area 114 | São Paulo

architect: Muti Randolph

When the original D-Edge opened its doors in 2003 in Sao Paulo, it quickly became a world reference in dance floor design. It was the first club to integrate the sound and light systems with the use of LED technology and custom software. More than a club, it is a sound and light installation. A dancing machine where people can not only hear, but also see and feel music. In its 7 years of existence it became one of the most prestigious electronic music clubs in the world. The biggest DJs form all over the world have played in its now legendary sound and light system. It is the most published and awarded permanent project I have done. When the owner bought the house next door and commissioned an expansion, the brief was simple: more comfort, an open smoking area, and most importantly to cause the same impact as the original one. Not an easy task. The comfort was addressed with a lot more restrooms, a new entrance with plenty of cash registers, a lift for the disabled and a terrace with plenty of open air space and a view to Niemeyer‘s memorial da America Latina across the street. For impact we concentrated in 3 elements: a new dance floor made of protruded wood stripes with embedded LED that connect the ceiling, one of the walls, the bar, and the DJ booth, forming a network of light lines, a 3d circuitry that displays live generated animations in total synch with the music through software specially developed for it. It still follows the music machine concept, but now a much more powerful and higher tech machine. One of the walls is a big mirror that reflects the lights from the others. In fact it is a false mirror that covers a very large window (20 m) with embedded LED light boxes that obstruct partially the view. They emit light to both inside and outside, which lead us to the second impact element, the new façade: a corrugated aluminum box with a window that shows some of the light action inside. The third impact feature is the lounge: interceding blocks of 4 different shades of wood, disposed in random rotation angles, as if the music in the area has caused a small earthquake and the architecture was shaken. This area is also very comfortable and the music is smoother.