AR Reading List 037: nightlife

The dark of night can be a space for subterfuge, for dangerous deeds obscured in shadow and shielded from watchful gaze. But by the same concealment, that darkness can also be a source of liberation; making space for sex and sociability freed from the social strictures of the light of day.

As many of the joys of a city’s life at night have been curtailed by lockdowns and club closures this year, the effect barely dampened by Zoom events and bedroom dance parties, with this week’s reading list we long for the safe return of the night to our doorsteps, when we can meet again under the stars.

Nightwalking in London, Matthew Beaumont, AR April 2020
‘For in the metropolis at night, both society’s contradictions and the contradictions that render consciousness itself so contradictory – because we are creatures at once solitary and sociable – are exposed’

Dark matters: the avant-garde and club culture since the 1960s, AR May 2018, Tom Wilkinson
‘The darkness of the nightclub is usually deployed to conceal bodies and acts that may not be acceptable in the sunlit street – unconventional sexualities and genders, and illicit drug use above all’

The Haçienda night club in Manchester, UK, interior by Ben Kelly, AR September 1982, Alastair Best and Diana Cochrane
‘Manchester, magnificent in defeat, is one of those cities, like Glasgow, which refuse to lie down. The central area still retains a battered dignity. There is vitality too, as if the inhabitants no longer felt they have anything to lose’

Out of space: changing homosexual geographies, AR March 2019, Huw Lemmey
‘The widespread use of conspiracy laws was harnessed to shut down all forms of public gay life. Bars and clubs were closed, radical bookshops selling titles around gay culture and sex were raided, vice squads increased pressure on cruising and cottaging, and attempts to hook up – even flirting – were also suppressed under laws around importuning’

The Motel of the future, AR February 1956, Diana Rowntree
‘What in fact does the motorist want that is not to be found in a good traditional hotel? Firstly, a night’s lodging that is not a break in his journey but part of it. This means direct under-cover access from motor car to room’

Swapping sweet dreams for after-hours art in Paris, AR December 2010, Crystal Bennes
‘A pitch-black room in the Hôtel d’Albret was filled with 300 alarm clocks resting on shelves lining one wall. The clocks ticked away all throughout the evening until precisely 7am, when the alarms all went off in (near) unison’

Chef’s table: Refettorio Gastromotiva, Rio de Janeiro, by Metro Arquitetos Associados, AR October 2018, Ciara Long
‘The Refettorio feeds the homeless, but it is a vastly different experience from a soup kitchen. Every night, its visiting crowds are served healthy, well-presented dishes made from food that would have been thrown out despite being in good condition’