Disco Balls and Design: The Architectural Performance of Night Clubs

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For decades, cities around the world have been promoting their nightlife scene and the designed spaces in which these activities occur. Occasionally hidden away from the hustle and bustle, offering a sort of escapism from the day-to-day-routine behind red velvet ropes and intense security measures, or sometimes proudly on display for people from all walks of life to congregate and spend the evening under the glisten of a disco ball or flashing lights, nightclubs are an example of how fashion, culture, and societal norms influence an often overlooked and underground side of architecture.

While clubs are often viewed as a sort of “abandoned” space, only activated from late in the evening until early hours of the morning on the weekends, they’re often intentionally crafted and curated to create highly specific experiences and go much beyond the dramatic visual effects. Nightclubs are over-the-top exercises in creating fantasy worlds, where the details of design fall to the back to put spatial arrangements on center stage. By creating various atmospheres, the placement of everything becomes key. The locations of bars, bathrooms, the DJ booth, the size of the dance floor, and its adjacencies are more important than the lights, sound, and everything in between.

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Cite: Kaley Overstreet. "Disco Balls and Design: The Architectural Performance of Night Clubs" 03 Mar 2024. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/973008/disco-balls-and-design-the-architectural-performance-of-night-clubs> ISSN 0719-8884

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