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It's not often that a restaurant closes and pieces of its interior become artifacts for museums. Foothill College actually bought numerous items of artwork and furniture that were part of the ornate Chinese décor of Fung Lum restaurant, which served the South Bay for more than 30 years. The items became part of a Chinese Heritage room at Foothill. Fung Lum was situated in Campbell but was well known throughout the valley for its food and decor. It closed in 2005.
"We wanted to use authentic Chinese decoration," said Joe Ragey, a design, art and drama instructor at Foothill who, along with a group of students, helped develop the interior design concept. "It was all built in Taiwan about 40 years ago, according to the owner of the restaurant, before China became an open country."
The Chinese Heritage Room is the second room that has been designed as part of Foothill's Heritage Room Project, an ongoing initiative to convert classrooms to represent the many cultural heritages and ethnicities of Foothill's students.
The college acquired the pieces after Foothill President Bernadine Chuck Fong had lunch at Fung Lum with some colleagues and learned the restaurant was closing, said Kurt Hueg, director of marketing and communications at the community college. Fong began talking with the restaurant owners and was able to arrange for the purchase of some of their artwork, Hueg said.
Ragey said the college acquired 12 doors, 10 ornate wooden grillworks, four large ceiling panels, three chandeliers, about 200 lineal feet of Chinese decoration and a distinctive moon gate. The team of designers, though, did not use all of the pieces for what they were originally intended.
"We used all of the doors but cut them up and used the detailed pieces as window coverings," Ragey said. "We built benches out of what were grillworks above the doorway."
Ragey said they took many design concepts from China's Forbidden City.
"We went for a different look from the restaurant in that sense," he said.
Along with the Fung Lum artwork, the room also features a custom-designed carpet and black columns with decorative structural pieces such as soffits and corbels. The Heritage Room is painted a Chinese red with black and gold accent details.
Ragey said the room was designed primarily by Dani Nelke, a professional designer and former student of his who also has a degree from the University of Hannover in Germany.
Along with its original décor, the classroom features new technology and an innovative seating arrangement. The Chinese Heritage Room is equipped with four tables that seat 12 students, rather than desks, and the room has a teaching station in the middle of the floor. There are also screens on the wall where the instructor can display various types of media.
"It's what we call a studio classroom where you have group learning," Hueg said.
The room cost about $40,000 to complete, he noted.
The grand opening of the room on
Feb. 2 brought smiles to the Pang family, the former restaurant owners.
"The previous restaurant owners came and were very impressed and excited to see it," Hueg said.
For more information about Foothill's Heritage Classroom Project, call 650.949.7645.
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Photograph by Daniel Sato