Architect Chosen To Design The New Four Seasons Restaurant

The Four Seasons restaurant, one of New York's most iconic gastronomic spaces, closed last week, with the new space to be taken over by Major Food Group, the Carbone and Torrisi team.But the Four Seasons brand will not be going away: The restaurant will instead be moving to a new space a few blocks away at 280 Park Avenue, and will open next summer.

A designer of the space has just been chosen, Brazilian architect Isay Weinfeld — a controversial decision that has critics worried. After all, the Four Seasons dining rooms, complete with a pool flanked by four seasonally changing trees, are one of the most recognizable restaurant interiors in the city — the work of famed architect Philip Johnson and designer William Pahlmann, inside the landmark International Style building by Mies van der Rohe. Weinfeld, by contrast, is known for his minimalist approach, according to Dezeen. He has mostly designed cavernous, blocky buildings that evoke a much colder aesthetic than that of the original Four Seasons restaurant.

"It's an honor to design a space like that," the architect told The Telegraph. "I don't know if it's possible to be at the same level as van der Rohe and Johnson, and also the expectations in a city like New York of such an iconic place are very strong, but I've had my practice for 43 years now and I feel secure that it's come at the right moment in my professional life."