Located at the corner of Nguyen Van Troi Street and Nguyen Trong Tuyen Street, Up Café draws the curiosity of visitors by its unique architecture called Upside Down Design.
Life is upside down at Up Café
By Tuong Vi in HCMC
The unusual décor of Up Café - Photo: Tuong Vi Located at the corner of Nguyen Van Troi Street and Nguyen Trong Tuyen Street, Up Café draws the curiosity of visitors by its unique architecture called Upside Down Design.
The front door is puzzling to newcomers as it is the shape of a small house turned upside down. As soon as you enter you can feel the coziness and comfort but will be bemused to see everything from the cabinets, paintings, piano, tables and chairs, mirrors, or lamps hung upside down on the ceilings.
Owner and creator Ly Bao Vinh, who has never been an architect, shared with the Daily the secret of his coffee shop. He said: “When I was little, I read some architectural magazines and found one which really interested me – it was an upside down design. Two years ago, I had enough money and decided to open a coffee shop which I felt had to have unique character.
“The image of upside down architecture in my childhood’s memories came back me to at that point and as I had never seen a coffee shop with that style of design, I made a decision to build my own shop based on that idea.”
Established in January, the target clients that Vinh is after are young trendy people; office staff, photographers and those who love art and design.
Up Café goes after the clientele with three rooms designed like a house, based on classical French style with the three main colors of red, white and yellow. Even furniture and uniforms of staff sport these three colors.
Vinh said that all the items welded on the ceilings are the real deal; wooden sofas, a piano, cabinets and many others. These items would dominate the room were they to be located on the floor but now they are based on the ceilings; they make a lighter touch hanging upside down.
Up Café serves European food and drinks at prices ranging from VND30,000 to VND50,000. Vinh said in two years, he will build another Up Café with a similar design but it will be based on a French villa and have much stronger character.
Up Café is at 269 Nguyen Trong Tuyen Street, HCMC’s Phu Nhuan District.