Designboom Editorial Explores Spectacle and Wonder Through Nightlife and Architecture
The latest editorial, 'Spectator and Spectacle,' featured on designboom, delves into the impact of spectacle on modern experiences, spanning from nightlife to the digital realm. The piece references a 2017 master's thesis which posited that nightclubs fulfill sociopolitical functions for marginalized communities. Lucius Burckhardt characterized night as a human-made phenomenon, while Ivan Chtcheglov's 1953 writing cautioned that artificial illumination diminishes cosmic reality. In the early 1990s, Russian researchers experimented with an orbital mirror to redirect sunlight, but concerns were raised about the night sky as a shared resource. Jonathan Crary highlighted that urban pollution affects sleep for half the global population. The chapter reflects on the waning of authentic spectacle and explores ways to rekindle wonder in a disenchanted society.
Key facts
- The editorial is part of designboom's 'Spectator and Spectacle' chapter.
- The author's 2017 master's thesis focused on nightclubs as sites of sociopolitical work.
- Lucius Burckhardt described the night as a man-made construct of opening hours, prices, and streetlamps.
- Ivan Chtcheglov wrote 'Formulary for a New Urbanism' in 1953 at age nineteen, later a Situationist International founding document.
- Russian scientists tested a space mirror in 1992 to reflect sunlight onto Earth's dark side.
- Jonathan Crary's book on sleep and late capitalism discusses light pollution violating the right to see stars.
- Guy Debord named 'the spectacle' in 1967 as what replaces direct experience, shifting from having to appearing.
- The Haçienda nightclub in Manchester, designed by Ben Kelly for Factory Records in 1982, closed after fifteen years and was demolished; flats now stand on the site.
- Gruppo 9999 built Space Electronic in Florence in 1969 based on Marshall McLuhan's theories.
- David Mancuso's 1970s New York parties had no clocks or mirrors.
Entities
Artists
- Lucius Burckhardt
- Ivan Chtcheglov
- Guy Debord
- Jonathan Crary
- Ben Kelly
- David Mancuso
- Marshall McLuhan
- Chen Wei
Institutions
- Situationist International
- Factory Records
- Gruppo 9999
- Space Electronic
- The Haçienda
- designboom
- Ota Fine Arts
- Tate
- Verso Books
- RSC Energia
- Wikimedia Commons
Locations
- Manchester
- United Kingdom
- Florence
- Italy
- New York
- United States