The Inauguration of a new Pleasuredome

[JussiK]

According recent ravings by a shaker and mover mate Milano now has the best looking club space in the universe called La Divina. From what Iíve sen in design mags itís got to be true. Some old structure has been cunningly transformed into a sleek complex wrapped in dark purple material, with huge reproductions of renaissance paintings on the walls. The club apparently makes even the nearby Armani showroom-cum-party emporium look crubby. Anybody here been to this shrine yet?

Meanwhile, I wondered about what the rest of the world has been managing with. Number one for me is Le Wax in Paris. This is at 15 Rue Duval near the Bastille and has the kind of look that would be perfect for John Shaft, Emma Peel and Tomas Milian to enjoy a JB whisky while listening to the latest blaxploitation themes and scores from Italian crime movies. The whole hall is late 60ís / early 70ís plastic retro perfection, with rounded corners, incandescent shiny orange surfaces, white leather sofas etc. Le Divan Du Monde is equally fabulous in a different fashion. Funkier than Le Bains Douches (a converted, white tiled Turkish bath house) Le Divan is a superb beyond kitsch Arabian Nights fantasy, with multicolored chandeliers, broken mirrors, ultramarine tapestry and a bewildering music policy ñ they are likely to spin anything from Middle Eastern dance music to house to disco to flamencos.

During the 80ís I loved La Camarque in Nice ñ this had a warm golden ambiance perfectly matching the gorgeous clienteleís skintones, cushion pits and subdued lightning. They played Les Rita Mitsoukoís îMarcia Bailaî. In New York, the immense Arata Isozaki-designed Palladium was quite impressive as well. At the Mike Todd room above the main hall we danced to Sandy Martonís îExotic and Eroticî. In Barcelona there was ñ and still is ñ the Torres de Aquila, a Movida design movement masterpiece done with a limitless budget and imagination.

During the 70ís there wasnít much to scream about design-wise, was there? But of course we were too gaught up in music and trapped in lights to really notice.

[Boodikka]

Well, in NYC we had Le Farfalle. It was touted as the most beautiful and expensive club to date. The owners sunk tons of money into it....entirely too much money, as it went belly up in a short period of time.

[sutnop]

This is what I need

There is nothing wrong with the Queen
in Paris
Champs De Elysse

its a nice club since they let in people dependant on clothing

Trendy is the only thing that counts
altough the Sundays at the Queen are a bit too much....

The Best Disco CLub is however a underground club in Paris
who I will write about in another thread

it is a secret society kinda thing completley amazing.........

[JussiK]

Yep, Le Queen is an excellent club but design-wise I feel a bit of a disappointment really.
Boodikka when was La Farfalle happening, was that during the 70's? What style was it, modernist or something else? There must have been something done in New York with the then hot minimalist all-white loft look, right? The Saint was nearly there but just too big to make any real statements in the design department.

[Boodikka]

Jussi, Le Farfalle opened '78 or '79. It was an outstanding design: waterfalls, state-of-the-art lighting, etc. The owners did plenty of radio advertising, etc. The place just never took off.