Scusa Restaurant: a new scene for Italian gastronomy, by Lisbon-based studio Spacegram

In the heart of Lisbon, where the light transforms the city’s hues and façades are steeped in history, Scusa emerges as a new stage for contemporary Italian cuisine. But this is not just another restaurant. Designed by the Lisbon-based studio Spacegram, it resists clichés and steers clear of fleeting trends to create a space that honours the act of gathering, the elegance of the ordinary, and the authenticity of craft

Far from the tropes that often define what is considered “Italian,” Scusa is conceived as a sincere place, where every element, from tables folded like pizza dough to the golden lighting and terracotta tones, seems purposefully placed to embrace those who enter.

The brief was clear: reinterpret tradition without betraying it, through a contemporary lens that avoids both easy nostalgia and superficial fusion. The result is a space that is sunlit, intimate, and vibrant. A refuge that evokes the warmth of homes where families gather around a shared meal, where time stretches out in endless conversation and the pleasure of good food takes centre stage.

The architecture of gathering

At Scusa, design revolves around the gesture of coming together. Materials melt into one another like a continuous skin: tables that speak to the walls, wall lights that draw a soft and enveloping glow, textures that invite touch. Faithful to its philosophy of designing through emotion and the senses, Spacegram has created a deeply human space, where experience matters more than spectacle.

A secret lies below ground: a hidden room that intensifies the atmosphere with richer colours, bold textures, and dim, almost cinematic lighting. Here, the sculptural Popcorn installation takes shape—designed by Spacegram itself, and now one of the most photographed pieces in the city. Its organic, playful form pays homage to dough in the process of rising, symbolising that spark of creativity that bursts forth unexpectedly.

A mirror as an artistic gesture

One of Scusa’s most compelling elements is its mirror. It is not merely functional—it is a sculptural gesture. Shaped, moulded and refined until every curve reflected just what was intended: distortion, warmth, and a subtle sense of wonder. Designed as a fluid surface that invites guests to see both the space and themselves from a new angle, it plays with scale and movement, echoing the restaurant’s soft forms while amplifying the natural light. More than an object, it becomes a narrative device—a pause, a moment of quiet strangeness, a reflection that converses with the architecture, as if the sun, too, wished to take a seat at the table.

More design, less artifice

With its 250 square metres, Scusa proves that a restaurant can be much more than a backdrop—it can be a choreography of relationships, a celebration of emotional design. There are no grand gestures or forced ruptures here, just a quietly orchestrated harmony that allows for playful moments: a colour that vibrates, a curve that escapes, a lamp that seems to float.

With Scusa, Spacegram signs one of its most personal and sincere projects. A manifesto of what it understands as timeless design—where aesthetics serve experience, not trends.

Project: Restaurante Scusa.
Interior Design: Spacegram.
Location: Lisboa, Portugal.
Client: Grupo Nómada.
Completion: Octubre 2024.
Size: 250 m².
Photography: Francisco Nogueira.

Spacegram

Spacegram embodies a deep commitment to design as both an aesthetic and social experience, where each project awakens the senses while telling a meaningful story. Their work communicates poetic innovation, weaving together tradition and modernity with subtle gestures and carefully constructed spatial narratives. Lisbon has become their laboratory of sustainable experimentation, where local elements—materials, history, craftsmanship—engage in dialogue with a contemporary and universal language.

With passion and rigour, Spacegram represents the kind of professionals we are proud to feature in Exágono: studios committed to sustainability, community, and a practice grounded in the pursuit of new creative formulas. Read Spacegram’s biography.

Fuente: Spacegram.

Project by Spacegram