Architecture

Make mine an absinthe: Kinetic steampunk bar opens in Romania

View 34 Images
The Enigma Cafe took Romanian interior design company 6th Sense the better part of two years to complete
Gabriel Rosca/6th Sense
Some two years in the making, the Enigma Cafe is based in the historic cultural center of Transylvania
Gabriel Rosca/6th Sense
The Enigma Cafe boasts impressively intricate detailing, dominated by a large intricate clock
Gabriel Rosca/6th Sense
The Enigma Cafe took Romanian interior designer company 6th Sense the better part of two years to complete
Gabriel Rosca/6th Sense
The firm has prior experience with such projects and has designed another steampunk bar, and a Jules Verne-style submarine pub in Romania
Gabriel Rosca/6th Sense
Though not explicitly inspired by H.G. Wells, the Enigma Cafe looks like something the author might have written about
Gabriel Rosca/6th Sense
The "time slave" is a forlorn figure riding a bicycle, wearing a gas mask, and with a plasma globe in place of a brain
Gabriel Rosca/6th Sense
The design is dubbed Enigma – The Machine
Gabriel Rosca/6th Sense
The Enigma Cafe took Romanian interior design company 6th Sense the better part of two years to complete
Gabriel Rosca/6th Sense
The interior is impressively detailed and boasts many movable parts
Gabriel Rosca/6th Sense
The Enigma Cafe took Romanian interior design company 6th Sense the better part of two years to complete
Gabriel Rosca/6th Sense
A large working clock takes its place over the back wall
Gabriel Rosca/6th Sense
The impressively furnished bar
Gabriel Rosca/6th Sense
Shot showing the detailing on the front of the bar
Gabriel Rosca/6th Sense
Another shot of the bar
Gabriel Rosca/6th Sense
The bar is detailed in copper and brass piping, with glowing tubes, bare wires, and an abundance of cogs and clocks
Gabriel Rosca/6th Sense
Some two years in the making, the Enigma Cafe is based in the historic cultural center of Transylvania
Gabriel Rosca/6th Sense
The "time slave" is a forlorn figure riding a bicycle, wearing a gas mask, and with a plasma globe in place of a brain
Gabriel Rosca/6th Sense
The Enigma Cafe boasts impressively intricate detailing, dominated by a large intricate clock
Gabriel Rosca/6th Sense
The firm behind the project has prior experience with such projects and has designed another steampunk bar, and a Jules Verne-style submarine pub in Romania
Gabriel Rosca/6th Sense
The design is dubbed Enigma – The Machine
Gabriel Rosca/6th Sense
The interior is impressively detailed and boasts many movable parts
Gabriel Rosca/6th Sense
Close-up shot of the detailing at the Enigma Cafe
Gabriel Rosca/6th Sense
Close-up shot of the detailing at the Enigma Cafe
Gabriel Rosca/6th Sense
Close-up shot of the detailing at the Enigma Cafe
Gabriel Rosca/6th Sense
Close-up shot of the detailing at the Enigma Cafe
Gabriel Rosca/6th Sense
Close-up shot of the detailing at the Enigma Cafe
Gabriel Rosca/6th Sense
Close-up shot of the detailing at the Enigma Cafe
Gabriel Rosca/6th Sense
Close-up shot of the detailing at the Enigma Cafe
Gabriel Rosca/6th Sense
Shot of the bar
Gabriel Rosca/6th Sense
The "time slave" is a forlorn figure riding a bicycle, wearing a gas mask, and with a plasma globe in place of a brain
Gabriel Rosca/6th Sense
The ceiling is packed with steampunk detailing too
Gabriel Rosca/6th Sense
The ceiling is packed with steampunk detailing too
Gabriel Rosca/6th Sense
The back wall is dominated by a clock
Gabriel Rosca/6th Sense
The back wall is dominated by a clock
Gabriel Rosca/6th Sense
View gallery - 34 images

Steampunk aficionados and those looking to try something different can now enjoy a tipple at what's probably the world's first kinetic steampunk bar. Based in Transylvania, the Enigma Cafe is an impressively intricate work of interior design chock full of moving clocks, cogs, and whirring machinery.

Located in Cluj-Napoca, Transylvania – Romania's second most populous city – the Enigma Cafe took Romanian interior design company 6th Sense the better part of two years to complete. The firm has prior experience with such projects, and has previously produced another steampunk bar and a Jules Verne-style submarine pub in Romania.

The bar is meticulously detailed in copper and brass piping, with glowing tubes, wires, and moving cogs and clocks adding to the ambiance. Typewriters, gas masks, and bulbs also feature, and the few areas of wall left bare are clad in rough brick.

The Enigma Cafe boasts impressively intricate detailing, dominated by a large intricate clock
Gabriel Rosca/6th Sense

A large illuminated clock takes its place on the back wall, and is linked to an elevator imagined to be a time machine. Whirring machinery is installed the ceiling and walls, and a spinning globe adds to the carefully-choreographed visual chaos that would perhaps prove a bit much after one too many drinks.

Strengthening the time-travel theme, the Enigma Cafe's most creepy feature is a forlorn figure named the "time slave." Sporting a gas mask and a plasma globe instead of a brain, the slave rides a bicycle said to power the machinery.

Check out the image gallery and video below to get a better handle on the place.

Source: 6th Sense via Bored Panda

View gallery - 34 images
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Flipboard
  • LinkedIn
1 comment
Cuckoo
'The Cross' in Czech Republic precedes this bar by at least ten years. This one looks even crazier to be fair though.