ido & Friends Café by Aurora Design: Social Hub in Bauhaus Style in Kunming

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Bright modern facade with warm lighting, wooden accents and bold typography showing contemporary architectural design and stylish interior decoration of the retail space

Located in the heart of Kunming, ido & Friends Café by Aurora Design is a compact space of 753 square feet that combines Bauhaus principles with modern coffee culture. It is more than just a café—it's an inclusive meeting place where creative people, digital nomads and regular visitors can connect, work and share ideas.

Concept and Inspiration

The design concept draws inspiration from European coffee houses of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, where artists and intellectuals gathered in open friendly spaces. The Bauhaus movement, especially Walter Gropius's 1919 manifesto, also served as a key reference point. The Bauhaus philosophy eliminating the boundaries between art, craft and architecture reflects the café's mission of openness and collaboration.

Spatial Composition and Design Features

Connection to the Street: The glass facade connects interior space with the street, while projecting corner entrances serve as outdoor seating areas, encouraging interaction with the urban environment.
Rest Areas and Passages: Long wooden benches along the glass wall combine with custom round coffee tables. This arrangement maximizes space, ensures smooth movement and creates a dynamic interplay of horizontal and vertical elements.
Display Case and Storage: A three-tier wooden cabinet with a sliding metal mechanism stores coffee cups, magazines and audio equipment, turning storage into an aesthetic feature.
Reading Zone: Books and magazines provide a quiet retreat, offering guests a sanctuary for thought within the warm atmosphere of the café filled with coffee aroma.
Glass Brick Partition: A horizontal glass brick wall softly separates the public rest area from semi-open work zones, maintaining clarity and distinct separation.
Work Zones: Elevated office zones include stone steps, linear lighting for workspaces and open shelves. These areas are created for digital nomads and collaborative projects, reinforcing the hybrid identity of the café.

Bauhaus in Modern Form

Aurora Design carefully conveyed Bauhaus ideas through details of the café:

Geometry and Simplicity: A neutral palette—coffee, black and white—dominates, highlighting clarity and modesty.
Custom Furniture: Chairs inspired by the Bauhaus font letter 'A' add geometric boldness, strengthening visual identity.
Flat Surfaces and Joining Boards: Wooden finishes emphasize flat simplicity, echoing the Bauhaus aesthetic—functional elegance.

Atmosphere and Experience

Ido & Friends is more than just a café. It's a cultural hub. The blend of special drink aromas with design elements rooted in modernist tradition creates an atmosphere where creativity and community thrive. Visitors can enjoy coffee in the sun, read quietly or collaborate with colleagues inspired by the spirit of 1950s Parisian, Venetian or Barcelona coffee houses.

Thanks to thoughtful design and brand alignment with Aurora Design, a small urban space has been transformed into a cozy multi-functional café embodying both the spirit of Bauhaus and the social role of a modern coffee house. ido & Friends Café demonstrates how architecture can foster creativity and interaction in everyday life.