OVE'S ROCKKLUBB
LOCATION
MALMÖ, SWEDEN
STATUS
COMPLETED
YEAR
1985
SIZE
-
PROGRAM
ROCK CLUB
PHOTO
BJÖRN BLIXT
Rock music is a salient part of young culture and has a language of its own. This is a culture which, because of its relative extremity, is not appreciated (no one expects you to “respect” it) by large parts of today’s society. Ove’s Rock Club is an architectural reflection of rock values - narcissism, contradiction, sex, violence and “perceptual overload” - symbols of all these can be seen in the design which is necessarily eclectic.
You enter the place through a gate of strong red coloured amputated columns into the circus arena, the dance floor. From there, the choices are then to the bar which is straight ahead and marked with a large white lighting bolt on a black background, or to disappear up to the balconies which surround the marble dance floor. The balconies contain the sitting and eating spaces, simple plastic tables leave you free to focus on the leopard-upholstered sofas and red plastic chairs. The split-level plan of the total space is straightforward and functionally effective.
The unique quality of the design comes from its assembly of details - lighting, materials and lines - together it comes up with a scenographic expression.
The decoration uses a lot of geometric forms, many of which are skewed; inclined stainless steel columns, railings, even the disc jockey’s altar, question conventional perceptions. The colour scheme is sharp and strong - black, white, red and includes several large scale geometric graphics, both on the floor and walls. Plastic and stainless steel are used abundantly throughout the design. The lighting is marked by two contrasting densities - in one ceiling section there is a surreal romantic starlit sky, which creates a contrast to the dance floor spots, which are predominantly strong blue.
To summarise, this is a design which endorses the instability, disorder and paradoxes of young culture and lets those customers live out their somewhat surreal nocturnal lifestyle. This ritual is real for those who have the desire and Ove’s Rock Club provides a creative stage.