Founding partner of MVRDV and professor at Berlin University of Technology Jacob van Rijs will give a lecture on the future of nightclubs at the Konferenz zu Clubs im Neubau in Berlin on Wednesday 28 October.

Nightclubs are a multi-million dollar business in Berlin. Club culture is just as much a part of Berlin as the Brandenburg Gate and currywurst, Der Tagesspiegel wrote recently, still worth almost €1.5 billion a year. But even before the clubs had to close due to coronavirus measures, they were already suffering from advancing gentrification in Germany - the buildings where they were located made way for new real estate and infrastructure projects.

Van Rijs, in his role as professor at Berlin University of Technology, made it a theme during the pre-corona months. As a lover of live concerts and designer of De Effenaar and Roskilde Rock Campus, the demise of club culture is close to his heart. Together with his German students, Van Rijs started the project 'Massive Volume', to work on a solution for this 'Clubsterben'. Existing venues were analysed in the project. Discussions and lectures with musicians, DJs and organisers provided starting points to clearly formulate the strengths of new designs. The key question was how architects can ensure optimal interaction between space, sound, and atmosphere, how clubs can be integrated into their surroundings and how music venues can be created with a clear identity of their own.

In his lecture 'Massive Volume', Van Rijs will discuss responsible clubbing in the future: "Volume is something that has a different meaning for architects and clubbers; it concerns both cubic metres and decibels, space versus sound. In the design and experience of a club precisely these two interact with each other". In any case, the Berlin clubs are full of initiative; even in the coronavirus era, they were able to continue to party online.

Date: Wednesday 28 October 2020 , 4.45PM

Location: Säälchen club, Holzmarkt 25, 10247 Berlin  

More info here.