Atelier Mecanic Bar Invites Visitors to Have a Beer With Hint of Bucharest’s Industrial Past

<a href="http://www.inyourpocket.com/romania/bucharest/bars-pubs-clubs-nightlife/bars/Atelier-Mecanic_72788v" target="_blank">Atelier Mecanic</a> is a new bar in an area of Bucharest, Romania that was formerly lined with industrial repair shops. Designed by <a href="http://www.corvincristian.com/" target="_blank">Corvin Cristian</a>, the bar’s interior pays tribute to the space’s former purpose, playing up its <a href="http://inhabitat.com/wim-delvoyes-incredible-rubber-carvings-turn-tires-into-art/" target="_blank">mechanical past with salvaged relics</a>. Recycled materials and mismatched vintage furniture from second hand shops make the quirky interior a cozy place for gathering with friends, while echoing the history of the local site.

Visitors are welcomed to the bar by with the sign that has “Mecanic” spelled out in vintage wrenches, vices and other tools, in addition to a vintage sign reading TELEFON.

Inside, Cristian took <a href="http://inhabitat.com/cory-barkman-reinvents-machinery-as-gothic-furniture/" target="_blank">inspiration from the industrialization</a> of Old Romania during communism, when factories sprang up around the country, but disappeared with the dismissal of communism. Cristian salvaged industrial elements from 1950-1970s Romania to outfit the bar.

Once inside, the visitor is immediately met with the bar’s past- as a now defunct industrial machine cuts the length of the ceiling, exposing its steel girders.

A classic white tile bar is capped off with a treated <a href="http://inhabitat.com/ethan-hayes-chutes-quirky-wooden-shacks-are-a-delightful-hodgepodge-of-found-materials/" target="_blank">salvaged wooden bar top</a>, which one could imagine being sawed right on site. The treated wood is also repeated in the outside steps leading into the bar.

Vintage advertisements, industrial caution signs and weathered art adorn the walls. Cristian mounted a collection of <a href="http://inhabitat.com/mischertraxler’s-“relumine”-project-proves-that-two-energy-efficient-bulbs-are-better-than-one/" target="_blank">industrial desk lamps</a> to the walls, transforming them into sconces. The mismatched chairs and stools were all chosen in an industrial grey hue, which matches the original concrete flooring, and creates a sort of uniformity, despite being entirely different styles of furniture.

The presence of these <a href="http://inhabitat.com/paradise-lost-but-found-again-at-abandoned-taiwanese-factory-turned-greenery-filled-oasis/" target="_blank">vintage factory elements</a> and machines are Cristian’s way of confronting Romania’s communist past, bringing the evidence of the now forgotten industrialization back, in a kitschy yet classic atmosphere.