic mosaic forms in the Unicorn ice cream shop
photo by Malwina Borowiec © Pigalopus
dialogue with the place
Projects related to ice cream parlors are a frequent choice of designers from the Pigalopus studio, as they are the authors of the Dudek ice cream parlor project in Szczucin and its second version in Mielec, which was ranked among the ten most beautiful ice cream parlors in the world according to Wallpaper magazine. In turn, mosaic designs, Malwina Borowiec and Karolina Chodur created for the Ciszek bakery in Debica and in the lower room of the Youmiko sushi bar in Cracow. The coherent and recognizable aesthetics of all the projects each time draws from the context of the place, entering into a kind of dialogue with it. In this way, we get very interesting, original solutions that create a coherent and visually attractive space.
