Santa Monica, California

Dining Patio Air plant Installation by Airplantman

Tinga Restaurant in Santa Monica features an outdoor patio area for dining and drinks beloved by locals for its unique charm.  Located in the one of the city's older buildings featuring a hodge-podge of different architectural styles it would be a challenge to update the space and bring some design unity without loosing it's defining quirkiness.  During the space's renovation by the interior design and architecture team gave the space a fresh look by incorporating bronze accents, modern furniture and bold blue color tones.  An existing podocarpus tree was lovingly preserved and enhancing the garden-esque feel of the space was of paramount importance.  This is when Airplantman was brought in with the mission of helping the space continue to blend old and new, built and green, modern and traditional.   

Transparent Tillandsia Design

One of the unique elements of Airplantman’s work is the transparency possible when designing with airplants.  All of Airplantman's works seeks to highlight what makes tillandsia or air plants unique, namely that the can grow suspended in air.  To that end our AirplantFrame vertical garden includes no medium to block or hold the eye.  Plants receive environmental conditions they need to thrive (increased air flow / ease of watering) and the visual result is stunning.  We love the 'second look' our work usually receives from the public when the unexpected sight of floating plants presents itself to the viewer.  When a bold color is present in the backdrop the visual impact can be even stronger.  In this project the contrast of the green, grey, and red tillandsia against the painted blue brick wall backdrop is nothing short of spectacular.  The centerpiece of the space is a 'T' shaped installation the stands alone as an art piece while also bringing attention to the restaurant's name (although some have noticed it also resembles a Japanese kimono on display).  This piece is made from a series of Airplantman's unique AirplantFrame vertical garden design.  Both light, durable, and waterproof the AirplantFrame is made from powder coated aluminum and hand strung stainless steel cable.  For this installation a limited edition bronze color powder coat was used to have these pieces fit in with the bronze accents throughout the space.  Finally Airplantman incorporated a series of specimen tillandsia and 'clumps' to festoon the existing tree and surrounding tilework, further blending the built and natural environement.  Tillandsia 'clumps' can be up to hundreds or even thousands of individual plants which form over many generations.  Each time the plant blooms more offsets or 'pups' form from the base of the plant and the 'clump' size increases. This project was a real pleasure to work on.  We enjoyed the variety of spaces, custom bronze color for our AirplantFrames, and the opportunity to utilize our deep collection of amazing specimen plants.  That isn't even mentioning the delicious food and margaritas which we enjoyed on numerous occasions.  Maintenance was a breeze as the open to the sky space close to the beach in southern California had an ideal environment for Tillandsia to thrive.  All that was missing is water which a combination of Airplantman and on-site staff provide with regular sprayings.