Author: barton

BAR•TON is a place where both musical afficionados and rookies are welcome.

Other people are also allowed in.

Our space needed unique ceramics, so we commissioned Lorena Coccioni of Surrogate Selves to create new modular objects to use in our space. Public use ceramics usually are in a continuous use of washing, stacking and are usually boring or uninteresting. Lorena managed to reflect the spirit of BAR TON: simplicity through functionality.

We created it as a destination for a quick bite, a place where you go for a first date, or a space for just enjoying music. The scent must never be a barrier between you and these activities, so we went looking for the perfect scent having certain boundaries in mind. Oana Tudoran of Accidental Perfumes was commissioned to create a unique scent that has become an integral part of BAR TON.

As a dedicated listening space, we’ve used a wooden frame to build a room within a room in order to accommodate the necessary sound treatment.

This unusual construction is hidden away from sight and tall drapes are there to hide the acoustic system behind them.

The room corners host one of the largest monitoring systems Genelec has ever built. The room behaves in such a way that music sounds great on them at any volume, while never subtracting from the intelligibility of your own conversation.

Designed by Anda Zota and MuroMuro, the interior is a contemporary reinterpretation of the social-modernist vibes of the building. The birch plywood, marble mosaic floor and stainless steel fixtures provide only sparse decoration to the utilitarian atmosphere.

The space is ultimately intended to offer a cozy listening experience, somehow like hiding under the sheets and listening to music with your friends. Except you’re now adults and you don’t have to hide.

We’re on the ground floor of an apparently common communist block of apartments. But the block on Campineanu 24 street has an interesting history: it’s part of the first Romanian-designed socialist-modernist apartment complex.

Built in the late 50s, the block was one of the first ones to showcase Romanian communist design and engineering, instead of the more common soviet imports and it was built to show off what new urban life could be like for the rest of the country.

The immediate area is traditionally home to a many musical instruments stores. Even this space has previously hosted a music shop, unwarily predicting BAR TON.