Pálinka Museum | Shop | Bar

museum copper Bar Design branding identity interior design Interaction design Exhibition Design Cellar budapest

Palinka, as a drink, is in a privileged position not only in Hungarian gastronomy, but culture as well. It is a unique drink worldwide: a hungarikum. Still, not many people know where its peculiarity lies and what gives its real value. Founders of Palinka Museum Shop Bar are determined to change this, and to create a space where tourists of Budapest can get to know the country’s elixir of life through products of selected distilleries - and if they like it, they might as well take some home.

The venue consists of three main functional areas (Bar, Interactive exhibition, Shop), which are connected through one unified style of branding and interior design.

Interior design concept

The main component of the concept is contrast: walls of an old cellar, covered with old brick is in sharp contrast with the pure white minimalism of the exhibition installations and furniture, which contrast is further strengthened by the lights. This is a reference to the relationship of ripe fruit and pure, translucent distillate.

Copper surfaces chosen to complement white installation elements are a direct reference to the classic look and materials of a distiller, but also incorporate the importance of tradition into the narrative, in addition to the white, pure minimalism.

Tilted walls are a determinative element of the interior design – these refer to the shot glass in the venue’s logo, and at the same time refer to that feeling, when we are a slightly tipsy from the palinka and feel that the world is turning around, and the walls begin to tilt.

In the museum, besides the uniform design of the whole site, another prominent element appears: a timeline. A timeline, that is really a copper pipe which starts from the fruit bowl next to the entrance and runs across the whole space. Following this tube, we can go through the history of distillation and the process of palinka making.

In the museum, several interactive installations can be found – both digital and analogue. Visitors can ‘harvest’ the fruit from the tree on a gesture-controlled board, or play a game of combining a region with the specific fruit it is associated with. The various interactive solutions are all connected in a point-collecting game, in the name of gamification. Points earned for the right answers can be exchanged for a discount at the Museum Shop.