Inspired by the classic bars of Milan in the 1950s and ’60s, the Bar Luce cafè is entirely designed by the American director Wes Anderson, in that unique Wes Andersonian way.

When Fondazione Prada in Milan was opened, the director was invited to design a coffee bar inside the building. Based on strong pastel colors, vintage wallpaper patterns, and quirky details, every square inch exudes the whimsical atmosphere of a Wes Anderson film.

The furniture and decor is also an homage to the typical midcentury Milanese cafè design, while the ceiling recalls the vaulted glass roof of the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan.

Anderson has said the place was conceived as a bar where he would want to spend his afternoon, and where writers can go to be inspired. Despite his well-known maniacal sense of symmetry, the place is designed asymmetrical to be “lived” by the visitors in any space and any point of view, without a dominant perspective.

There are some references to Anderson’s movies, too, such as the Steve Zissou and Castello Cavalcanti pinball machines.