For as many problems as there are associated with to-go cups, there is nonetheless something endearing, if not a bit romantic, about the paper cup. Over the years, Sprudge has chronicled the creative side of the lowly takeaway coffee cup, including interviews with Instagram accounts heralding the best paper cups of the world as well as artists who have turned cups into tiny little works of art.
And now, one cafe in Brazil is making the humble paper cup a central focus. Montibeller To Go in the Itajaí municipality of Santa Catarina has devoted an entire wall to to-go cups for folks to customize.
As reported by Arch Daily, the newest Montibeller To Go outpost is a mere 25 square meters total, with an entire wall of the shotgun-style building decorated with paper cups. Designed by São Paulo architecture firm Térreo Arquitetos, the wall is composed of a “woodworking grid,” little tiny cubbies made to fit a single cup, that customers can “stylize with phrases, drawings, and other expressions of affection to be displayed and complete the ambiance of this beloved space in the heart of the city.”
Per Arch Daily, the woodworking grid pattern also appears on the ceiling, but good luck getting any cups to stay up there.
So while we try to figure out what to do about the problem of to-go cups—including smashing them into dirt—let’s all just take a minute and appreciate the simple artistry that is the paper cup. And as long as they are decorating the wall, they aren’t in a landfill, so that’s something.
Zac Cadwalader is the managing editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas. Read more Zac Cadwalader on Sprudge.
All media via Térreo Arquitetos.
