{"id":373813,"date":"2025-08-26T02:15:16","date_gmt":"2025-08-26T02:15:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/373813\/"},"modified":"2025-08-26T02:15:16","modified_gmt":"2025-08-26T02:15:16","slug":"sandwiched-between-two-buildings-the-chapel-transforms-a-tiny-urban-gap-in-bucharest-colossal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/373813\/","title":{"rendered":"Sandwiched Between Two Buildings, &#8220;The Chapel&#8221; Transforms a Tiny Urban Gap in Bucharest \u2014 Colossal"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Wedged between two fairly conventional residential buildings in Bucharest is an unexpected gem of a cafe. \u201cThe Chapel,\u201d a single-story, contemporary structure with a steep triangle roof line and sleek fixtures, is extremely narrow\u2014a characteristic it celebrates through proportion, materials, and a lot of windows.<\/p>\n<p>Designed by \u0218tefan P\u0103v\u0103lu\u021b\u0103, founder and principal architect of Romanian studio <a href=\"https:\/\/vinklu.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Vinklu<\/a>, the unique building is home to a local coffee shop called Boiler. \u201cThe Chapel\u201d has enough room for a barista and a few customers, while benches outside provide a little bit of seating.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1313\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/vinklu-4.jpg\" alt=\"a tiny, contemporary cafe with a steep, pointed roof sits between two larger conventional buildings, designed by Vinklu\" class=\"wp-image-460950\"  \/><\/p>\n<p>A large, mature tree along the street was instrumental in designing for context. To achieve harmony in the small space, P\u0103v\u0103lu\u021b\u0103 emphasized streamlined materials and height with timber finishes for a sense of airiness, bringing the outside in through large panes of glass and highlighting the serene setting beneath the tree.<\/p>\n<p>In its function as a coffee shop, \u201cThe Chapel\u201d is a place for people to connect. \u201cIt is a bold statement about urban ingenuity, the beauty of the intimate, and the transformative capacity of design to unlock the hidden potential of our cities,\u201d says a statement. <\/p>\n<p>Find more on the studio\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/vinklu.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">website<\/a>. (via <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dezeen.com\/2025\/08\/19\/vinklu-the-chapel-cafe-bucharest\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Dezeen<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"2999\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/vinklu-2.jpg\" alt=\"the interior of a small, contemporary cafe\" class=\"wp-image-460948\"  \/><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"3173\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/vinklu-5.jpg\" alt=\"a detail of the exterior of a small, contemporary cafe designed by Vinklu, with a large triangular window\" class=\"wp-image-460951\"  \/><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"3014\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/vinklu-3.jpg\" alt=\"the interior of a small, contemporary cafe with a large triangular window\" class=\"wp-image-460949\"  \/><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"2001\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/vinklu-1.jpg\" alt=\"a tiny, contemporary cafe with a steep, pointed roof sits between two larger conventional buildings, designed by Vinklu and seen from the air\" class=\"wp-image-460947\"  \/><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"3543\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/vinklu-7.jpg\" alt=\"a detail of a tiny, narrow, contemporary cafe building\" class=\"wp-image-460953\"  \/><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1351\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/vinklu-8.jpg\" alt=\"a tiny, contemporary cafe with a steep, pointed roof sits between two larger conventional buildings, designed by Vinklu and photographed at night\" class=\"wp-image-460946\"  \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Do stories and artists like this matter to you?<\/strong> Become a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thisiscolossal.com\/members\/\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"118516\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Colossal Member<\/a> now, and support independent arts publishing.<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Hide advertising<\/li>\n<li>Save your favorite articles<\/li>\n<li>Get 15% off in the <a href=\"https:\/\/colossal.shop\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Colossal Shop<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Receive members-only newsletter<\/li>\n<li>Give 1% for art supplies in K-12 classrooms<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Wedged between two fairly conventional residential buildings in Bucharest is an unexpected gem of a cafe. \u201cThe Chapel,\u201d&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":373814,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3939],"tags":[4023,4021,4020,578,4022,77,1438,16,15,130738],"class_list":{"0":"post-373813","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-architecture","9":"tag-arts","10":"tag-arts-and-design","11":"tag-coffee","12":"tag-design","13":"tag-entertainment","14":"tag-romania","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom","17":"tag-vinklu"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115092660467712340","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373813","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=373813"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373813\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/373814"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=373813"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=373813"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=373813"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}