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Post by ilbonito on Mar 25, 2010 10:14:47 GMT
  Gruyeres, a little town near Lausanne in Switzerland, was one of the unexpected highlights of my trip to Europe this past Northern Winter. It is famous for it cheese, its medieval castle and winding alleys, and its views of the Alps foothills. But who knew, it also hosts perhaps the funkiest bar in Europe?    The bar is attached to the H.R. Giger Museum; a collection of works by the Swiss artist best remembered for his stunning production design on the "Alien" movies. His morbid fascination with the mechanic and the organic are given full flight in his (creepy) museum and even, better, the attached bar and cafe .   Amazing. The whole ceiling is like a vault of some gargantuan creature's ribs, with concrete spinal pillars for support,and moulded black rubber/concrete ribcage chairs. One one wall babies faces scream out in stone, and there is some kind of pod hanging over an intricately etched coffee table. The special "alien" coffee wasn't bad either!   |
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Post by lola on Mar 25, 2010 15:07:09 GMT
Ok, let's all meet there for some alien coffee.
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Post by bixaorellana on Mar 25, 2010 18:12:21 GMT
Ha ~~ you already made me think of the Star Wars alien thread in your Bangkok thread, and now this! How did you find it? Just stumbling across it would make you doubt your own senses. The ceiling is truly beautiful, and I'd love to have some of those free-standing molded chairs. (the ribcage chair is a bit much for my house). God, I absolutely love the attention to detail and the way it also perfectly conforms to the image of cozy traditional bar. |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 25, 2010 18:51:45 GMT
I love it, but I bet a lot of people would feel uncomfortable there, especially if they had to climb a flight of M.C. Escher stairs to get there.
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Post by ilbonito on Mar 26, 2010 4:14:45 GMT
 I loved this fear and-awe inspiring dining setting (from the adjacent museum). It would look great in the boardroom of some vast, multinational conglomerate like Exxon or PepsiCola Corp. You can't really see in the picture but the chairs at each end are topped with skulls. |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 26, 2010 5:30:37 GMT
They would have been able to use a lot of this stuff in movies if Alien had not "ruined" it all for them. It made Giger famous forever but linked him with one specific work for all time as well.
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Post by ilbonito on Mar 26, 2010 7:39:25 GMT
He also did odd TV commercials:
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Post by auntieannie on Mar 28, 2010 12:53:51 GMT
ilbonito!
You took a pic within the HR Giger museum? naughty naughty!
I am planning a post on La Gruyere and Fribourg, as well as pics from a train ride to Zermatt. Watch this space!
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Post by ilbonito on Mar 28, 2010 13:12:39 GMT
I did sneak a few pics in the museum, yeah, despite the NUMEROUS warnings against doing so... It was a creepy place wasn't it? Gave me the chills...
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Post by auntieannie on Mar 28, 2010 15:16:19 GMT
It was quite creepy, I agree! And it seems HR Giger's mind might be ever creepier.  |
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