< Previous30 commercialinteriordesign.comxxxxxxJuly 2025 Surrealism gives bite to Dubai’s hospitality scene curtain Step behind the31 commercialinteriordesign.comxxxxxxJuly 202532 commercialinteriordesign.comJuly 2025Maison Dali Maison Dalí is a lucid dream served on a velvet platter. Designed by YDesign with art direction from Art Painting Lab, the surrealist restaurant in Dubai is theatrical, warm and one-of-a-kind. Rather than mimic Salvador Dalí, the concept channels his unruly genius into a contemporary, sensory experience. In this interview, Yasmin Farahmandy, founder of YDesign and Sam Saliba, founder of Art Painting Lab show us how to walk the ne line between elegance and madness and how to make surrealism feel seductive, not strange. If Salvador Dalí walked into Maison Dalí for dinner, what do you think he’d say or do rst? Sam Saliba: He’d simply remove his feathered sh hat and bow solemnly to the red velvet banquette, exclaiming loudly: “Fantastical, let’s celebrate me, my crazy spirited friends!” We treated Dali’s energy like a catalyst. Our goal wasn’t to recreate Dali’s world. It was to extend the dream. To ask if Dalí were alive today, what would his subconscious surreal vibe look like under candlelight, velvet and the weight of wine? What was the most risky design decision you made, and did anyone try to talk you out of it? Yasmin Farahmandy: Designing a space where velvet drapes spill across walls and wine spills on the ceiling was, without doubt, one of the bolder decisions we made. Several people raised concerns about how the intense use of colour and fabric might close in the space. But I believed a surrealist experience demands immersion. The ceiling creates a backdrop and visual dance in the lounge area.33 commercialinteriordesign.comxxxxxxJuly 202534 commercialinteriordesign.comJuly 2025Maison Dali35 commercialinteriordesign.comJuly 2025Maison Dali36 commercialinteriordesign.comJuly 2025Maison Dali Which detail in Maison Dalí is so subtle most people miss it? YF: The 3D re sculpture. The magnifying mirrors in the bathroom. The chairs in the private room. These elements are playful, unexpected and totally surreal. I smile every time someone pauses for a second glance. How did you avoid falling into the ‘theme trap’ with this venue? SS: The trap is very real and the only method we applied was to thoroughly go through the creative process and staying true to surre- alism and the ID. We embarked on surrealism but kept in mind the audience of today and connected to the spirit of the surrealist master. Dali also has a very distinct art that re ects his era. For us we applied the principles of surrealism such as “expect the unexpected” and “stay unhinged”. There is tension and release, drama and restraint throughout. YF: There are no surrealist props here. Instead, we used surrealist principles, disruption, repetition and human distortion, to inform how the space feels and functions. It was never about creating a museum to Dalí. It was about reinterpreting surrealism as a sensory and emotional journey. Whether it’s the hypnotic repetition of faces in the private 37 commercialinteriordesign.comJuly 2025Maison Dali room, the soft curvature of the walls, every design gesture was aimed at creating intrigue without falling into gimmicky design. Let’s say Maison Dalí was a dream, and the restaurant disappears at midnight. What’s the one element you’d want to be remembered like a surreal echo? YF: The mirror vortex. Guests stare into it, but it stares back harder. It doesn’t re ect reality. It distorts it, draws you in. That’s the echo we want: that moment when someone forgets they’re in a restaurant and realises they’re inside a painting. We see it also in the Dali multiverse artwork at the back of the restaurant, re-emerging and leading to the many states of being as shown in that artwork. The multifaceted personali- ties that are within each one of us. Was there a moment during this project where the art almost ‘took over’ the space? YF: As guests transition to the Dali Supper Club, the corridor ceiling features bold, expressive artwork that fully embrace Dalí’s eccentric spirit. This space is designed to escalate the vibe. More theatrical, more immersive and undeniably more energetic. Despite this bold shift, we carefully main- tained a visual and spatial connection between the two rooms. It’s this controlled contrast that heightens the experience: a subtle begin- ning that builds into a surreal crescendo. If one artwork in Maison Dalí could come to life for 30 minutes, which one would it be? SS: It would be epic if all the artworks became animated. Imagine all the Dali’s talking to each 38 commercialinteriordesign.comxxxxxxJuly 202539 commercialinteriordesign.comJuly 2025Maison Dali “Every gesture was aimed at creating intrigue without falling into gimmicks” other about life philosophies or the current world. Imagine the wine spill moving on the ceiling like ebb and ow. Imagine the people in the frames emerge into the restaurant, for example, the woman with the pyramid head oating above the clouds. She would walk between tables, not speaking, rearranging people’s cutlery and then she’d vanish into a painting again, like nothing ever happened. How did you inject painterly texture and tension into the space? YF: Dubai is known for its sleekness, every- thing is pristine, new and highly polished. While that creates visual impact, it can sometimes lack emotional depth or rawness. For Maison Dalí, we wanted to introduce a different kind of energy, something more tactile, imperfect and emotionally charged. We did this by layering texture in unex- pected ways:, bold brushstroke-inspired ceiling treatments, and artwork that felt alive, not static. We also played with tension, placing surreal, almost disruptive elements within elegant settings. That friction between classic and surreal, calm and chaotic, is what brings the space to life. It invites guests to pause, feel and engage more deeply, not just pass through. What’s the most unexpected reaction you’ve seen from someone encountering your art? SS: It’s common that I visit the places that showcases the artworks we invent. For me, it’s always amazing when we visit together with the designer who we work alongside with, we get this amazing feeling of “wow, we did this together.” We stayed true, we didn’t compromise, we made the budget work, we made the client happy and we impact people’s lives. If the brief was “Dalí, but make it dinner,” what was the biggest challenge you faced? SS: The hardest part was not going too far. Surrealism walks the edge of discomfort. So every element had to seduce, not shock. The trick? Anchor the madness with beauty and compassion. The art gets to be bizarre because the space holds it tenderly. The curves, the textures, the curtains, the dark wood together with the art direction was Yasmin’s vision, united. It’s kind of a “sweet tension”and that’s where the surreal magic lives. It had to feel kind but incomprehensible, distracting but friendly and it had to appeal to a variety of personalities, so for us, it was a matter of staying empathetic to what the guest might experience while at the same time, making sure the guest feels “something.”Next >