ArchitectureBook extract
Giovanna Silva's photo book on discotheques, Nightswimming
A Milan photographer, new to club culture, turns her 2014 Venice Biennale project on nightclub architecture into a book.
Giovanna Silva came to nightclubs as an outsider. The Milan photographer was commissioned by Monditalia to document the architecture of Italian nightlife for the 2014 Venice Architecture Biennale, a subject she admits was completely unknown to her. That project has now become a book, Nightswimming: Discotheques from the 1960s to the Present, and designboom has published her introductory essay.
Because clubs change their look so often to keep up with fashion, music and lighting technology, Silva's team began with books, which in turn led them to the critics, architects, DJs and owners she calls "the night swimmers". After Italy they looked to Berlin, London, Paris and Barcelona, choosing clubs that were socially and musically important as well as architecturally interesting, including the growing number of spaces never designed for dancing.
Most were photographed out of hours, and her notes on that are the best part: the first thing to hit her was always the smell, somewhere between detergent, smoke and people, then the lights. Some rooms are shown under flat white light, like an old lady without her make-up, as she was told.
Images include Cocoricò in Riccione, Tenax in Florence and Ritter Butzke in Berlin. Worth a look if you've ever wondered what a dance floor looks like at noon.
Our summary of a story from designboom, published 16 October 2026. Read the original
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From designboom