LAGO Italian Family Kitchen / Vari Architects

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1. Intervening Between City and Lake.By the lake of Yihe Park in northernChongqing, we transformed a waterfront pavilion into Lago, an Italian country restaurant—using breathable timber and lightweight wave-like metal. Tucked among cedar trees, the restaurant faces a bright lake. Its name comes from the Italian word for "lake." We first imagined it as Thoreau's cabin by Walden Pond—crisp water, deep shade, and winding paths. But Yihe Park is "nature within the city." So the question became: how to bring that Walden-like stillness and clarity into the architectural narrative.