No. 4: DESPACIO: WHERE MUSIC + SPATIAL DESIGN COLLIDE

If you haven’t read the Wired article on Despacio, we highly recommend you do so. Honestly, perhaps just close this blog post and go read that.

Or don’t.

In 2013, a group of punk rock audiophiles built the world’s greatest club soundsystem and 10-years later, they’re touring it around the world.

James Murphy, John Klett and the Dewaele brothers are the geniuses we all needed. Their communal love for the analogue is everything we admire at postmodern tectonics, and the four of them manifested this love into one singular moment on the Despacio dancefloor!

Everyone has heard of Grateful Dead’s ‘Wall of Sound,’ but many are still new to Despacio’s checkerboard dancefloor. Both systems utilize McIntosh’s industry respected amplifiers; however, the Wall of Sound only tackled 30,000 watts of power, while Despacio took on 50,000 watts. Perhaps this means nothing to you, but we’re not so much interested in the sound stats either. We’re interested in the aesthetics.

At postmodern tectonics, we share a love for analogue design, and audio equipment is a prime example of the analogue. From Technics turntables to McIntosh amplifiers, why change what isn't broken? Not only do these devices sound good, they look good too and they're durable! The punk rock trio shares this feeling and exemplifies it in their spatial design. We love them for it.

As David Dewaele puts so well,

"The system couldn't just sound good, it had to look good too.

Dewaele points out that something he, his brother and Murphy share is a love for old instruments and records, all highly driven by aesthetics. "If a great piece of machinery looks ugly it will never be in a studio," he says.

 Dewaele talks fondly about the blue light that comes from the McIntosh amps. "The blue light emanating from all the stacks is a really beautiful thing, even when all the lights are turned off.

The amps are a design classic, like an Eames chair or something."

When designing a sound space, its not always just about the acoustics – its about the experience.

If you ever make it to a Despacio party, take a look around – the entire experience is aesthetically designed. From the very floor you stand on to the music you're listening to, you'll love them for it too.