david lynch: silencio club

lounge
photo: alexandre guirkinger/silencio


silencio club owners arnaud frisch, manu barron and anthony caton invited david lynch
to create a 'unique club experience' the result is a new space located at 42 rue montmartre
that is inspired by and named after club silencio from the film mulholland drive made by
lynch in 2001.

'I'm 65 years old… they say that when men go into their 50s they dream of building gigantic
towers to prove their virility. I have directed films, composed music, made all sorts of objects,
works that had a beginning and an end. now i want to make something solid. first, I started
with painting.'

'for the last three years I have been working in a lithographic studio in montparnasse that
picasso and miró used, drawing on the same stones where they painted. then I started
working on silencio, which has taken the last two years. looking at what we have done,
I feel myself almost immortal.'  - david lynch told l'express (via the guardian)

lynch collaborated with: ENIA architects, raphael navot, thierry dreyfus, quinette,
domeau & peres, kuntzel & deygas and ateliers gohard to realize his designs.

silencio will open to its members from october 6, 2011.


bar
photo: alexandre guirkinger/silencio

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following text provided by silencio

'the building was raised in 1883 by architect ferdinand bal and it used to be la france
newspaper’s headquarters in 1874. two atlantes dressed with a lion hide and
two caryatids sculpted by ernest-eugène hiolle and louis lefèvre - symbolize journalism
and typography on the left and right of the entrance arcade, and emphasize the
newspaper’s sign standing under the first stage balcony.'

'this building used to be the paul dupont printing house. several newspapers
(le radical, l’aurore, l’univers, le jockey, la patrie, la presse, l’echo de l’armée)
used to have their headquarters there until 1914. 'j’accuse', the famous article
written by emile zola and published in l’aurore, to stand up for captain alfred dreyfus’
innocence and against anti-semitism, was printed in those basements.
jean jaurès settled l’humanité in 1913 and he was murdered on july 31, 1914
in the café du croissant just across the street.'

'to give its soul back to this industrial and historical place,
I chose to call on david lynch’s dreamlike imagination.'
arnaud frisch / silencio owner


bar
photo: alexandre guirkinger/silencio

the silencio is meant to be a creative and broadcasting laboratory, a space for
exchanges and discoveries. it boasts the legacy of the salons, from parisian
literary circles of the 17th century to london 18th century private clubs, from the
cabaret voltaire’s dadaists of zurich to the tabou’s existentialists of
saint-germain-des-près, from paris’ palace to new york’s studio 54.

designer raphaël navot, in collaboration with architectural agency ENIA and
prestigious craftsmen houses, developed david lynch’s original ideas.
all furniture, textures and materials were then made to measure for the club.

gold
golden monochrome is the colour signature of the silencio, whether the gold
be real, pure metal or elaborated powder projections on floors and walls,
it creates a game of shadows and lights... this technical feat was made possible
thanks to the traditional craftsmanship of ateliers gohard who have lead their
traditional techniques in a contemporary field.

organic mathematics
the club is shielded with a strong motive of randomly scattered raw wood cladding
blocks that provide the space with a protector soul. this texture allows the silencio
to be moved in space-time.

circulation
several volumes compose the silencio: live stage with a game on lights, a deep
and spacious cinema, an intimate art library, or an illusive forest as a smoking room.
a shifting of underground volumes connected by lacquered extrusions allows a
curious transition of material and ambiances. the whole club was conceived
following an intuitive study of transitions, and the core of the club is the bar around
which the singular volumes circulate.

light
light designer thierry dreyfus collaborated on the light direction of the space.

innovative craftsmanship and design
a carpet printed by david lynch is covering the main entrance hall, the bar and
lounges area spread according to the space flow. a customized wall texture of
decomposed marble was developed with ‘signature murale’.


washrooms
photo: alexandre guirkinger/silencio


furniture
david lynch has been designing and building furniture for many years.
three series from his works have been realized for the silencio:


'wire chair' by david lynch, manufactured by domeau & peres
photo: sabine pigalle

wire
the 'wire' series (manufactured by domeau & peres) are welcoming seats
and sofas in the library lounge, characterized by a curved metal rod that is
harmonically unjustified in its clustered complexity, positioned under each
seat.


'cinema seats' by david lynch (manufactured by quinette)

cinema seats
the cinema seats (manufactured by quinette) are the result of
a special ergonomic study that has been conducted to match a spacious and
atypical manner to experience the cinema viewing. the seat owns a reduced
inclination and straightforward geometry to allow the guests a liberated position.
each seat has its leg stretch pouf, tray, lamp and uncompromised space.
projected bronze has been applied to the entire support of the seat.


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additional images of silencio can be seen here and here