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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
FOREWORD ............................................................................................................. ix
TABLE OF CONTENTS .......................................................................................... xi
ABBREVIATIONS ................................................................................................. xiii
LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................... xv
LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................... xvii
SUMMARY ............................................................................................................. xix
ÖZET xxi
1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................. 1
1.1 Aim of Thesis ..................................................................................................... 3
1.2 Scope of Thesis .................................................................................................. 4
1.3 Methodology ...................................................................................................... 5
2. FUN, LEISURE TIME AND SPATIALIZATION OF NIGHTLIFE ............... 7
2.1 The Concept of Fun and Entertainment ............................................................. 8
2.1.1 Fincham’s schema of fun .......................................................................... 13
2.2 The Concept of Leisure .................................................................................... 15
2.2.1 Leisure within the framework of capitalism and postmodernism ............. 16
2.2.2 Nocturnal leisure ....................................................................................... 18
2.3 Spazilation of Nocturnal Leisure ...................................................................... 18
2.4 Transitory Societies, Nightlife and Fun ........................................................... 19
3. NOCTURNAL HETEROTOPIAS OF COUNTER-CULTURE .................... 23
3.1 A Counter-Society of 1960’s: Hippies ............................................................. 26
3.1.1 Festivals of music, love and peace ............................................................ 30
3.1.1.1 Monterey International Pop Festival .................................................. 31
3.1.1.2 Woodstock Art & Music Fair ............................................................. 33
3.1.1.3 Glastonbury Festival ‘71 .................................................................... 35
3.1.1.4 Free festival in Turkey: Barışarock .................................................... 37
3.1.1.5 Hippie house parties ........................................................................... 39
3.2 A Counter-Society Between 1965-1974: Disco Youth .................................... 40
3.2.1 Disco architecture ..................................................................................... 43
3.2.1.1 The Voom Voom ............................................................................... 44
3.2.1.2 Electric Circus .................................................................................... 47
3.2.1.3 The Cheetah Club ............................................................................... 50
3.2.1.4 Piper Club .......................................................................................... 52
3.2.1.5 Piper Pluriclub .................................................................................... 55
3.2.1.6 L’Altro Mando Club .......................................................................... 58
3.2.1.7 Mach 2 ................................................................................................ 60
3.2.1.8 Space Electronic ................................................................................. 62
3.2.1.9 The Loft .............................................................................................. 66
3.3 A Counter-Society Between 1985 – Mid 1990’s: Rave People ....................... 69
3.3.1 Rave culture as a ‘Second Summer of Love’ ............................................ 72
3.3.2 Clubnight raves ......................................................................................... 74
3.3.2.1 Paradise Garage .................................................................................. 75
3.3.2.2 The Warehouse/The Music Box......................................................... 77
3.3.2.3 Hot, Nude and Flesh in the Haçienda................................................. 79
3.3.2.4 Shoom at a basement gym ................................................................. 83
3.3.2.5 Future, Spectrum and Rage at Heaven Club ...................................... 84
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3.3.2.6 The Trip/Club Sin in Astoria .............................................................. 86
3.3.2.7 From Ufo Club to Tresor .................................................................... 88
3.3.3 Event-based raves ...................................................................................... 90
3.4 Conclusion of This Part .................................................................................... 93
4. DISMANTLING DESIGN ELEMENTS OF NOCTURNAL HETEROTOPIAS .............................................................................. 101
4.1 Ethos of Nocturnal Heterotopias .................................................................... 101
4.1.1 Types of nocturnal heterotopias .............................................................. 103
4.1.2 Functional use of nocturnal heterotopias ................................................ 104
4.1.3 Capacity of nocturnal heterotopias .......................................................... 105
4.2 Sensorial Elements of Nocturnal Heterotopias ............................................... 107
4.2.1 Sound (auditory system).......................................................................... 108
4.2.2 Darkness (visual system) ......................................................................... 110
4.2.3 Bodies (haptic system) ............................................................................ 111
4.2.4 Temperature & humidity (haptic system & taste-smell system) ............. 113
4.2.5 Smoke/fog (visual system, haptic system & taste-smell system)............ 113
4.2.6 Conclusion of this part ............................................................................ 114
5. HACK THE PANDEMIC: THE ONLINE DISCO PARTIES IN THE HOUSES .............................................................................................. 119
5.1 Today’s Manifestation: Cyber-Society ........................................................... 120
5.1.1 Cyberculture in the 2000s and social media............................................ 124
5.1.2 COVID-19 pandemic process ................................................................. 127
5.2 Fun and Nightlife of the Cyber-Society ......................................................... 128
5.3 Returning Home and Distance Disco ............................................................. 130
5.4 Scope and Methodology of Fieldwork ........................................................... 133
5.4.1 Survey study ............................................................................................ 134
5.4.2 Survey results .......................................................................................... 135
5.4.2.1 Demographic information ................................................................ 135
5.4.2.2 Perception of fun and nocturnal spaces ............................................ 137
5.4.2.3 Spatial characteristics evaluation ..................................................... 140
5.4.2.4 Atmospheric evaluation .................................................................... 142
5.4.2.5 Nocturnal life habits before Covid-19 pandemic ............................. 146
5.4.2.6 Nocturnal life habits during Covid-19 pandemic ............................. 149
5.4.3 Interviews ................................................................................................ 154
5.4.3.1 Interview with Int-01 ........................................................................ 154
5.4.3.2 Interview with Int-02 ........................................................................ 156
5.4.3.3 Interview with Int-03 ........................................................................ 157
5.4.3.4 Interview with Int-04 ........................................................................ 158
5.5 Findings of the Research and Discussion ....................................................... 159
6. CONCLUSION ................................................................................................... 163
REFERENCES ....................................................................................................... 169
APPENDICES ........................................................................................................ 179
APPENDIX A ...................................................................................................... 180
APPENDIX B ....................................................................................................... 182
APPENDIX C ....................................................................................................... 204
APPENDIX D ...................................................................................................... 208
CURRICULUM VITAE ........................................................................................ 209
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ABBREVIATIONS
DD : Distance Disco
DiY : Do-it-Yourself
DJ : Disc Jokey
EDM : Electronic Dance Music
EPI : Exploding Plastic Inevitable
LSS : Life Satisfaction Survey
OED : Oxford English Dictionary
TURKSTAT : Turkish Statistical Institute
WELL : Whole Earth ‘Lectronic Link
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LIST OF TABLES
Page
Table 5.1 : Characteristics of global social media platforms that have emerged in the last 20 years and status of their users (Musaoğlu, 2022) .................... 126
Table 5.2 : Demographic Information Table of Participants .................................. 136
Table 5.3 : Frequency and Percentiles of Martial and Household Status of Participants .......................................................................................... 137
Table 5.4 : Frequency and Percentiles of Life Perspectives of Participants. .......... 137
Table 5.5 : Frequency and Percentiles of Fun and Nocturnal Venue Perceptions .. 138
Table 5.6 : Frequency and Percentiles of Perception of Night Out......................... 139
Table 5.7 : Frequency and Percentiles of Purpose of Night Out ............................. 139
Table 5.8 : Descriptive Analysis of Importance and Escapism of Night Out ......... 139
Table 5.9 : Frequency and Percentiles of Image Comparisons ............................... 141
Table 5.10 : Frequency and Percentiles of Location Choices inside a Nocturnal Venue .................................................................................................. 142
Table 5.11 : Frequency and Percentiles of Image Comparisons for Atmospheric Evaluation ........................................................................................... 143
Table 5.12 : Frequency and Percentiles of Color Choices ...................................... 143
Table 5.13 : Reliability Statics of Atmospheric Evaluation .................................... 144
Table 5.14 : Descriptive Analysis of Atmospheric Evaluation ............................... 144
Table 5.15 : Crosstabulation of Smoke/Fogginess Visual Comparison and Fogginess Likert Scale ......................................................................................... 145
Table 5.16 : Crosstabulation of Lighting While Dancing Visual Comparison and Darkness Likert Scale ......................................................................... 145
Table 5.17 : Crosstabulation of Lighting While Chatting Visual Comparison and Darkness Likert Scale ......................................................................... 146
Table 5.18 : Crosstabulation of Crowd Density Visual Comparison and Density of Bodies Likert Scale ............................................................................. 146
Table 5.19 : Frequency and Percentiles of Periodicity of Night Out and the Number of People Going Out Together ............................................................ 147
Table 5.20 : Frequency and Percentiles of Preferred Music Genres ....................... 147
Table 5.21 : Frequency and Percentiles of Preferred Venue Types ........................ 148
Table 5.22 : Frequency and Percentiles of Preferred Party/Festival Types ............ 148
Table 5.23 : Frequency and Percentiles of Hosting/Attending House Parties ........ 148
Table 5.24 : Demographic Information Table of Online Party Participants ........... 150
Table 5.25 : Frequency and Percentiles of Life Perspectives of Online Party Participants .......................................................................................... 150
Table 5.26 : Frequency and Percentiles of Attendance to Online Parties ............... 151
Table 5.27 : Frequency and Percentiles of Purpose of Attendance ......................... 151
Table 5.28 : Frequency and Percentiles of Areas of Joining Online Parties ........... 152
Table 5.29 : Descriptive Analysis of Atmospheres and Privacy of Online Parties . 153
Table 5.30 : Frequency and Percentiles of Belonging to Atmospheres .................. 153
Table 5.31 : Demographic Information Table of Interviewees’ and Their Codes .. 154
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LIST OF FIGURES
Page
Figure 2.1 : Fincham’s Schema of Fun (redrawn by Musaoğlu, 2020) .................... 13
Figure 3.1 : Bubble Chair (Eero Aarnio, 1968) ........................................................ 29
Figure 3.2 : “Installation view of a room for Mary Quant” (Best, 1967) ................. 29
Figure 3.3 : The bubble diagram of Monterey Pop Festival (Musaoğlu, 2022) ....... 32
Figure 3.4 : The main stage of Monterey Pop Festival, 1967 (URL-6) .................... 33
Figure 3.5 : The backstage of Monterey Pop Festival, 1967 (URL-7) ..................... 33
Figure 3.6 : The bubble diagram of Woodstock ‘69 (Musaoğlu, 2022) ................... 34
Figure 3.7 : Differentiation in the use of structures and tools in Woodstock Festival, 1969 (URL-8). ...................................................................................... 34
Figure 3.8 : The bubble diagram of Glastonbury Festival ’71 (Musaoğlu, 2022). ... 36
Figure 3.9 : The observer tower of Glastonbury Festival, 1971 (URL-9) ................ 36
Figure 3.10 : The pyramid stage of Glastonbury Festival, 1971 (URL-10) ............. 36
Figure 3.11 : The bubble diagram of Barışarock Festival, 2006 (Musaoğlu, 2022) . 38
Figure 3.12 : The strolling area of Barışarock Festival (URL-11)............................ 39
Figure 3.13 : The concert area in Barışarock Festival (URL-12) ............................. 39
Figure 3.14 : Dale Sizer’s tiki inspired living room (Gould, 2000) .......................... 40
Figure 3.15 : A living room (Fisher, 1972) ............................................................... 40
Figure 3.16 : The light tower of La Défense (URL-15) ............................................ 46
Figure 3.17 : A tower in the Voom Voom (URL-16) ............................................... 46
Figure 3.18 : The bubble diagram of the Second Voom Voom (Musaoğlu, 2022) .. 46
Figure 3.19 : The bubble diagram of Electric Circus (Musaoğlu, 2022) .................. 48
Figure 3.20 : The Electric Circus, 1967 (URL-17) ................................................... 49
Figure 3.21 : View of Electric Circus through a horizontal slit window from above the dance floor (above), the computer sound-light console (below left), one of the hutches-for-two (below right). (John L. Nuzzo, 1969). ....... 50
Figure 3.22 : The bubble diagram of the Cheetah Club (Musaoğlu, 2022) .............. 51
Figure 3.23 : The dance floor of the Cheetah Club (URL-18) .................................. 52
Figure 3.24 : The bubble diagram of the Piper Club (Musaoğlu, 2022) ................... 54
Figure 3.25 : The Piper Club, 1966 (URL-19) .......................................................... 55
Figure 3.26 : The bubble diagram of the Piper Pluriclub (Musaoğlu, 2022) ............ 57
Figure 3.27 : The interior of Piper Pluriclub, Turin, 1966 (URL-21) ....................... 57
Figure 3.28 : The bubble diagram of the L’Altro Mondo (Musaoğlu, 2022) ........... 59
Figure 3.29 : L’Altro Mondo Club, Rimini, 1967 (URL-23) ................................... 59
Figure 3.30 : The bubble diagram of Mach 2 (Musaoğlu, 2022) .............................. 61
Figure 3.31 : The interior of Mach 2 Club (URL-24) ............................................... 61
Figure 3.32 : The bubble diagram of Space Electronic (Musaoğlu, 2022) ............... 63
Figure 3.33 : The foam rubber seatings in Space Electronic (URL-25) ................... 64
Figure 3.34 : The dance floor of Space Electronic (URL-26) .................................. 64
Figure 3.35 : “Bedroom for the Vegetable Garden House” poster prepared by Gruppo 9999 for the exhibition in Moma and the vegetable garden that installed on the Space Electronic dance floor for 1971’s Mondial festival (URL-27) .................................................................................. 65
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Figure 3.36 : The bubble diagram of the Loft (Musaoğlu, 2022) ............................. 68
Figure 3.37 : A party interior at the Loft (URL-28) .................................................. 68
Figure 3.38 : The bubble diagram of Paradise Garage (Musaoğlu, 2022) ................ 76
Figure 3.39 : The dance floor of Paradise Garage (URL-30) ................................... 77
Figure 3.40 : The bubble diagram of the Warehouse (Musaoğlu, 2022) .................. 78
Figure 3.41 : The dance floor of the Warehouse (URL-31) ...................................... 79
Figure 3.42 : The bubble diagram of the Haçienda (Musaoğlu, 2022) ..................... 80
Figure 3.43 : The dance floor with the cat’s eye on short poles (URL-32) .............. 81
Figure 3.44 : The bubble diagram of Shoom (Musaoğlu, 2022) ............................... 84
Figure 3.45 : The smiley face logo as a decoration on the walls (URL-33) ............. 84
Figure 3.46 : The bubble diagram of Heaven (Musaoğlu, 2022) .............................. 85
Figure 3.47 : A ‘Future’ rave in the small room of Heaven Club (URL-34) ............ 86
Figure 3.48 : The bubble diagram of the Astoria and Bang! (Musaoğlu, 2022) ....... 87
Figure 3.49 : The ‘Trip’ rave in the Astoria (URL-35) ............................................. 88
Figure 3.50 : The bubble diagram of Ufo Club (Musaoğlu, 2022) ........................... 89
Figure 3.51 : The barred door to the dance floor in Tresor (URL-36) ...................... 90
Figure 3.52 : World Dance Rave next to the M25 Orbital motorway in East Grinstead, UK,1989 (URL-37) ............................................................... 92
Figure 3.53 : The chronological mapping of nocturnal heterotopias with social and political events and technological developments (Musaoğlu, 2021) ...... 96
Figure 4.1 : The types of nocturnal heterotopias examined (Musaoğlu, 2022) ...... 103
Figure 4.2 : The functional uses of nocturnal heterotopias (Musaoğlu, 2022) ....... 105
Figure 4.3 : The capacities of nocturnal heterotopias (Musaoğlu, 2022) ................ 106
Figure 4.4 : Sensorial elements of nocturnal spaces (Musaoğlu, 2021) .................. 107
Figure 4.5 : Relations of music genres in historical order (Musaoğlu, 2021) ......... 108
Figure 4.6 : Music genres and mediums by nocturnal heteropias (Musaoğlu, 2021) .............................................................................................................. 110
Figure 4.7 : The correlation of darkness and emancipation of the body (Musaoğlu, 2021) .................................................................................. 111
Figure 4.8 : The correlation of body relations by activities and existence of experience (Musaoğlu, 2021) ............................................................... 112
Figure 4.9 : The correlation of temperature and body state (Musaoğlu, 2021). ..... 113
Figure 4.10 : The correlation of density of smoke and ecstatic experience (Musaoğlu, 2021). ................................................................................. 114
Figure 5.1 : Differences between the interfaces of Youtube and Zoom in terms of user interactions and relation to the screen (Musaoğlu, 2002) ............. 126
Figure 5.2 : The interface of the Distance Disco (URL-41) ................................... 131
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SPATIALIZATION OF FUN: NOCTURNAL HETEROTOPIAS FROM COUNTER-SOCIETY TO CYBER-SOCIETY
SUMMARY
In the main structure of the thesis, it is aimed to determine the fun, which is an important but overlooked part of human life, the social unity that has an important place in the formation of entertainment, and the places that will provide this unity. After the Second World War, with the change of perspective on entertainment, entertainment has become an expression of freedom. However, although the libertarian aura of leisure time manifests itself in the historical process, in order to maintain the stability of the capitalist system, it took control by promoting its own leisure time in order to manage people whose working times were shortened and their leisure time increased with the industrial revolution. In this case, leisure time has ceased to be an area of individual emancipation and personal development and has become a part of the economic system. Individuals have been transformed into a society that is directed to consumption and can be managed within a passive perception of leisure.
Perceiving this situation as a problem, when the space typologies that are entertainment-oriented, opposing the capitalist economy, and creating temporary societies are examined with a retrospective view, it has been observed that night spaces arising from the countercultural and countercultural perspective appear as a salvation space. Accordingly, the periodical counterculture types that emerged from the 60s, which was a breaking point for the freedom struggle, and the countercultural nocturnal spaces of those periods were examined in the context of heterotopia with their temporary and contradictory nature. Although the existence of these places is sometimes quite short, considering their overlap with social and political events and technological developments, they have been quite effective in the cultural framework in the long term. Since most of the places examined within the scope of the thesis are located in the past and the ones that remain today have undergone a lot of change, in order to stick to the cultural framework they expressed, the places were interpreted architecturally in the light of literature, documentaries, photographs, and information obtained from the memories of former regulars, and their spatial diagrams were produced.
Then, the characteristic examination and atmospheric extraction of these places were carried out. It is important for the people having fun to accept the space they are in so that they can feel safe and liberated, for this the space must coincide with the individual's vision of fun. This situation arises from the relationship of perception with memory and emotions. The sensory stimuli received from the place reach the consciousness by combining with the emotions and memories of the person and determine whether the experience is positive or negative. If the ethos of the place coincides with the user's perception of entertainment, a positive experience for the user emerges. This is the spatial manifestation of the feeling of happiness created by entertainment. Although various findings have been obtained for the physical presence of the space in the studies on emotions and space, it is the atmosphere of the space that
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creates these feelings in the architecture of the party, so the architectural qualities should remain in the background. Atmospheric parameters obtained from the examined heterotopias were determined as sound, darkness, bodies, temperature/humidity, and smoke/fog. The important thing in entertainment venues is that all these atmospheric parameters can exist simultaneously and in harmony with each other. This simultaneity can be explained by the regenerative and retribalizing properties of experience and the instantaneous architecture where space disappears and time stops. All parameters must be in harmony and simultaneous to provide the atmosphere for the formation of this instant architecture.
Within the scope of the study, while the existence of the current manifestations of counterculture and nightlife habits was examined, cyberculture was reached. From this point of view, it is examined that an individual who was socially isolated and in global desperation during the pandemic process turned his home into a resistance area as an area of liberation while participating in virtual parties. For this, the researcher was involved in the research in an autoethnographic way and discovered the Dutch-based Distance Disco, a platform where the participants she followed by participating in 51 different events could transform their interiors over time and create a new community.
In the field research part of the thesis, the reflection of entertainment and nightlife on houses, which is a personal space, is examined. Individuals who returned to their homes due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which affected the whole world, produced alternative socialization and nightlife practices. Thus, the spatiality needed for a virtual house party in the digital age, the transformation of one's own interior for this purpose, and the transformation of the concept of a house party in parties made over virtual platforms have been observed. For this reason, the research was carried out with two methods: a questionnaire measuring the accuracy of previous spatial and atmospheric parameters, and semi-structured interviews about the use of the house in virtual parties. As a result of the survey, users prefer places that will create emotions such as excitement, dynamism and joy in night places, but the findings related to the space typologies theorized over these emotions have not been established sufficiently. The measurement of atmospheric parameters, on the other hand, was provided in a healthier way, and it was revealed that only the fog/smoke parameter was not preferred as in the study. These findings make the hypothesis of instant interior space, spaces whose existing architecture is rendered invisible with atmosphere, expressed in the main structure of the thesis correct.
Apart from this, the participants, who use part of their homes for virtual parties, briefly stated that they hide their existing character by darkening the spaces in their homes and transforming them by using atmospheric elements. Similar findings were obtained in semi-structured interviews conducted for in-depth analysis.
As a final word, most virtual parties and entertainment types lack sensory experience and can currently only provide an auditory and visual experience. Indeed, virtual parties have not emerged to replace physical ones but offer a new kind. It is possible that this new type will offer multisensory experience with the advancement of technology. For this reason, virtual party platforms, which are periodically preferable at the end of the pandemic, can become an experience that can become a part of daily life with the development of technology. In fact, it is possible to create modular virtual party areas inside the houses in the future.
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EĞLENCENİN MEKANSALLAŞMASI: KARŞI-TOPLUMDAN SİBER-TOPLUMA GECE HETEROTOPYALARI
ÖZET
Tezin ana strüktüründe, insan hayatının önemli ancak göz ardı edilen bir parçası olan eğlence, eğlencenin oluşumunda önemli bir yere sahip olan sosyal birliktelik ve bu birlikteliği sağlayacak mekanların tespitinin yapılması hedeflenmiştir. İkinci Dünya Savaşı’nın ardından eğlenceye bakışın değişmesiyle, eğlence bir özgürlük ifadesi haline gelmiştir. Ancak, boş zamanın özgürlükçü aurası her ne kadar tarihsel süreçte de kendini gösterse de, kapitalist sistem istikrarını koruyabilmek için sanayi devrimiyle birlikte, çalışma süreleri kısalmış ve boş zamanları artmış insanları yönetebilmek için kendi sunduğu boş zamanı teşvik ederek kontrolü ele almıştır. Bu durumda, boş zaman bireyin özgürleşme ve kişisel gelişim alanı olmaktan çıkmış ve ekonomik sistemin bir parçası haline dönüşmüştür. Bireyler, tüketime yönlendirilmiş ve pasif bir boş zaman algısı içerisinde yönetilebilen toplumlara dönüştürülmüşlerdir.
Bu durumu bir problem olarak algılayarak, tezde retrospektif bir bakışla, kapitalist ekonomiye karşı çıkan, geçici toplumlar yaratan ve eğlence odaklı mekan tipolojisi irdelendiğinde, karşıkültür ve karşıkültürel perspektiften doğan gece mekanlarının bir kurtuluş alanı olarak tezahür ettiği gözlemlenmiştir. Buna göre, özgürlük mücadelesi için bir kırılma noktası olan 1960’lardan itibaren ortaya çıkmış dönemsel karşıkültür tipleri ve o dönemlerin karşıkültürel gece mekanları geçici ve aykırı doğalarıyla heterotopya bağlamında incelenmiştir. Bu mekanların var oluş süreleri kimi zaman oldukça kısa olsa da, politik ve sosyal olaylarla ve teknolojik gelişmelerle çakışmalarına bakıldığında, kültürel çerçevede uzun vadede oldukça etkili olmuştur. Tez kapsamında incelenen mekanların çoğunun geçmişte yer almasıyla ve günümüzde kalanların da oldukça değişime uğramasıyla, anlattıkları kültürel çerçeveye sadık kalabilmek için, mekanlar, literatür taraması, belgeseller, fotoğraflar ve eski müdavimlerin anılarından elde edilen bilgiler ışığında mimari açıdan belgelenmiş ve mekansal diagramlarının üretimi gerçekleştirilmiştir.
Daha sonra, bu mekanların karakteristik incelemesi ve atmosferik sökümü gerçekleştirilmiştir. Eğlenen insanların, kendilerini güvende ve özgürleşmiş hissedebilmeleri için bulundukları mekanı kabul etmeleri önemlidir, bunun için mekanın bireyin eğlence vizyonuyla örtüşür olması gereklidir. Bu durum, algının hafıza ve duygularla olan ilişkisinden doğar; mekandan alınan duyusal uyaranlar kişinin duygu ve anılarıyla birleşerek bilince ulaşır ve deneyimin olumlu ya da olumsuz olduğunu belirler. Mekanın karakteri kullanıcının eğlence algısıyla örtüşüyorsa, kullanıcı için olumlu bir deneyim ortaya çıkar, bu eğlencenin yarattığı mutluluk hissinin mekansal tezahürüdür. Duygular ve mekan ile ilgili yapılan çalışmalarda mekanın fiziksel varlığı için çeşitli bulgular elde edilse de, partinin mimarisinde bu duyguları oluşturan mekanın fiziksel varlığından çok atmosferidir, dolayısıyla mimari niteliklerin arka planda kalması gerekir. İncelenen heterotopyalardan elde edilen atmosferik parametreler ses, karanlık, bedenler, ısı/nem
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ve duman/sis olarak belirlenmiştir. Eğlence mekanlarında önemli olan, tüm bu atmosferik parametrelerin aynı anda ve birbiriyle uyum içinde var olabilmesidir. Bu eşzamanlılık, deneyimin yenileyici ve yeniden kabileleştirici özellikleri ile mekanın kaybolduğu ve zamanın durduğu anlık mimari ile açıklanabilir. Bu anlık mimarinin oluşumunu sağlayan atmosferi oluşturabilmek için tüm parametreler aynı anda ve uyum içinde var olmalıdır.
Çalışma kapsamında karşıkültürün ve gece alışkanlıklarının güncel tezahürlerinin mevcudiyeti incelenirken, siberkültüre ulaşılmıştır. Bu noktadan hareketle, pandemi sürecinde toplumsal olarak tecrit edilmiş ve küresel çaresizlik içinde olan bireylerin sanal partilere katılırken evi bir kurtuluş alanı olarak direniş alanına çevirmesi incelenmiştir. Bunun için araştırmacı otoetnografik bir şekilde araştırmaya dahil olmuş ve 51 farklı etkinliğe katılarak takip ettiği katılımcıların zamanla iç mekanlarını dönüştürdükleri ve yeni bir topluluk oluşturabildikleri bir platform olan Hollanda temelli Distance Disco’yu keşfetmiştir.
Çalışmanın temel amacı, gece eğlencelerinin en yalın mekansal halini, kutlamanın ya da partinin mimarisini gözlemleyebilmek için, öncelikle retrospektif incelemede bugüne kadar teorize edilmemiş ve mekansal şemaları çıkartılmamış mekanları bir araya getirerek bir kurgu oluşturmak; daha sonra bu parti mimarisinin kompakt, taşınabilir, göçebe ve modüler yapısıyla her türlü mekana uyarlanabileceğini gözlemleyebilmek için parametrik sökümünü gerçekleştirmek; son olarak güncel tezahürlerinden siberkültür çerçevesinde, sanal parti atmosferlerinde yeniden vücut bulup bulmadığını gözlemlemektir.
Tez altı bölümden oluşmaktadır: Giriş bölümünde, eğlencenin toplumsal bütünlük içindeki yerine değinilirken, gündelik bir aktivite haline gelen gece mekanlarının tüketim kültüründe özünü kaybettiği ve karşıkültürel perspektifle reenkarne olan modeller üretebildiğinden bahsedilmiştir. Çalışmanın amacı, kapsamı ve metodolojisi bu bölümde açıklanmıştır. İkinci bölümde eğlence ve boş zaman kavramı açıklanmış, ardından boş zaman kavramı kapitalizm ve postmodernizm bağlamında değerlendirilmiştir. Gece boş zamanlarından ve gece boş zamanlarının mekansallaşmasından bahsedilmiş ve gece hayatının ve eğlencenin yarattığı geçici topluluklar anlatılmıştır. Üçüncü bölümde, karşı kültür heterotopyalarının tanımı yapılmış ve 1960'dan 1990'a küresel etkisi olan sosyal ve politik olaylar ile teknolojik gelişmeler incelenmiş, bu olaylar çerçevesinde ortaya çıkmış karşı kültür hareketleri ve yarattıkları heterotopyalar teorize edilmiştir; 60'ların sonundaki hippi ev partileri ve hippi festivalleri; 70'lerin başında diskolar; 80'lerin sonlarında kulüp-tabanlı raveler ve etkinlik-tabanlı raveler. Dördüncü bölümde, gece heterotopyalarının duyusal unsurları ve gece heterotopyalarının bir önceki bölümde bahsedilen mekansal analizlerinden elde edilen parametreler açıklanmıştır.
Beşinci bölümde eğlence ve gece hayatının kişisel bir alan olan evlere yansıması incelenmiştir. Tüm dünyayı etkisi altına alan Covid-19 pandemisiyle evlerine dönen bireyler, alternatif sosyalleşme ve gece hayatı pratikleri üretmişlerdir. Böylece, dijital çağda sanal ev partisi için ihtiyaç duyulan mekansallık, bu amaçla kişinin kendi iç mekanının dönüşümü ve sanal platformlar üzerinden yapılan partilerde ev partisi kavramının dönüşümü gözlemlenmiştir. Bu nedenle, hem önceki mekansal ve atmosferik parametrelerin doğruluğunu ölçen bir anket hem de sanal partilerde evin kullanımına ilişkin yarı yapılandırılmış görüşmeler olmak üzere araştırma iki yöntemle gerçekleştirilmiştir. Anket sonuçları, güvenilir verilerin sağlanabilmesi için bir sosyal bilimler veri analiz programı olan SPSS programı ile analiz edilmiştir. Yapılan
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anketten ortaya çıkan, kullanıcıların gece mekanlarında heyecan, dinamizm, neşe gibi duyguları yaratacak mekanları tercih etmesidir, ancak bu duygular üzerinden teorize edilmiş mekan tipolojileri ile ilişkili bulgular yeterli düzeyde kurulamamıştır. Atmosferik parametrelerin ölçümü ise daha güvenilir bir şekilde elde edilmiş, yalnızca sis/duman parametresinin parametrik söküm incelemesindeki gibi tercih edilmediği ortaya çıkmıştır. Bu bulgular, tezin ana strüktüründe ifade edilen anlık iç mekan, atmosfer ile var olan mimarisi görünmez kılınan mekanlar, hipotezini doğru kılmaktadır.
Bunun dışında, sanal partiler için evlerinin bir kısmını kullanan katılımcılar da , özetle, evleri içerisinde en çok mekanı karartarak var olan, karakterini gizlediklerini parti alanını, çeşitli atmosferik elementleri kullanarak dönüştürdüklerini ifade etmişlerdir. Derinlemesine incelenmesi için yapılan bireysel görüşmelerde de benzer bulgular elde edilmiştir. Özellikle, yanıp sönen ışıkların varlığı en baskın elementtir, bunun sebebi, hareketin bir şekilde mekana dahil edilmesi ve hareket eden bedenlerin yokluğunda bireye farklı bir dinamizm sunabilmesi olarak yorumlanmıştır. Bunun dışında, mobilyaların olabildiğince uzaklaştırılmasıyla bir dans alanı yaratılması, daha az karmaşık arka planların oluşturulması ve vücudun üst kısmını gösterecek kamera yerleşimleri en belirgin mekansal değişikliklerdir. Ses düzeyi yaşanılan ev tipine ve evde yaşayan diğer bireylerle ilişkilidir.
Son söz olarak, sanal partilerin ve eğlence tiplerinin çoğu duyusal deneyim açısından yoksundur ve şu anda yalnızca işitsel ve görsel bir deneyim sağlayabilmektedir. Sanal partiler, elbette fiziksel olanların yerini almak için ortaya çıkmamıştır, yeni bir tür sunmaktadır. Bu yeni sanal gece mekanı türlerinin teknolojinin gelişmesiyle çoklu-duyusal deneyim sunması mümkündür. Bu nedenle pandemi sonunda dönemsel olarak tercih edilebilecek sanal parti platformları, teknolojinin gelişmesiyle günlük hayatın bir parçası haline gelebilecek bir deneyim haline dönüşebilir, hatta, gelecekte evlerin içinde modüler sanal parti mekanları oluşturulması mümkün görülmektedir.
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1. INTRODUCTION
Nocturnal spaces mostly have taken place as a shelter for an escape from daily life, and zones of transgression, rebellion, and liberation. Although it is an important factor that the free time for working people to socialize is generally at night, the irresistible combination of night and fun is linked to the fact that the childhood dark phenomenon is an element of curiosity and the idea of deviation from the norm. Beyond that, what allowed emancipation to take place within these spaces is largely their ability to perform as settings against the norm of everyday life. Nightlife allows people to discover more, express their true selves, and establish their own alternative norms by acting as a mirror of their daily lives and behavior.
As a result of capitalism seeking to control the increased leisure time with post-Fordist working styles, the attitude of nocturnal places towards society is not as radical as it used to be; in fact, the venues have turned into money-making spaces by entrepreneurs instead of hanging out with groups of people with similar passions or achieving a more homogeneous and classless society. Due to the intense monitoring, regulation, and profit-oriented nature of these environments, a normalized, conformist, less vital experience and a way of life that has lost its liberating effect has emerged.
This perceptual transformation in nocturnal venues has restricted the roles of individuals in fun. The user has been able to perform the fun activities up to the limit that the nocturnal venue gives to the user for gain. In this case, fun that has turned into retail has decreased as an activity. For this reason, nocturnal venues have entered a vicious circle, even if they appear to be diverse, and are being presented as a standardized model of a dominant perception.
When the forms that reject this standardized phenomenon are examined, it is the first hypothesis of the thesis that the nocturnal spaces, which emerged from the countercultural perspective that opposes the capitalist economy, creates temporary societies and gives importance to mental transformation, manifest as an area of salvation. In order to escape from the dominant, a more insightful, reflective, and
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compelling counter-environment has always been created. "Counterblast" is defined by media theorist Mashall McLuhan as an indicator of “the need for a counter-environment as a means of perceiving the dominant one” (McLuhan, 1970). The emergence of this counter-environment is compatible with the state of entertainment that is infringing, pushes the boundaries and deviates from the mainstream norm and creates in itself a new and temporary norm.
Although the term "counterculture" describes a specific point in history, it has had various manifestations over the periods and still has its roots in different conditions today. Costa (2020) explains that it is a process that exists in various periods of history all over the world as follows: “The fusion of a set of responses to hegemonic discourses by a progressive impulse that does not exactly align with any political militancy, but tends to articulate itself through art or the transformation of the critical, private and intimate” (Costa, 2020). This dissertation emphasizes the value of space itself as an instrument of protest and as an alternative form of experiencing society by tracing notions of entertainment, counter-culture, counter-environment, and its interiors.
When its current manifestations are examined, it has been discovered that the counterculture does not exist physically, however, by changing shape, can be observed in the cyberculture which has already contributed thoroughly to its formation. The communities formed since the 1980s by computer technologies, which accelerated the spread of individual liberation and knowledge, remained in the background of the physical world. However, with the pandemic that started at the end of 2019, the whole world has been locked in their homes at the same time and has the same concerns. This situation has increased the importance of cyber-communities and cyber-activities as a means of socialization. Online parties, which represent the expression of a collective disappointment and the joy of socializing, albeit at a distance, and reuniting with dance and music, carry the traces of attitudes of the countercultural perspective such as violating the control mechanism, creating an alternative and temporary society against negative situations, and celebrating life.
However, the second hypothesis of the thesis is that, due to the nature of entertainment, the possibility of providing a multi-sensory experience is not sufficiently available in virtual environments. For this reason, when the forms of entertainment from the counter-society to the cyber-society are examined, the nightlife of the cyber-society offers preferable environments in times of crisis due to the technological and social
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deficiencies experienced today. Because of the instinctive and multisensory nature of entertainment, it works more with a physical social union. Nevertheless, it is important to examine the transformations made and the shortcomings felt by individuals returning and transforming their homes. The portable, temporary and compact architecture of the party is applicable from the largest building to even the smallest house unit. In this thesis, it has been tried to determine what the necessary parameters are. Thus, a preliminary study was carried out on the possibility of integrating virtual nightlife in the future into the house, which has been transformed by new ways of working.
1.1 Aim of Thesis
This thesis aims to observe the counterculture, which is a reflection of the breaking points experienced in the society in the 60s, and accordingly the spatial transformation of the nightlife culture, and to propose the reflection of the counterculture, which has turned into cyberculture today. In the literature research of the thesis, the concepts of fun and leisure are interpreted within the framework of capitalism and postmodernism. Subsequently, counterculture and the heterotopias created by counterculture were examined. Spatial diagrams of these heterotopias were created with data such as literature, architectural drawings, documentaries, archive photographs, user experiences, and atmospheric and characteristic features of the samples were mentioned. In the research part of the thesis, the cybercultural manifestation of the counterculture was examined and spatial readings of the nightlife of the cyberculture were made, starting from the idea of returning home, the breaking point created by the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.
The main subject of the research is whether it is possible to observe the simplest dynamics of fun by moving away from the superficial commercial perception and recreating the fun within itself. Behaviors and actions change as a result of social traumas, and new spatial concepts emerge as a result of the need for new spaces with atmospheric facts about the nocturnal interiors. Will this current process redefine fun? Is it possible to read the future of nocturnal venues? Could social distance be included in nightlife? How can we propose a spatial analysis of this? Can the transformation of spaces enable fun to adapt to our lives as daily needs? Other than our basic needs, which needs do we expect from an interior that is considered a home to meet? With
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the point where technology has come, can the expectations of nocturnal venues with the need for socialization and the desire for pleasure be met in a home environment? Is the home still a private space, or have we made our homes semi-public with technology? Can we create a virtual semi-public definition? These questions form the basis of the research.
1.2 Scope of Thesis
The thesis focuses on nocturnal spaces emerging from the countercultural and cybercultural perspectives. After the Second World War, with the acceleration of technology and the revival of the economy, the emergence of the counterculture that opposed the social welfare state created by this change, and the formation of modern nightlife in the 1960s, it was decided that it would be appropriate to start the historical analysis of the thesis from this decade. Therefore, the transformation of modern nightlife by the ideals of the counterculture and the places it reveals were examined. In this context, hippie house parties, festivals, discos, raves, and contemporary manifestations are examined in the context of space and atmosphere.
As the research of the thesis, the transformation of counterculture to cyberculture and the possible new entertainment types created by this situation are examined. In addition, the result of a survey in which preference measurements of the characteristic and atmospheric elements emerging from the spaces/activities defined as countercultural heterotopias and the reflections of the manifestations of cybercultural entertainment on the domestic organization were investigated. Although it emerged in the late 80s, cyberculture accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic has really spawned new kinds of parties that will shape our physical lives. Among these parties, "Distance Disco" parties, in which the relationship between physical space and cyberspace are together, and which enables some of the atmospheric parameters, were examined as the main event. Thus, it is aimed to find out how fun, which is a social activity, is realized through virtual channels, what kind of atmosphere is needed to create fun at home, and whether this new model created can have a lasting effect on the home.
In the introduction chapter of the thesis, while talking about the place of fun in social integrity, it is mentioned that entertainment, which has become a daily activity, is spatialized in nightlife and lost its essence in consumption culture and can produce
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models that are reincarnated in a countercultural perspective. The aim, scope, and methodology of the thesis are also explained in this section.
In the second chapter; the concept of fun and leisure are explained, then the perception of leisure is evaluated in the context of capitalism and postmodernism. Nocturnal leisure time and spatialization of nocturnal leisure time are mentioned and temporary communities created by nightlife are explained.
In the third chapter, the definition of countercultural heterotopias was made and counterculture movements with global effects and the heterotopias they created were examined; hippie house parties and hippie festivals in the late 60s; discotheques and clubs in the early 70s; club-based raves and event-based raves in the late 80s.
In the fourth chapter, under the headings of sensorial elements of nocturnal heterotopias and ethos of nocturnal heterotopias, the parameters derived from the analyzes of the spaces mentioned in the previous chapter are mentioned.
In the fifth chapter, the reflection of fun and nightlife on houses, which is a personal space, has been examined. The spatiality needed for home entertainment in the online age, the transformation of one's own interior space for this purpose, and the transformation of the concept of a house party in parties made through virtual applications have been examined, as individuals who cannot leave their homes due to the pandemic that has affected the whole world in 2020 bring fun into their homes. For this reason, both a questionnaire measuring the accuracy of previous spatial and atmospheric parameters and individual interviews on the use of the house at online parties were conducted.
In the conclusion part, how the entertainment will take shape as a result of the new breaking point, how the concept of social distance will play a role in the nightlife culture, the effect of active use of the house in nocturnal places, and the use of virtual channels for social entertainment and the new private-public relationship of the house are discussed.
1.3 Methodology
The thesis aims to categorize these nocturnal heterotopias, which have been studied before in a sociological context but have never been theorized before at the architectural level, and to create diagrammatic expressions of the areas so that their
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spatial relationships can be used in future studies. After the documentation of these spaces was provided, the characteristics of the spaces were examined and atmospheric dismantling was carried out.
The researcher aimed to find an activity that progresses in series by participating in more than one online activity that can create a temporary community, and where the participants strive for their atmosphere by becoming regulars with the participant observation method for the research part of the thesis. As a result of this research, the Distance Disco event, which was preferred by individuals from different countries due to the Covid-19 quarantine, announced free of charge on Eventbrite and created by a Netherlands-based design office, was found to meet the desired features.
First of all, a questionnaire was applied to measure the spatial characteristics and atmospheres of nocturnal venues within the scope of the thesis. This survey study aimed to obtain findings on fun and nocturnal venue perspectives, spatial features, atmospheric features, nightlife habits before the Covid-19 pandemic, and nightlife derivatives created during the Covid-19 pandemic. In order to deepen the findings of online activities and their spatialization as a result of the survey study, individual interviews were held with the regulars who attended DD's Friday Disco events. In these semi-structured interviews, it was observed that as the time spent by the users at home increased, there were changes they made to reproduce their daily nightlife routines at home. The place of fun, which is a part of the daily life of the individual, in the home, which is the personal space of the individual, has been analyzed. The spatial data collected from the interviewees were classified and the reflections of entertainment on home life were drawn.
Subsequently, the interior spaces of the selected home environments, by the features that appeal to the senses that affect the user experiences and reveal the experiences as the discourse of the space, were examined with parameters such as light, color, smell, texture, scale, temperature, form, spatial organization, which were revealed from the spaces examined in the literature section. The effect of these factors and the space character on the user experience, the relationship between virtual and real environment, the location of the house in entertainment, and its role in social interaction at a higher scale were tried to be defined.
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2. FUN, LEISURE TIME AND SPATIALIZATION OF NIGHTLIFE
Fun or entertainment is a phenomenon that is not thought about much but is a part of daily life and is not sociologically easy to define. In many of its uses, while fun is an emotion/feeling that expresses amusement, enjoyment, and pleasure, entertainment describes an activity that qualifies as fun. Although there are many elements that are described as fun, theorizing and defining what fun is are not at a sufficient level. Fun is directly linked to life itself but is barely used as its defining characteristic. Although, in studies on pleasure and well-being, the role of fun that is the most relevant example of being happy is not mentioned; the sociologist Ben Fincham, with his research about mental health and work experiences, discovers the importance of fun. Additionally, in happiness research, it has been implicitly discovered that fun plays a significant role in life. While it is an incontrovertible fact that there is a strong correlation between happiness and fun, it has been comprehended as a digressive and derogatory phenomenon due to the way fun is positioned. Fun alleviates boredom and sadness; nurtures families, friendships, identities, and happiness (Fincham, 2018).
Views and theories of happiness come from a wide range of academic discipline backgrounds. Professionals in psychology, psychiatry, economics, social policy, health studies, philosophy, geography, and youth studies have tried to understand themselves, why happiness occurs, its relation to well-being, how it should be measured, and most importantly, how to instill this feeling in individuals and societies. The Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK) was the first to deal with the happiness issue, although indirectly, as an official statistic in Turkey, with the "Life Satisfaction Survey" (LSS) conducted in 2003 (Url-1). In 2011, it was tried to measure the welfare and happiness of the people in England and to direct the social policy of the state. Governments such as France and Canada also developed happiness measures during this period (Stratton, 2010). In all these studies, discussions about happiness and well-being are often grouped under several main themes: wealth and income, job satisfaction, sense of community, relationships with family and friends, environment and cultural activities, hope and expectations, health, and education. The critical point
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in these studies is that what makes people happy, the fun, is seriously discriminated. The reason why fun is not mentioned is that happiness is combined with well-being. Surely, fun is secondary to more important issues such as physical health or economic security; however, when evaluated in terms of happiness, this shortcoming is strange. On the contrary, Fincham revealed in many interviews for his research that having fun is the main reason for being happy by specifically asking what makes them happy (Fincham, 2018). In his book “The Sociology of Fun”, Fincham mentions that fun is an underhanded and multidimensional, multifunctional social phenomenon, and fun is a by-product of activities that are considered to make people happy. According to Fincham (2018), fun defines our experiences; adjectives people; color our memories; nurtures moments with positivity, sets conditions for good relationships; draws the distinction between good and bad times and makes life better. However, fun is rather ambiguous; even though, the people know they are having fun, they have a hard time describing it.
The main argument that Fincham mentions in his book, which will be explained in detail later, is that fun is a social phenomenon. Fincham expresses it as the fun is with or in relation to other people; fun is transmitted to others in ways that make sense and connect closely with our perception of social identity (Fincham, 2018).
This argument is particularly important to the main fiction of the thesis. The starting point of the thesis is that choosing a social phenomenon that brings people together and the spatialization of fun is important for social cohesion. However, as Fincham has stated, fun is a concept that is underestimated and lagged behind. Fincham's efforts to define the fun mentioned in his book sociologically and shed light on the parameters in the formation of fun revealed the contextual route of fun in the fiction of the thesis.
2.1 The Concept of Fun and Entertainment
The word “entertainment” in English originates from the word “entertenir” of French origin. French origin entertain (entretenir), which means “to hold together, to stick together, to support” in the 12th century and “to grow, to sustain, to keep (someone) within a certain mind” at the end of the 15th century, is a combination of the word entre- “among” and tenir “to hold”. Entertainment, yet, was used as a “provision for supporting a servant; social behavior” in the 1530s, but by the 16th century, it is no longer used. Entertainment was “Someone's fun” in the 1610s and the feeling of
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“entertaining” in the 1650s; in 1727 it meant “general performance or display aimed at entertainment” (Url-2). The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) describes entertainment as “amusement, ridicule, sport; also boisterous, playful or festive, humor. A source or cause of ridicule or pleasure”. On the other hand, since entertainment defines the activity passively or actively that provides having fun, fun is a more appropriate word choice as it can describe a feeling, even though the etymology of fun is unclear, although they have similar meanings.
Conversely, In Turkish, all words denoting the concept of fun are derived from the root “eg-”, meaning “to stop, stay, wait”. This etymological definition of fun also means “the ceremony held by standing in one place, gathering, staying”. However, over time, with the expansion of the meaning of the verb “to have fun”, which consists of the same form, it begins to mean “laughing, talking, eating and drinking, playing, ridiculing, making ridiculous, laughing” (Eyuboğlu, 1991). In the Turkish Dictionary of the Turkish Language Association, fun is defined as the “act of having fun, debauchery, a joyful and pleasant thing or person”. The “Glossary of Performing Arts Terminology” provides a more comprehensive description of fun over venue and performance similar to entertainment. Accordingly, the entertainment venue is “the place or the hall where melodies, dances, talents and performances are done only for entertainment and relaxation”; the entertaining performance is expressed as “a performance that seeks to amuse the audience, has no other intention except to make the crowd amused and to have a pleasant time” (Nutku & Özdemir, 1983).
Although there are many dictionary definitions, for the fun experience, these definitions remain superficial. The semantics of experiences are difficult, and dictionary definitions are always reductionist; however, definitions of fun in academic settings have developed over time. Martha Wolfstein, in her article “The emergence of fun morality” published in 1951, defines fun as a grace, a dark, intense, isolated subjective experience. According to Wolfenstein, attitudes towards fun changed in response to the changes brought about by the Second World War and provoked by the transformation of attitudes towards play. While, before the war, fun had negative connotations, both fun and play were reimagined in the US during the post-war 1940s and fun became an example of a well-lived life (Wolfstein, 1951). In 1962, De Grazia expresses fun and freedom as synonymous, expressing that people are free when they have fun and that only liberated people can have fun (De Grazia, 1962). De Grazia
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differs from Wolfstein with enhancing the personal experience of fun and mentioning its social positioning. Richard Butsh refers the relationship between fun and leisure, examining leisure practices by classes. He mentions this relationship with class diversity as fun becomes an imposition, and recreation becomes a goal, with officially sanctioned venues gaining social control for leisure activities and community purchasing services and products for fun (Butsch, 1990).
Theorization of fun has remained incomplete in these studies conducted since the 1950s. Podilchak argues that this shortcoming was caused by fun's open challenge to inequalities in social hierarchical forms and societies. In his article “Distinction between fun, lesiure and enjoyment”, he makes an effort to theorize fun as components of leisure time in relation to pleasure in his leisure research. According to Podilchak, the basic component of fun is the elimination of inequalities, as opposed to the enjoyment and pleasure that sustain social hierarchy. All forms of leisure interaction (drinking, informal gatherings, “doing nothing”, idleness, sexual activity, etc.) of leisure concepts, which are socially and morally seen as “inferior”, are loaded on fun. Therefore, the starting point in theorizing fun is that fun is regarded as an inferior phenomenon compared to pleasure, happiness or enjoyment; it has to related to the presence or absence of power and hierarchies; it is more about experiences over time, rather than being more esoteric and ethereal, and the lack of formality is evident (Podilchak, 1991). Podilchak does not claim that fun is independent of pleasure and enjoyment; however, he refers that they are interactive and have distinctions. In both fun and enjoyment, emotions are a common feature, but fun is a qualitative detail of enjoyment; pleasure is inward orientation, fun is in external orientation. Podilchak (1991) states it as “When the people who interact are having fun, they are 'outside' themselves, but they are interactively connected with the other that is present. Feelings of fun arise only in this social bond and require a condition of equality between its members”. Besides the seriousness of enjoyment, fun is considered less serious because of its desire for equality and its challenge to power. Podilchak's statements about fun are important since they express the social nature of fun.
The change in the understanding of fun with the cultural industry in parallel with the time has not left the definitions of the concept indifferent. Today, fun could be defined as any story, show or various experiences that can be sold and enjoyed by large groups of people from different cultures (Barnouw & Kirkland, 1992). According to Fincham,
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Strean and Holt have tried to explain the link between fun and enjoyment in sports research. The result they found is that fun should be considered as a subset of pleasure; therefore, while a person experiences pleasure, they do not always describe it as fun, but fun is always enjoyable (Fincham, 2018).
Oskay also has a study through mass communication and mentions the industrialization of fun and its transformation into a fantasy that makes work life bearable in people's lives. Thus, fun is a situation in which a person experiences illusions that give him a personality that can endure his real life (Oskay, 2014). Brooner and Torone, on the other hand, has a review of the playfulness of language and refers fun as “a positive emotional experience often associated with laughing”; they defined something done for fun as “something that should not be taken seriously; something not real or sincere” (Brooner & Torone, 2001).
Current fun perception is a manifestation of the leisure time that modernity reproduces. In this respect, the main function of fun could be seen as a form of distraction, rest, recreation and chill out, as well as taking advantage of leisure time left over from work (Lieb, 2001). This is a time period that a person will use sparingly with his free will and desire in his leisure time (Aytaç, 2002). In these studies, the activity area of fun expands and the distinction with pleasure and enjoyment disappears, again a shift of meaning is observed.
Blythe and Hassenzahl (2004) explain the contemporary explanation of fun through the role of the industrial revolution in shaping the concept of fun. In the routinization and mechanization of work, they explain that the processes of rationalization within work, with work and leisure time, lead to the development of fun as a style of resistance to routine and systematic regulation. Blythe and Hassenzahl (2004) try to redefine the relationship between fun, enjoyment and pleasure. Accordingly, the main difference between fun and enjoyment is the interpretation of the relationship between ongoing activities and moods. The difference between fun and pleasure is the distinction between mind distraction and withdrawal. They express that during the temporary and formless fun experience, the thought is pulled away from the individual and that the self, worries, and problems are no longer a focus in the mind of the people having fun. This short-lived and superficial form of distraction is important for satisfying a psychological need. However, Blythe and Hassenzahl state that fun is the joy of a repetitive action. Just as popular culture deals with the cycle of sameness, the infinite
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variation in self-replication, so does the fun is repeated in the same way. Another distinction Blythe and Hassanzahl made is about crossing the line. While extreme points such as crossing the limits and rule violations define fun, pleasure and enjoyment are associated with commitment (Blythe & Hassenzahl, 2004).
Özdemir (2005) observed the change in societies' understanding of fun. With the transition from the primary oral culture environment to the written culture environment and then from the written culture environment to the electronic culture environment, the understanding of fun is changing and reshaped. In this context, the changes in the fields of communication and transportation have broken the time and space boundaries of entertainment life and brought about an entertainment life shared by wider human communities on a global scale. In addition, while the commodification of fun or it’s becoming a product of mass culture necessitated the reconstruction and planning of fun for different purposes, it caused the traditional content and functionality to disappear (Özdemir, 2005).
Taking all these studies further, Fincham, who explores fun in a sociological context, focuses on the social phenomenon of fun and states that fun contextualizes the bonds between people. According to Fincham, friendships where fun is the primary experience are portrayed as less important than friendships where personal or in-depth conversation is the main experience. Despite the contextualization of ties between people, the emphasis on self in narratives of pleasure undermines the role of the social and distracts this attention from fun, which is a sociocultural experience. In his book, Fincham created a fun schema as a result of a more detailed examination by taking the thoughts of Blythe and Hassenzahl as a starting point (Figure 2.1). This schema provides unity about the reasons for the fun and how to distinguish it, and consists of elements that support each other. Fincham states that this schema has a reductionist aspect like every schema and that every element has an ambiguous aspect and emphasizes that the fun experience cannot be an absolute schema due to its subjectivity (Fincham, 2018).
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Figure 2.1 : Fincham’s Schema of Fun (redrawn by Musaoğlu, 2020).
2.1.1 Fincham’s schema of fun
Fun experience is a phenomenon attached to the moment. Fincham states that this is the most distinctive feature that distinguishes it from pleasure and happiness. It is possible to accurately determine the beginning of the fun, the end and how long it takes. For this reason, the temporality is an important element in the definition of fun. The precise location in time allows determination of what the fun is. Fincham says that children who define fun often combine it with play; therefore, it points out that fun is an important step proving that it is a phenomenon that starts and ends suddenly (Fincham, 2018). The fact that fun has a certain position in time facilitates the determination of the time allocated to the person in his daily life.
As another critical element, deviation from the norm and exceeding the limit was determined. Deviation from the norm, which is defined as going beyond the usual, can be explained as the individual's experience of events or things that are not related to the normal sequence of life. As Fincham points out, when it comes to work, fun will be far from productive tasks; when it comes to time at home, fun will be far from everyday work at home; and when it comes to normality, fun will be periods of abnormality (Fincham, 2018). The deviation from the norm explains the reason why the individual wants to move in a direction where the experience he/she wants to live is unfamiliar and experiences the charm of the forbidden at the moment that fun is experienced. The exciting trajectory noted also by Blythe and Hassenzahl (2004) supports the definition of this element. In Fincham's research, many people talked about the dark in the adventurous approach of fun and stated that they found the
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darkness extraordinary. Darkness and night have an association with a mysterious and unpredictable attitude in imagination. It has an intoxicating effect especially for childhood (Fincham, 2018). This is an indication of why nocturnal venues are often preferred at night in adulthood.
Fun is also an activity that allows people to get away from their daily lives. As one of the elements in the schema, it provides temporary alleviation in its relationship with commitment and responsibility. On the other hand, its relation to anticipation works in multiple ways. In the moments of fun, the temporary expression in relation to commitment means that new experiences are formed, that is receded from the continuity of commitment and that there are tasks that are temporarily suspended. In relation to responsibility, on the other hand, fun is a way of escape from present anxieties and concerns. During the fun, the individual's focus is shifted from responsibility to a more carefree attitude. This does not mean that having fun is irresponsibility, it means that the moment of fun, responsibility is not a concern. In relation to anticipation, Fincham states that, at the moment of fun, that anticipation of what will or should happen next is suspended; however, he also states that the retrospection that if a situation previously experienced as fun is repeated, the expectation that it will be fun is often formed (Fincham, 2018). The relationship of fun with commitment and responsibility is the most obvious psychological evidence of why an individual needs fun. Its relation with anticipation supports the "carpe diem" attitude of fun; however, the relationship with retrospection is the phenomenon of regularity, formed by the idea that a situation that offers fun once will create the fun again.
The fact that fun is a social phenomenon that Fincham mentions is explained in the element of relationship to interaction. People often have fun with other people. Part of the fun is sharing the positive side of the fun with others, communicating it to them. Fincham explains that many would argue that it is possible to have fun on their own, often because of lack of availability. This means that fun is something the person is accustomed to doing or has done with someone else, or something that they enjoy telling others after it happens. Self-entertainment is further complicated by the definitions of fun, happiness, pleasure and satisfaction. Fincham states that this is not a person experiencing fun as a solipsist (Fincham, 2018). Another element in its social aspect is identity. Identity describes how one experiences fun and what is seen as fun.
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Fun is not just a phenomenological experience; it has a social resonance. The person's idea of fun contains a lot of information about that person. Fun is a phenomenon that is social, gendered, classy, culturally mediated, distinct in national identities, subculturally expressed and subjectively experienced (Fincham, 2018). Thus, enjoyable experiences show a person's social identity.
The last element of the schema of fun is the distraction of the mind. Often the condition for having fun is that the mind doesn't question it. Important issues and feelings and thoughts experienced at the moment of fun are avoided. The fun should be experienced in the moment, even taken over, and not be overwhelmed while experiencing it. Although Fincham states that thinking about fun during fun is thinking about having fun instead of having fun, he also states that expressing fun in phenomenal situations may not break away from fun (Fincham, 2018).
These definitions explain how fun is formed for the individual; all of these are elements that should be seen in the spatialization of fun. Although it is not necessary to have all the elements together, when the conditions in the formation of fun, which is an ambiguous phenomenon, are considered, it will be more evident how the spatial needs will occur.
2.2 The Concept of Leisure
The word “empty” in Turkish is etymologically a root that indicates situations such as absence, freedom, independence, loneliness (Eyuboğlu, 1991). According to its etymological origin, leisure time can be defined as free time, independent, and individual time. Leisure is not just a phenomenon of modern times, although the definition of leisure has always remained the same, the perception of leisure has changed over time. Nevertheless, the most obvious meaning of leisure time historically is social life and social life is always indispensable for people. It is important to look at the transformation of meaning in the historical process in order to perceive its current forms.
Since there are no clear boundaries between work and leisure in primitive societies, leisure is in the rhythm of life and there is no specific leisure experience, that is, both work and leisure are included in feasts. In addition, periodic situations in nature have led to festive celebrations for religious reasons. Leisure in ancient Greece is defined
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as the contemplation of goodness, beauty, truth, and knowledge, which are seen as the highest values of the world (Juniu, 2000). In this period, leisure is characterized as “Skholè”, a Greek word meaning school, and this word, expressing teaching institutions, is based on the idea of leisure, fun, and quiet occupation (Url-3). According to the ancient Greeks, leisure is not the time when nothing is done, but the time spent on contemplation and creating aesthetic pleasures. As Juniu states, free time during this period should be kept away from work, as it requires an intense time period in which the soul is purified and thoughts deepen. For this reason, leisure was associated with the upper class and interpreted as liberating individuals from daily labor and participating in intellectual, aesthetic, and civic endeavors. This has been made possible by the stratification of society. Only the elite have time to reach this high level of spirituality, while the rest of the people have to work (Juniu, 2000).
The Romans moved away from the ancient Greek perception of leisure and found the time needed to rest, recreate and share in “otium” in order to return to work (Juniu, 2000). Otium is an abstract Latin term with a variety of meanings, including leisure time where a person can enjoy eating, playing, thinking, or relaxing. Otium sometimes refers to time, and sometimes just a temporary moment of leisure, as opposed to active work, such as leaving a job or retirement (Url-4). Unlike in Greek times, leisure in Roman times meant a period after productive activity, not a social status or way of life. Thus, leisure became a means of supporting work, and work itself an end. In this period, forms of mass entertainment emerged with sports and games offered by the ruling class as entertainment tools (Juniu, 2000). This view of leisure, which is described as a complement to the work, is quite similar to the concept of leisure in modern times.
2.2.1 Leisure within the framework of capitalism and postmodernism
The concept of modern leisure time has been reshaped with the industrial revolution. The arrival of the Industrial Revolution in the 18th century caused an increase in working time and production became the main target. With the Puritan work ethic that emerged under the influence of this situation and in line with the Taylortist principles that emerged later, work and family responsibilities were restructured, thus the working life with the most severe conditions in history was formed. Prutenism, which saw leisure as a waste of time in the early capitalism period, described laziness as a sin
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and sanctified work (Weber, 2013). The increased exploitation of the worker has led to a labor movement in which fewer hours and more wages are demanded. As a result of long struggles and unionization, improvement in working conditions has been achieved.
The decrease in the need for active manpower with the technological developments has considerably reduced the working time and increased the leisure time significantly. Since capitalism is based on the work ethos and socialism is based on the leisure ethos, the capitalist system has taken control by encouraging leisure time in order to maintain its stability (Argın, 1992). Leisure time has ceased to be an area of freedom and personal development of individuals (Juniu, 2000) and has become an element of the economic system managed within the framework determined by the capitalist system. This has led to the emergence of a leisure industry based on consumption and entertainment for leisure time. Adorno and Horkheimer (2002) define it as the “culture industry” and state that it consists of entertainment products for mass consumption such as television, film, music, and magazines. The culture industry aims to make the leisure time of the masses enjoyable and to restrain and manage society by creating conformist integrity. Since society is passive in the process of production, organization, and work, it is also passive in the process of leisure, entertainment, and consumption (Fromm, 2002). Individuals who moved away from active participation during the working process have adopted a passive attitude in other areas of life as well and started to spend their spare time in the position of spectator and consuming commodities (Parker, 1976). Baudrillard (1998) also refers to this society as “consumption society” and this culture as “consumer culture”. According to this society, social hierarchies are determined by the consumption performance of individuals and social life takes place around consumption. Moreover, in the postmodern consumption culture, with the commodification of everything, leisure time also has a commodity value. In this system, where the perception of happiness is associated with consumption, the freedom of the individual turns into a deception. On the other hand, Russell argued that postmodern leisure time can also be a source of cultural developments and that individuals will not have a passive attitude towards entertainment unless the working conditions are very tiring (1935). Similarly, Gorz thinks of leisure time as an area of freedom that can enable the individual to discover himself socially. He states that the capitalist understanding of happiness focused on
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consumption and work can be overcome with the creative, liberating, and unifying aspect of leisure time (Gorz, 1989). However, the leisure time directed by mainstream society has often remained fictionalized for the consumption of individuals.
2.2.2 Nocturnal leisure
Leisure activities do not always contribute to the happiness and well-being of individuals. Passive leisure activities such as watching television/video, reading books, listening to music, relaxing, thinking, doing nothing, playing video games do not have an effect on people's life satisfaction levels (Cho et al., 2017). Although these activities are beneficial in relieving stress and fatigue from work, they are useless in terms of physical and mental health. On the other hand, active leisure activities such as physical activities, going out, and socializing positively affect people's life satisfaction levels.
In the postmodern era, despite the flexibility and reduction of working hours, working time is mostly established in people's lives as daytime. This has led to the fact that leisure time for teenagers and adults is often shifted to the night. As Hubbard (2012) mentions, away from the routines of the 'workday', a third of nocturnal leisure is spent on domestic entertainment, while most leisure time is spent outside the home. Leisure outside the home actively takes place in spaces that provide public entertainment in modern urban life. These areas have become the focus of nightlife and entertainment rituals (Hubbard, 2012). Nocturnal leisure has gained importance, especially as young people rely on nights for social interaction, and cities have turned into non-stop living organisms that need inviting, open and free spaces. Certainly, the preference for nightlife has brought the nighttime economy with it in the capitalist order; but the possibilities of the night are vast and it is constantly out of control by changing shape.
2.3 Spazilation of Nocturnal Leisure
The starting point of modern nightlife, whose origin is based on the rituals of ancient societies, can be taken as 1960 with the use of recorded music and the integration of technology into the interior. In the postmodern society, as the focus shifted to consumption, cities adapted to this situation and supported the emergence of new cultural forms and lifestyles by restructuring. With the association of fun experienced in adulthood with space (Fincham, 2018), fun, which is a social phenomenon, has also
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found its place in city life in places such as cinemas, theaters, pubs, clubs, restaurants, parks. These spaces, which emerged with the social construction of the leisure space, are a cultural image, a visual way of reflection and representation of social cultural codes, apart from being a physical object. For this reason, social areas and practices of leisure time are shaped around social and economic contexts such as gender, class, race, culture. Thus, different leisure spaces emerge for different groups, and these areas change shape and adapt with the change of social processes and practices.
Bourdieu (1977) explains the division and differentiation of society into classes with the concept of “habitus”, which is the structuring of social relations. Habitus (Waqcuant, 2016), which is a highly dynamic, multi-layered and multi-scale concept, is defined as a set of acquired tendencies of thought, behavior and taste that form the link between social structures and social practice (Bourdieu, 1977). Social spaces are also structured within the framework of these habitus, and this invisible network of relations is reflected in the physical space (Bourdieu, 1996). Habitus also emphasizes power relations and social inequality. On the other hand, nocturnal spaces become the reproduction area of structural relations by destroying and reproducing the hierarchy and cultural codes. While they serve a hegemonic system in the capitalist order, their transformation into a space that allows free interaction is possible with the interpretation of counter-cultural codes.
2.4 Transitory Societies, Nightlife and Fun
For strangers in the daily life of the modern city, feeling belonging to a place and the people in it, feeling social identities with the people there and acting together as a group forms the basis of establishing new social unions (Hannerz, 1980). This situation is often embodied in nighttime socializations. In other words, the totality of society in a different form is redefined with nocturnal meetings. In this new social cohesion, the identities of individuals are completely inseparable from their ethnic origin, gender, sexuality, age or social status; however, in the moment they are in, in direct time and space, there is a state beyond identity, and as Malbon states, “the stable identity of the individual is superseded by the much more fluid and ephemeral identifications of the persona” (1998). This lived experience enables the individual to leave social norms and identify with the “other”, to eliminate class differences, to change social roles, to form unique and impulsive social relations such as temporary and fast friendships.
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The desire for unity and escape from social norms in modern nocturnal spaces with music and dance has similarities with the concept of carnivalesque, theorized by Bakhtin, through medieval carnivals that point to the traces of “Dionysian Mysteries”1. Bakhtin states that carnivals create a space of liberation that is temporarily removed from real life and the established system (1984). Carnivals are utopian and liberating festivals where hierarchical ranks, privileges, social norms, and even prohibitions are suspended and also change and renewal are celebrated. At the carnival, the performances are collective, and the participants are both the spectator and the watched. It creates an alternative for a new order, presenting a new perspective by showing the relative nature of everything that exists. Indeed, carnival shook the feudal structure of the Middle Ages, if not completely destroyed. As will be observed here, liberating entertainment practices pave the way for the cultural revolution of the social society.
Nocturnal entertainments remain as a moment and a feeling in the memory of individuals. The main thing is joy, and what is remembered in retrospect, as expressed in the schematic fiction of fun, is only what is felt. These feelings are created by the ambiance and the “transoritery tribes” created by this ambiance, which reflect the highly spatialized nature of social interactions (Melbon, 1998). According to Maffesoli, space has a decisive role in forming social identities. The space provides to postmodern communities or neo-tribes a unifying and emotional atmosphere, which Maffesoli resolutely prefers to call the “aesthetic aura” (1996).
Similar to the carnivalesque theory, nocturnal spaces, with their extremely loud music and flickering lights, are 'interior havens', allowing the perception of reality to be disconnected and the concept of time to disappear (Thornton, 1995). Thus, the rules and values of daily life, the morals and traditions of the mainstream are excluded and individuals create a sense of unity and social unity in this ambiance. Ambiance harmonizes the lifestyles, ways of thinking, social intersubjective relations, economic and social coexistence of the individuals in the space (Maffesoli, 1991). This social
1 In the spring, right after the wine is fermented, rebirth, the revival of the soil, and the greening of the leaves are celebrated in the 6-day festivals, called The Dionysian Wine Rite in Ancient Greece and Bacchanalia in Ancient Rome. These intoxicating, festive, dance and musical festivals are open to all, including outlaws and slaves. Similar to an ancient rave, these festivals, which take place in the forest as a symbol of returning to nature, have been interpreted as liberating, refreshing, cathartic and transformative.
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unity formed in the ambiance loses its attractiveness with the end of the ambiance. Thus, the attempt to escape from daily life or the celebration of togetherness (Ueno, 2003) is experienced in a limited time period and then individuals return to their daily lives. However, at this micro level, it is a resistance where differences are eliminated and the desire to be together is manifested (Malbon, 1998). As Bakhtin stated, carnival culture, which appears in many different forms depending on time and culture, can become sterile and degenerate, but it is not possible to disappear completely (1984). The liberating state of carnivalesque theory, in which all inequalities and hierarchies are eliminated, cannot be observed in the entertainment practices of the postmodern world. However, the liberating atmosphere that provides the escape from the system of values and norms can be observed in countercultural entertainment practices for certain periods - until they are captured and classified by the mainstream.
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3. NOCTURNAL HETEROTOPIAS OF COUNTER-CULTURE
Counterculture is generally a flexible term used to indicate a point of separation between those represented as dominant or mainstream values and alternative value systems, although the scope of a minority (Bennett, 2012; Labrador, 2020). This minority provides a common voice that enables the minority to grow into a significant minority by means of different media, such as art, music, literature, protest, etc. (Bennett, 2012). In addition, counter-cultural practices describe the borders between fact and fantasy, here and there, current and future. While these actions lead to a sense of solidarity and a collective destiny, they encourage a counter-regulation, a critique of existing political structures, and an alternative vision for the future (Ghannam, 2016).
The counter-culture concept periodically reappears in different media channels and vernacular debate since its occurrence as a crucial socio-political phenomenon in the late 1960s, as a way to express manifestations of counter-hegemonic theory, experience, and perception. In an interview about counter-culture and its present situation, Labrador (2020) expresses the first occurrence of the counterculture as follows:
First, it serves to express a generation's reaction to the cultural crisis of the Cold War. This political crisis created by the youth in the 1960s and 1970s, faced with imperialism, racism, authoritarianism, and lack of freedom, was also a cultural crisis affecting their lifestyles. The organization of work, time, family, sexuality, and the city were questioned. In this context, the counterculture was aesthetic and ethical. The concept included the hippie movement, protest songs, urban art, and independent theatre. Today's fundamental questions such as environmentalism and civil rights began at that time, even if their roots were older. It was a time of struggle for anti-colonial liberation. The digital revolution and so-called creative capitalism were born in the same place. (Labrador, 2020)
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While counterculture emerged as a resistance movement, it was also probabilistic experiments and renewal. Contrary to popular belief, the counterculture was concerned not with directly overthrowing the political system, but with changing the mind of the individual. The search for the sources of personal and social transformation brought together different people and characterized the formation. As Moore states, “The rebellions of the 1960s took shape in opposition to technocracy, but they were conceived in a maelstrom of flux and growth and nourished by the utopian vision of a post-scarcity society” (2012).
The counterculture was significantly overshadowed by the term “subculture” in academic theorization. It has become the topic of continuing discussion among theorists about the legitimacy of the term, given its permanence around matters of the subculture, hierarchy, and social structure. Although it is quite possible to confuse the counter-culture with the subculture, there are slight but quite significant distinctions between them. While the locality of subculture remains limited, all the countercultures that have arisen have significant outcomes from local to global, spreading from a small community and transforming the whole world. While subculture is considered to reflect small-scale, underground, or semi-deceptive responses to social issues, counterculture refers to a movement or set of movements that are directed to address larger in scale, internationally decentralized socio-economic matters and problems (Bennett, 2012). It is also important that counterculture is not confused with the underground. While both the underground and the counterculture produce an alternative to the mainstream, the intention in the counterculture is always about seeking a better and a positive approach to nature, human beings, and life; whereas the underground may display more extremist attitudes. Another point that distinguishes the counterculture from others is that it questions capitalist fiction. When talking about countercultures, it is important to point out that there are also countercultures that oppose race, identity, and gender formations, such as queer society. However, since the thesis is created through capitalist and patriarchal relations, these are elements that are excluded from the classification.
Each historical period differs from the others, yet, still has its own underground, but each counterculture movement unfolds in a significantly different way. A historic struggle took place in the 1960s and 1970s, coinciding with the beginning of a
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profound transformation not just in America but also in the West. The age of rights, stable jobs, and pay structure came to an end, manufacturing relocated to Asia, and innovative capitalism arose focused on marketing, expectations, and services, not the product but the product's image with the beginning of the transition of the Fordist system of production into neoliberalism (Labrador, 2020). While this advanced capitalism is redesigning and using the counter cultures of the period for itself, it eliminates and excludes others at the same time. In brief, this capitalist system will not abolish the emergence of counter cultures, yet, it will change the modes of representation.
Foucault (2019) defines the term heterotopia as counter-topos, beyond-places that relate to all positions but defer, neutralize, or reverse the whole set of relationships they specify, reflect, or represent. Theoretically, heterotopia is a physical statement or approximation of a utopia or parallelly opposite spaces. The hybrid, common experience between utopias and heterotopias is the mirror, so he describes the bond between them in a mirror metaphor. The mirror is a utopia because the projected image is an unreal virtual and non-location place that allows one to see his own visibility. However, the mirror is also a heterotopia since it is a real object. When gazing at a mirror, the heterotopia of the mirror is both perfectly real and utterly surreal, because the mirror produces a virtual image (Foucault, 2019).
Karaman (2018) states that the basic characteristics of heterotopias are to invert and discuss all the reality they are associated with within a certain culture. They are coded by being outside of the places they reflect and discuss and being different from them. According to Karaman, contrary to the calming nature of utopias, heterotopias are highly destructive positions; it secretly shakes or even breaks down other places in which they have relationships and which the inhabitants quite naturally settle into (Karaman, 2018). These qualities overlap with the spaces created by the counterculture and have revolutionary effects. The fourth principle that Foucault formed when defining heterotopias is the festival mode, festivals and fun have been defined as chronic heterotopias, which are the most transient and most timeless in terms of temporality (Foucault, 2019). Besides, while heterotopias are located in control areas such as the colony, prison, or psychiatric hospital, the nocturnal venues of the counterculture can certainly be characterized as a space for individuals whose behavior is deviated from the required average or norms (Ruiz, 2017). With all these qualities,
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it is thought that the heterotopia concept defined by Foucault may be suitable for defining the nocturnal venues of the counterculture and these places have been defined as nocturnal heterotopias in the thesis.
In the thesis, different communal space proposals created by countercultures that question work models, capitalism, and networks that oppose major production systems and capitalist-patriarchal fiction are analyzed. This chapter is a retrospective review in which analyzes were made and parameters were extracted in order to carry the study to describe the current counter-society and nocturnal heterotopia with the argument that today's counter-society has turned into cyber-society. While attempting to define the recreational heterotopias arising from the counterculture, temporality was first examined in decades, and then chapters were divided into periods by considering the times of emergence of counter societies, which were determined as breaking points with the effect of economic, political, and social conditions. Starting from the first counter-society that led to the emergence of the definition of counter-culture, the counter-societies with global influences till today, and the socio-cultural, economic, and political situations that led to the formation of these societies were explained, and the nocturnal heterotopias offered by these societies were examined.
3.1 A Counter-Society of 1960’s: Hippies
The end of the 1950s and the beginning of the 1960s was a period of important developments affecting the whole world. After the 1950s, the capitalist order has undergone some changes with the Fordist production. While colonialism was being liquidated, America opened up to the world market, adding an international dimension to the flow of capital and the direction of this flow. The impact of the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States in the 1960s was also enormous, due to wars and rivalries between the communist and capitalist regions. While this change in the economy was evident on the one hand, it also affected the economic levels of the other countries. After these effects, a different structuring within the social classes, and accordingly political and cultural differentiation became apparent (Bulut, 2011). In this decade, discriminatory practices based not only on economic but also on racial bases were made, and this caused violence and bloodshed, especially in the United States and South Africa. Besides, this decade witnessed the beginning of the Vietnam War which affected the whole world.
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The 1960s have been a period of various rivalries not only in America and the Soviets but all over the world. In 1960, with the rise of tension between the government and opposition, Turkey's first coup took place. In response to British control of Ireland, the Irish Republican Army launched a concerted paramilitary campaign against the British. The Berlin Wall was erected in 1961 to effectively separate the communist East from the capitalist West. The continuing Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union fueled the Cuban Missile Crisis, a 1962 nuclear weapons battle between the United States, the Soviet Union and Cuba, and the situation grew in magnitude. Conflicts between India and Pakistan continued until a peace agreement was signed in 1966. The Six-Day War in 1967 in the Middle East resulted in Israel gaining more territory. In 1967, the Six-Day War occurred between Israel and Egypt, Jordan and Syria. In addition, 15 African countries gained their independence within this decade (Winchip, 2010).
Moreover, as conflicts escalate around the world and capitalist and communist views diverge, all the events of the sixties reached a boom point in 1968. The youth movements that wanted change with different requests and responses have emerged anywhere in the world, particularly in Europe and the USA; 68 generation in Turkey is also an example of this. All these experiences brought along different demands and meeting with different cultures in terms of youth. Throughout the world, the onset of youth events and their violence differed. One of the main reasons for these differences is the prevailing thoughts in society and the sensitivity of the political will towards society as a whole. The most basic feature that distinguishes the '68 events in the USA from the '68 movements in other Western countries is that Marxism is less dominant in the events in the USA compared to other Western countries (Bulut, 2011). The belief in changes that could be made against the existing order had become more pronounced with the events of 1968. This expectation included requests for radical changes, especially in the political and cultural field. It was the students who made this happen and started the first spark. In the 1960s, unexpectedly, student uprisings that began to threaten the established order from Prague to Paris, London to Tokyo, San Francisco to Beijing gradually emerged. The restraints in many places brought students to the brink of fundamentally changing history itself. Never before had such a great uprising in the world threatened both the capitalist system and the socialist order by societies. While the movements of the youth against the order gradually increased, on the other
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hand, the youth were influenced by each other. The tactics of direct action, the development of alternative institutions such as the free or critical university, the search for new ideologies and ideas to put their movements on a political basis, heralded the beginning of the convergence of youth. Student movements, which started in each country, took what they saw as beneficial to their tactics from the political and social aspects of the student movements emerging in other societies, and they created new ideas in their own action frames. As a matter of fact, the rebellion against the order was manifesting itself on the grounds that the rights on freedom were restricted and the universities were not allowed to speak. These oppressions were becoming an increasing social problem day by day and the youth showed the greatest reaction to this (Bulut, 2011).
On the other hand, important peace and nature movements also gained momentum during this period. The foundation in 1961 of the World-Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) helped to draw attention to the importance of the protection of the natural environment. European countries' informal global initiatives have centered on the protection of the natural environment. For instance, government funding for military reasons has facilitated the development of advanced methods for calculating greenhouse gas levels, helping scientists accurately assess the magnitude of climate change (Winchip, 2010). Under the leadership of Martin Luther King, who gave his “I Have a Dream” speech in Washington DC in 1963, the Civil Rights Movement began (Kakutani, 2013). Conversely, in South Africa in 1964, Nelson Mandela was sentenced to life imprisonment, and the U.N. The South African practice of apartheid, its official national racial discrimination scheme, was denounced by the General Assembly (Blakemore, 2020). To prohibit discrimination, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and an expanded Civil Rights Act of 1968 (Winchip, 2010).
Technological developments have focused on the competition between two important powers, the USSR and the USA. Some of the developments included communications and weather satellites, moon landings, human spaceflight, space dock, and spacewalks (Winchip, 2010). The futuristic images associated with these technological advances and made available were reflected in the designs of interior designers and architects. New technologies included fiber optics, laser lights, and LEDs, and new discoveries were made in the field of artificial lighting. “Space-Age” era designers have influenced
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interior designers and architects and applied their designs to the built environment using newly developed “Space-Age materials”. “Space-Age” interiors used lightweight plastic, compact furniture systems, and objects with gravity-defying views, such as transparent “bubble” chairs suspended from the ceiling (Figure 3.1 & Figure 3.2). The baby boom generation inspired new designs and materials reflected in textiles, objects, and Pop art. Despite inflationary conditions, several entrepreneurs have set up furniture-producing businesses at the forefront of contemporary designs such as Artemide, Cassina & Buselli, Italia, and Centro Cassina (Winchip, 2010). Additionally, what became the first compact disc (CD) was invented by James Russell in 1965, and by the end of the decade television became a common item in homes.
Figure 3.1 : Bubble Chair (Eero Aarnio, 1968).
Figure 3.2 : “Installation view of a room for Mary Quant” (Best, 1967).
In this decade, as a result of all these events, activists protesting social injustice, war and discrimination have created the most distinctive form of the counterculture. First emerged the Beat Generation of the 1950s, which opposed the materialist American community and the idea of a lifestyle based solely on appearance. The Beat Generation has never acted in the political sphere, and expressed their ideas through art, especially literature. The Beat Generation directly influenced the hippies of the 60s and the
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counterculture movement as their inspiration. Thus, the counterculture has its roots in the previous “Beat Generation” and owes a lot to them in its formation. Yet, counter-culture reaches beyond the “Beat Generation”. This is because the Beats are a restrictive community of mainly poets and writers, whereas the counterculture has spread to dozens of young adults, largely middle-class, and has shaken the world as no youth revolution has before. For counterculture youth, the issue was as much about external exploration as it was internal exploration (Kidari, 2012). The hippies created an alternative cultural environment where music, drugs, literature, and lifestyle came together to create a range of perceived alternatives to the dominant capitalist society in which their parents and other members of their parents lived (Bennett, 2012). The views of the hippie generation were showcased at outdoor concerts and captured and expressed by the music of the time. In an age of violence marked by assassinations and unrest in major US cities, “hippies” demonstrated for peace and reflected their views through anti-establishment outfits, hairstyles, and lifestyles (Winchip, 2010). However, signature events of the countercultural age, such as the Woodstock Music and Art Fair and the emergence of rural communes, gave hippies a collective feeling that a full-fledged alternative lifestyle is possible (Bennett, 2012). Superficially, the counterculture seemed to unite around a common set of sources that included music, drugs, and literature, as noted above, but in reality, pointed to a much more complex and diverse lifestyle and strategies that could come together, even for a limited time.
3.1.1 Festivals of music, love and peace
There have been numerous cultural events in the 1960s that have influenced Western music, theatre, and television, which consequently have had an influence on interior design. Dominant social problems included the Vietnam War and the civil rights movement and the rise of counterculture ideology that opposed the “establishment”. Winchip (2010) states that musicians played a major role in supporting such topics as political advocacy, “free love”, the so-called “hippie lifestyle”, psychedelic adventures, and unconventional drugs including LSD. During apparently messy outdoor performances, performers with long hair and “sloppy-looking” clothes played. The rock music’s sound, lyrics, and intensity were seen by this “establishment” as causing problems since they appeared to facilitate unruly behavior. During this time, however, folk singers such as Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Pete Seeger, and Peter, Paul, and Mary softly sang poetry with topics such as civil rights, resistance to the Vietnam War,
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and the prospect of nuclear apocalypse. Released recordings of their songs on singles and albums became the most common outlets for artists to share their message, as well as performing the music live at open-air gigs and performances in theatres and smaller venues (Winchip, 2010).
In the late 1960s, a phenomenon that exists to this day, outdoor festivals, which were many of the free shows at the time, came into prominence. As genuine centers for artistic expression, music festivals were pivotal in the counterculture movement (M., 2019). Most of these festivals have led to the creation of free festivals and have become a part of this movement. Free festivals are a blend of music, arts, and cultural events in which there is often no entry cost, but involvement is expected. They may also be defined as multi-day activities related by an outdoor community without governmental control (Url-5). Among the festivals reflecting the utopian philosophy of the complex culture are important festivals such as the Monterey Pop Festival, Woodstock Art & Music Fayre, and Glastonbury Festival ‘71. In addition, when the manifestations of the counterculture movements in Turkey are examined, it is seen that the free festival movement only took place in the 2000s due to other political and social events.
3.1.1.1 Monterey International Pop Festival
During the 1967 “Summer of Love”, the first countercultural festival was the Monterey International Pop Festival in Monterey, California. The poster of the festival was written as “Be happy, be free; wear flowers, bring bells - have a festival!”. This slogan not only expressed the positive vibe of the festival but also became the slogan of all subsequent countercultural festivals.
Artists such as The Grateful Dead, Simon and Garfunkel, Janis Joplin, The Who, Otis Redding, The Mamas & The Papas and Jimi Hendrix performed in front of an audience of 7,000 in an arena. However, the 23-decare festival area, where the music can be heard from the promenade, hosted much more than that. The main areas of the festival were a strolling area, the main performance arena, the second arena, and the backstage where the artists and the press spent time (Figure 3.3). During the festival, the entrance to the strolling area is free and this area has been established as a social area where the participants perform activities such as eating, drinking, resting, and socializing. Portable toilets and first aid crew were also located in this area. Furthermore, a small market area was added to the strolling area, with about 30 hippie stalls selling food
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and handmade jewelry, individually decorated with colorful silks, cotton pieces and hand-painted banners (Slick, 1999).
Figure 3.3 : The bubble diagram of Monterey Pop Festival (Musaoğlu, 2022).
The main performance arena, which is an enclosed stadium entered with a ticket, consisted of the main stage where the concerts took place and an area where the audience sat in balconies, tribune or orchestra sections (Figure 3.4). A second, smaller arena on the site hosted a closed-circuit live stream projected on a large white sheet of paper, giving attendees a free viewing opportunity and giving the festival a futuristic twist (Hiatt, 2007). In addition, a backstage is designed, consisting of a green room where the artists spend time, a cocktail bar and a small office for the employees and the press (Figure 3.5). The utopian festival, which established an instant city independent of any corporate company, lasted 3 days, but inspired many festivals and counterculture youth.
The festival helped strengthen the hippie movement that grew up in the city's Haight-Ashbury Quarter and attracted media attention (Winchip, 2010). Summer of Love has attracted a wide variety of people of all ages: teenagers and college students drawn by their friends, and the temptation to participate in an alleged intellectual utopia; middle-class vacationers; and even party army members from bases within driving distance. Unfortunately, the influx of these residents was not well received by Haight-Ashbury and the local landscape deteriorated rapidly, affecting the neighborhood with
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overcrowding, homelessness, malnutrition, drug problems and violence (Dolgin & Franco, 2007). This situation caused the festivals not to be welcomed by the mainstream society.
Figure 3.4 and Figure 3.5 : The main stage of Monterey Pop Festival, 1967 (URL-6), and The backstage of Monterey Pop Festival, 1967 (URL-7).
3.1.1.2 Woodstock Art & Music Fair
Although the Monterey Pop Festival took place earlier, the gathering to represent the countercultural new generation was the Woodstock Art and Music Fair held above New York on August 15-17, 1969. Although Woodstock was not the first or the last festival, it made more of an impact than any other festival. The reason for this may be that the idealism and communitarianism of the festival, which is narrowly defined, short-lived and utopian, was the first event to bring politics and music together (Street, 2004). Thus, the idea was embodied that a pacifist protest could be created with music, dance, and social coexistence.
Woodstock has been more than a music festival. It was a large open-air exhibition of paintings and sculptures by many successful, ghetto and pseudo-artists on trees and lawns. Additionally, the concept and fashion of “flower children” became more prominent at Woodstock. Inspired by the slogan of Monterey, the participants wore flowers in their long hair, headbands, love beads, jeans and loose floral tops (Winchip, 2010). After passing through the security area next to the bus stop, the main areas of Woodstock Fair consisted of a large strolling area, car park, a stage and backstage (Figure 3.6). Activities such as eating, drinking, resting, camping and socializing were taking place in the strolling area. In the documentary “Woodstock”, it was observed that the participants had been performed their daily activities such as dancing, eating, smoking, playing in the mud, swimming naked in the lake between concert performances. Apart from that, a market area with exhibition space and stalls similar
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to the Monterey Pop Festival was set up in the strolling area. The area where the vehicles and caravans were parked was also used as a camp space and concerts were watched from there either, sometimes the hoods of the vehicles were used as seating units. A special arena was not designed in the festival area, only the stage and the security area surrounding it were established. The sound towers, which were designed quite long, were transformed into units that the audience climbed to watch the stage (Figure 3.7). The backstage consisted of the tent that the artists used as a dressing room and the area set up for eating, drinking, and socializing. Also, portable toilets were placed in the strolling area and a medical trailer was added to the security area at the entrance as a precaution. For most of the festival, the use of the site developed completely organically with the do-it-yourself (DIY) movement of hippie culture.
Figure 3.6 : The bubble diagram of Woodstock ’69 (Musaoğlu, 2022).
Figure 3.7 : Differentiation in the use of structures and tools in Woodstock Festival, 1969 (URL-8).
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Woodstock is built on the non-hierarchical order of the counterculture, a short heterotopia where only music, arts and entertainment activities are available. As such, the festival has been a recorded preview of the hippies' counterculture and alternative lifestyle.
3.1.1.3 Glastonbury Festival ‘71
The countercultural free festival movement at the end of the 60's did not stay only in U.S., but also spread to other countries. Among these festivals, the most prominent was Glastobury Festival. After its first attempt in 1970, it was held for the first time in England in 1971 as the official Glastonbury Festival. Unlike the ones held in the U.S., this festival was discussed and designed by architect Bill Harkin with the festival's founder Andrew Kerr. Kerr noticed that Worthy Farm was located in what is called the Glastonbury Zodiac, an astrological model of the areas surrounding the Glastonbury complex, and planned the timing and location of the Glastonbury Fayre, which took place between 20 and 24 June (Kerr, n.d.).
The main sites of the Glastonbury Festival consisted of a strolling area and a stage (Figure 3.8). Compared to other festivals, Glastonbury has remained more primitive and has not added functional areas such as toilets, a first aid area, and a security pitch. Activities such as eating, drinking, resting, camping and socializing were carried out in the promenade area without any entry point of the festival. Again, similar to other festivals, stalls were set up for food and drink by the participants, but this time it was free. In addition, an observation tower was designed in this area, similar to the functional transformation of the sound towers in Woodstock, making it possible to watch the scene (Figure 3.9). The main stage, which is the heart of the festival, was designed as a 1/10 scale replica of the Great Pyramid, located on a blind arc believed to lie on a “spiral geodesic line” connected to the Glastonbury-Stonehenge line with a scaffolding frame covered with plastic sheets (Young, 2010) (Figure 3.10). Inspired by John Michell's book “The View Over Atlantis”, Kerr embraced the idea that astronomical alignments are the most concentrated energy at the summer solstice, and that properly proportioned and aligned buildings can draw these energies to the planet's surface and deposit them in wells, churches, and monuments. Shortly after the festival, Kerr stated his goals, “What we were trying to do was to enliven the nervous system of the earth with joy, appreciation, and happiness, so that our home planet would
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respond by producing a happier, more balanced race of humans, animals and plants. It was a fertility ritual.” (Kerr, n.d.).
Figure 3.8 : The bubble diagram of Glastonbury Festival ’71 (Musaoğlu, 2022).
Figure 3.9 and Figure 3.10 : The observer tower of Glastonbury Festival, 1971 (URL-9), and The pyramid stage of Glastonbury Festival, 1971 (URL-10).
More important to Kerr than the music was the small opportunity the festival offered to try an alternative, sustainable lifestyle. For a short time, this event allowed the participants to give up on earthly comfort and focus on experimenting with symbiosis in interaction with nature. The festival was free, the establishment did not sell alcohol, and the type of food served was vegetarian. Brochures circulating in the area urged festival attendees to share and protect bread, water, and food with strangers, not to harm local produce, and to clap more quietly to respect the residents' desire for peace (Young, 2010).
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The Glastonbury festival has also become more than a music festival and paints a picture of a more spiritual approach. This universe, which was created in Glastonbury, which represents a spiritual pursuit of the materialist man who has everything in the rationality of modernism, showed a new religious lifestyle. Glastonbury has been organized in England on a regular basis almost every year until today. However, with its rapid popularity, its countercultural representation disappeared and became part of the mainstream.
3.1.1.4 Free festival in Turkey: Barışarock
The free festival movement, or even any kind of open-air festival, in Turkey has been started too late compared to those in other countries. The first open-air festival was the H2000 festival held in 2000 in a forested area in Istanbul. Subsequently, Rock'n Coke, the most popular festival appealing to the mainstream, was held from 2003 to 2013. As a result, Turkey's first free festival, “Barışarock”, which lasted from 2003 to 2008 in Sarıyer, as its founder Taner Öngür stated in an interview in Evrensel Newspaper, was born as a reaction to the manipulation of youth by music and misuse of rock music in the “Rock'n Coke” festival organized by a company that is part of international capitalism (İlbeyoğlu, 2008). However, this festival was not just a festival against Rock'n Coke, it was a kind of alternative social forum that struggled intellectually on many social and political issues such as environment, human rights, animal rights, labor issues and many more. It was organized free of charge and without sponsorship, on a voluntary basis, and was formed with many non-governmental organizations and volunteer musicians. Banners were prepared every year highlighting the determined themes related to the social problems of the period such as the US occupation in Iraq, the media, global warming and environmental pollution, and conversations and panels were held on these topics in addition to music. The slogan of the festival was “Barışarock2 against war, occupation, nationalism, racism and global warming”. “Barışarock” festival has endeavored to become a heterotopic space that allows the coming together of Turkey's counter-culture for 6 years. Ultimately, at the end of the 6th festival, this format was ended with the dream of being eco-friendlier and more organized with the use of sustainable energy resources.
2 The name of the "Barışarock" festival is a wordplay that is heard as "peacefully" and whose spelling means "rock to peace".
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Looking at the bubble chart of the Barışarock festival held in 2006, it could be observed that it is quite similar to Woodstock Art & Music Fair. Although the festival in 2006 was completely free, there is a security area right next to the bus stop where pat-down searches are made for precautions. The main areas of the festival consist of a strolling area, a camping area, a stage, and a marquee for artists (Figure 3.11).
Figure 3.11 : The bubble diagram of Barışarock Festival, 2006 (Musaoğlu, 2022).
In the strolling area of the festival, which was established on a picnic site in Sarıyer, while activities such as eating, drinking, and socializing were carried out; workshops and talks were also held (Figure 3.12). As in previous countercultural festivals, no corporate items were offered, only food and handcrafted products provided by local merchants and activists were shown on the stalls. The campground is located as a detached space away from the stage and strolling area. The stage was designed in a rather primitive way (Figure 3.13). Apart from that stage, small stages were also set up for conversations. The marquee that was for the artists had been only used as a dressing room. On the other hand, a place for a car park was not planned in the festival due to environmental concerns, it was expected to be reached by public transport, only a parking lot for motorcyclists was agreed upon, which is in the close parking lot that was independent of the festival land. In addition, portable toilets in the strolling area and a first aid ambulance were placed in the security area.
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Figure 3.12 and Figure 3.13 : The strolling area of Barışarock Festival (URL-11), and The concert area in Barışarock Festival (URL-12).
At the festivals, both the performance and the participants’ unique lifestyles were transformed into revolutionary fashions and interior atmospheres (Winchip, 2010). These festivals are the first occurrences of the nocturnal heterotopias of the counterculture. By creating a space that is non-profit, not only entertainment-oriented, but also allows experiences that show a liberating new lifestyle and far from the market, it also creates the intellectual roots of the spaces to be examined in other parts. On the other hand, many of these festivals have not been repeated, while the remaining ones have not progressed by preserving their original purpose and they have conceptually stepped away from being a counter-cultural heterotopia by being included in the capitalist system.
3.1.1.5 Hippie house parties
The hippie generation often held house parties in their home setting to experience their entertainment independently, except for their festivals where they gathered for several days of the year. Therefore, the reflections of hippie culture to the interior define another nocturnal heterotopia. Visual symbols of the counterculture generation were the peace sign and vivid, psychedelic colors. By contrasting bright hues like hot pink, orange, and purple, psychedelic colors were generated. The interior space has also been part of these experiences and principles. Communal living arrangements, another non-traditional choice of some during this period, had simple interiors with very few material items, as they were associated with the “establishment” (Winchip, 2010). “The Back to Nature” lifestyle included nudity, growing your own food, and do-it-yourself movement. Colored beads divided rooms and mats were used instead of beds in the doorways. The living areas had a set of pillows on the floor, also used as a smoking area for cannabis groups (Figure 3.14). Batik-dyed fabrics, flowing bubbles
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in lava lamps and pop art seemed fantastic to look at while they were stoned (Figure 3.15).
Figure 3.14 and Figure 3.15 : Dale Sizer’s tiki inspired living room (Gould, 2000) and a living room (Fisher, 1972).
As another type of living, the Volkswagen bus became the house of the hippies and was loaded with decorative objects used in other dwellings. For different ideological causes such as being founded in Germany rather than a “foundation”, in other words, not owned by a US company, it was the vehicle of choice for hippies (Winchip, 2010). A traditional lifestyle was preserved by the bus, which encouraged people to ride in groups and live on the bus. The bus was quick to fix as well, giving the hippies confidence.
Although the idea of the house party of the counter-culture is perceived as just a method of protection/concealment, it is also the emancipatory influence of the space that is seen as the home. In this context, the arrangement of fun, far from venue politics, can be adjusted as desired in homes.
3.2 A Counter-Society Between 1965-1974: Disco Youth
In the early 1970s, the events that continued from the previous decade have continued and started to be concluded. The Soviets began negotiations with the US to limit their military arsenals. With the withdrawal of the USA in 1973, the Vietnam War was completely over in 1975, but the oppressive policy of the winning side was the beginning of the “boat people” refugee problem, which continues to the present day (Winchip, 2010). Furthermore, the 1970s saw the birth of modern global terrorism as part of a policy or ideology of violence organized by one person or an organized group
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(Jenkins, 2015). During this period, many terrorist attacks were carried out, such as the bombing of the Tower of London and the British Parliament Building, the hijacking of planes, the taking of hostages and the killing of some. These events caused the human rights crisis and political issues to continue. In addition, the natural environment was more destroyed in the 1970s than in the previous decade due to various problems such as the increase in the use of fossil fuels, the release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, and oil spills.
The event that most directly and indirectly affected the 1970s in many ways is surely the oil crisis. OPEC, which was formed by oil-exporting countries in the 60s, supplied the majority of the need for fossil fuels in industrialized countries in the 70s. The increase in the consumption of aviation fuel with the development of the airline, especially with automobiles, single-unit houses, televisions, and electronic devices, increased the dependence on oil (Winchip, 2010). However, with all this increase in need, the unrest in the Middle East coincided with the same period. Problems are gathered in two centers. Firstly, with the devaluation of the dollar in the early 1970s, the falling value of the dollar effectively reduced the revenues of OPEC countries from their oil, as a dollar-denominated deal was made for the price of oil. Upon this, OPEC countries resorted to pricing their oil in gold, and oil prices increased significantly (Corbett, 2013). Secondly, the problems in the Middle East after World War II began when Israel gained independence, but Arab countries such as Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Iraq opposed this and declared war on Israel. Israel's victory in the Six-Day War, mentioned in the previous chapter, resulted in the expansion of Israeli territory. However, this led to several terrorist attacks, including the killing of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympic Games in West Germany (Url-13). The events intensified and the Yom Kippur War started in 1973 with the attack of Egypt and Syria on Israel. During the war, Arab countries decided to retaliate against the nations that supported Israel by using oil as a weapon. Therefore, in a very short time, the Arab countries started an oil shipment embargo on the United States of America and the Netherlands, a country that also supports Israel. The Yom Kippur War was short-lived and ended with Israel winning the war; however, the "oil war" had a dramatic and immediate impact on the industrialized world (Winchip, 2010). A limited supply of natural resources in high demand has created a global crisis in industrialized countries as well as in developing countries (Corbett, 2013). In early 1974, consumer demand for other
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services had fallen dramatically with the ever-higher prices of oil, and people's habits had to change. While they had to enter the petrol lines in the early hours, gas stations also had to produce color coding: green when gas was available, yellow when rationed, and red when finished (Amadeo, 2020). This increase in oil prices affected not only consumers but all industries. This situation has led to the discovery of reducing dependence on non-renewable resources such as petroleum and using renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, water, and geothermal energy in industrialized countries (Winchip, 2010). Although the beginning of the sustainable world dates back to the 19th century, it gained momentum as a result of the oil crisis. These developments have led designers, interior architects, and architects to use sustainable energy resources for energy saving in the built environment.
On the other hand, the 1970s can be seen as the period when the modern world began to enter the digital and electronic age. Many new technologies have been developed, such as transistors and integrated circuits, advanced televisions and calculators. In addition, many technologies used today, such as video games, electronic card access, optimized microwave ovens, barcodes, floppy disks, inkjet printers, laser printers, commercial video cassette players, cellular mobile phones, and global positioning system (GPS), date back to this period. Microprocessor development was encouraged, and the development of home computers began with the establishment of Microsoft Corporation in 1975 and Apple Computer in 1976. Computer-aided design / computer-aided manufacturing (CAD / CAM) was introduced to the market, and the invention of the microprocessor had a significant impact on interior design and architecture (Winchip, 2010). In addition, during this period, air travel continued to develop and grow, which enabled all kinds of flows to occur faster and globalization to accelerate.
In the built environment, these events, particularly acts of terrorism, prompted the authorities, interior designers and architects to reconsider their position and role in design. The approaches used in the design process had to be supported by solutions that would discourage terrorists and minimize casualties in the case of a terrorist attack. As a result of all these situations, the transition from outdoor to indoor took place; hippie festivals diminished in the early 1970s and were replaced by discos, increasing the interest in the United States and many other countries for disco dance clubs (Winchip, 2010). Thus, the utopian alternative life that the counter-culture is trying to express has emerged again in a more closed form of fun.
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3.2.1 Disco architecture
A significant transformation in music, dance, and fashion trends was seen in the 1970s, shifting away from the 1960s rock festivals and casual clothes. Instead of listening to the music performed on an outdoor stage by a group wearing second-hand garments, people decided to wear flashy costumes on a dance floor to party with the music played by a disc jockey (DJ) in a club (Winchip, 2010). Before the disco, activities such as dances, balls, and concerts were performed indoors with an orchestra. The disco broke these coded steps and the orchestra disappeared in favor of sound, technology, light, and free movement. It created a total environment free of walls, in which time and space were removed, limited by the closure of a simple box or bubble (Fèvre, 2017). Ruiz (2017) states that Italian radical architects, influenced by Marshall McLuhan's writings and Warhol's Electric Circus, “saw the disco as an opportunity for innovation not only within architecture but as a medium for social exchange as well—autonomous zones free” from the hegemony of normalized sociality under capitalism. Thus, disco has become the new heterotopia of utopian life that the counterculture wanted to have fun and show, as a result of its inclination towards indoor spaces.
The existence of the discotheque is not very old, unlike most forms of nocturnal spaces. The discotheque, which was abbreviated in 1964 in the American language and called disco, which means “the club where recorded dance music was played”, is etymologically derived from the words disco (“phonograph record”) and -thèque (“case, capsule”) from Latin origin in 1951 (Url-14). Ruiz describes the disco, structurally, as a distinctly dynamic environment that is built for the highest number of bodies, enhanced by arpeggio beats, stroboscopic light, and dim, mirrored environments, often discontinuous; characteristically, as areas of occurrence in which a marginal subject might momentarily escape from the pressure from the mainstream society on the dance floor (Ruiz, 2017). Restany defines this experimental atmosphere as a new type of setting that is not only a nightclub but a place for meetings, exhibitions, and other events. A new type of space that is constantly being refracted and replaced by light effects, an imaginary space created from devices, projectors, and reflectors, just like music is created by instruments: a space that exists only in motion (Restany, 1967). This definition of the “disco” made by the art critic Pierre Restany could well be the same one that Cedric Price wanted for his “Fun Palace” as an environmental generator for a new entertainment society. In this way, since the mid-
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sixties, nightclubs were the center of attention of some architects interested in this virtual architecture, becoming centers of spatial experiments with light, projection, and sound (Cedillo, 2012). Although the artistic lineages and variants of this genre as a whole are complex, despite the global economic recession, disco took its place at the height of the counterculture of the 1960s. The core argument for this is that disco also created a discourse against racism, homophobia, and dominant ideology with the heterotopia it created by presenting an alternative example of social life in which the differences between classes disappeared, like all other forms of countercultural entertainment, and by being a space for the emancipation of queer and colored users.
Disco's belonging to the counterculture is a more complicated correlation than the one with festivals. The reason for this is that disco can easily be seen as a capitalist element. It is the content that distinguishes the disco from being a capitalist element and turns it into a heterotopia. Richard Dyer (1979) explains why disco should not be seen as a capitalist element in his article, In Defense of Disco, as follows: “Capitalism constructs the disco experience, but it does not necessarily know what it is doing, apart from making money”. Thus, apparently under the shadow of the so-called capitalist identity, until the surveillance cameras increased and all spaces were controlled, the hidden world inside became a reflection of the utopian counterculture perspective.
The strong atmospheric expression of the disco distinguishes it from all other heterotopias, which is why the disco emerged in a planned space with a conceptual background, contrary to the organic development of the others. Therefore, when looking at the emergence of the disco, it is important to fully comprehend the artistic attitude of that period.
3.2.1.1 The Voom Voom
The Voom Voom was designed in 1966, first in Saint Tropez and a year later in Juan Les Pins by architect Paul Bertnard and cybernetic artist Nicolas Schöffer. The Voom Voom was the epitome of European “Yé-Yé”3 culture, according to art critic Pierre Restany, who defines “Yé-Yé” music as a mild and diluted edition of rock and roll. Regardless, Restany believed that Yé-Yé nightclubs, including Voom Voom, were
3 Yé-yé is a music genre that draws its influences mainly from the 60s British and American rock and roll. The Yé-yé culture that emerges depending on this music genre is a specific form of the counterculture.
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capable of developing "collective trance" (Vanel, 2018). Thus, Voom Voom presented a new form of fun as the first of the indoor heterotopias of the European counterculture.
The first discotheque included two large stainless-steel structures with rotating reflective surfaces illuminated by various light projectors, the same as the French artist Nicholas Schöffer dreamed of for his theory spatiodynamisme4 developed for his urban utopia (Cedillo, 2012). Understood as a small-scale implementation of his urban ideals, the proposal was finally produced from the creation of lumino-dynamic effects similar to “Cybernetic Light Tower”5 imagined for the visionary La Ville Cybernétique project (Parga, 2015) (Figure 3.16). Indeed, Schöffer installed mobile and rotating structures there, made up of metal branches whose ends are decorated with reflecting cells that can be touched and moved and which react to light rays thanks to photosensitive cells (Figure 3.17). He also imagined a large metallic prism in which people can enter and, thus, see their image reflected to infinity owing to internal walls coated with reflective steel plates, illuminated through a sophisticated electronic mechanism that is projecting the colored lights to the beat of the music (Guzzetti, 2017). Bernard also covered all the walls with shimmering stainless-steel plates that create false perspectives and dematerialize the space, and the surfaces of the tables and bar counter in anodized aluminum for the same effect (Vanel, 2018). In this ‘metal cave’, customers became actors, and authors of a new and alternative experience (Guzzetti, 2017).
The second Voom Voom, like the first one, is radically futuristic with stainless steel walls, black lights, and mirror tricks. With a capacity of 1000 customers, the Voom Voom operated as a feast with song and dance competitions at night and as a non-alcoholic patisserie on Sunday afternoons. At the entrance of the venue, there is a cloakroom and reception area on the right. The 'monster's lair', which is reached after passing through a narrow hall, consists of a four-level dance floor, one of which is solid wood, a seating area with midnight blue seats and a giant 40-meters-long bar (Jausas, 2020). At the end of the dance floor, there is an orchestra area that sometimes functions as a DJ booth (Figure 3.18). Sylvia Ribes, the owner of Voom Voom,
4 Spatiodynamisme is a theory that is created by Nicolas Schöffer and he explains its objective as "the constructive and dynamic integration of space in the plastic work" (Schöffer, 1965).
5 Light tower of La Défense [Tour Lumière Cybernétique de La Défense] in Paris was one of Nicholas Schöffer's unrealized imaginative creations which was designed to be propelled by data collected in the city, such as traffic, temperature, mail and the stock exchange.
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mentioned that it was a family disco where those who had no money do not pay, stated that the place was a sun for young people and everyone was waiting for the weekend all weekend (Jausas, 2020).
Figure 3.16 and Figure 3.17 : The light tower of La Défense (URL-15), and A tower in the Voom Voom (URL-16).
Figure 3.18 : The bubble diagram of the Second Voom Voom (Musaoğlu, 2022).
The Voom Voom Discoteque with its two venues was one of the first examples of experimental night architecture in France and offered an emancipation place to its users with its innovative and fascinating atmosphere. It is possible to see the effects of Voom Voom in other examples in Europe.
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3.2.1.2 Electric Circus
In 1966, Andy Warhol and Paul Morrisey turned Arlington Hall in New York into the DOM at Saint Marks Place, where the Hippies and Yippies6 mostly spent time and became a magnet for the counterculture (Nevius, 2014). Andy Warhol started using the upper floor of the DOM for Exploding Plastic Inevitable7 (EPI) events. A year later, the DOM's ownership changed and while the downstairs of the DOM continued to be used as a restaurant/bar, the upper floor of the DOM became the Electric Circus that is the wildest and most creative version of the 1960s club culture, with alternating EPI events with light shows, music concerts, circus attractions and experimental theatre (Lavin, 2009). The Electric Circus joined the panorama of the thriving nightlife, staged in an enveloping interior designed by architect Charles Forberg with pleated nylon membranes, and created multimedia chaos with EPI shows. Thus, the venue has become one of the first examples of electronic interactions that promise the ultimate legal entertainment experience, commercially transformed into a social event that is massively involved by young people seeking new experiences and embracing the counterculture during the psychedelic age (Parga, 2015).
The Electric Circus was one of the few nightclubs that illustrated the drug-induced excesses of the 1960s. A surreal scene was created by trapeze performers, jugglers, and mimes who were illuminated by black lights flickering strobe, in the venue, which invites its guests with the mantra “play games, dress as you like, dance, sit, think, tune in and turn on” (Mastropolo, 2013). Trying to transcend the traditional disco with this mantra and approach the ritual, as the theologian James Lapsley points out, Electric Circus has become a Gesamtkunstwerk8 open to the public (Parga, 2015). The Circus, inevitably, became the place to go to smoke marijuana and drop acid. Genya Ravan, from Ten Wheel Drive, talks about the wonderful vibe of the place in an interview and remembers the scent of the place and states: “When I think back to those days, I smell
6 The term “Yippie” is used to describe members of the International Youth Party, a radical countercultural group.
7 Exploding Plastic Inevitable (EPI) is a series of multimedia events organized by Andy Warhol, that consisted of an impressive multidisciplinary and collective show that transformed space into a new form of “environment” through sensory overload and a high degree of stimulation combined with low levels of visual and auditory resolution, making it the perfect stage for all kinds of synchronized performances that included musical improvisations, film projections, screen tests, photographs, strobe lights, dance, and even film shoots.
8 Gesamtkunstwerk means a total work of art.
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patchouli and musk. I smell a little grass. I got high just breathing the air there” (Mastropolo, 2013). On the other hand, The Electric Circus included a diverse lineup of rock artists, including Sly and the Family Stone, Dr. John, Deep Purple, and the Allman Brothers Band, many of which would go on to become superstars.
Electric Circus had both an internal connection with the lower floor and an elevated entrance from the street. While the lower floor (the Dom), which was used as a restaurant/bar, had units such as cloakrooms, technical spaces, and toilets, Electric Circus consisted only of a large dance hall, a dark small room, a milkshake bar, a stage and a dressing room for performers (Figure 3.19). The plastering of the walls and the fabrics prevented the right angles to form in the space, thus creating a cave-like atmosphere. This ambience, with the flickering lights and the changing crowd, created an astonishing experience for the participants (Mastropolo, 2013). The main area that consisted of the dance hall, bar and the stage was decorated with shapelessly draped fabrics that extended to the walls, corners, and cornices.
Figure 3.19 : The bubble diagram of Electric Circus (Musaoğlu, 2022).
Multimedia performances, circus acts, experimental theatre and electronic music shows were held in this area. In contrast to the ordinary seating arrangement facing one type and one way, sitting corners where people can hang out were created in the
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spaces between the curtains. Continuous loops of short films were broadcast dimly on projectors behind the fabric (Figure 3.20). One visitor describes the atmosphere of the place as: “People were everywhere and moved mysteriously in the smoky dim light” (Anonymous, 2013). Moreover, there was a dark foam rubber room, that is attached to the main dance floor, with small gaps in its walls for visitors to get in and hang out. Apart from that, the sound system, all designed by Don Bunchla, consisted of six Altec speaker cabinets, three on each side, front center rear, wall-mounted. The sound booth was on a balcony at the back of the hall so you could glance at the dance floor. The sub-woofers were quite large and were attached to the floor. Electronic music composer Morton Subotnick expressed the reflection of the sound system on the space: “They were actually attached to the floor so you could feel the vibration of the sub-woofer. And of course, people were moving, so once everybody moved together with that, it was pretty impressive” (Mastropolo, 2013). Thus, by ensuring that even the vibration of the music is a part of the experience, a visual and tactile whole is created.
Figure 3.20 : The Electric Circus, 1967 (URL-17).
In the United States, advances in holography, holograms, and other audiovisual reproduction systems join the counterculture as the main protagonists of the generation of disco environments. The “Electric Circus”, was remodeled in 1969 by the architects Gwathmey & Henderson (Figure 3.21), turning the entire space into a projection surface so that the light show became the only possible space (Cedillo, 2012). Gwathmey and Henderson designed some of the inflation curves in the existing vertical plane in all planes by creating an environment without a reference point. Progressive Architecture has mentioned that the overly stable and permanent design of the interior can conflict with the changing tastes of young people as follows:
But in spite of lasers slicing through space, slides flashing on all surfaces, and music pulsing every atom, the tactility quotient of space defined by such formal
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perfection is zero. On opening night, more than one dancer remarked that the super-white walls and carefully sculpted spaces left him cold – ‘loose music in an uptight room’. (P/A News Report, 1969)
Since the architecture has such a strong expression, when the Electric Circus was designed for the second time, it was not a total one, although it was a stunning total environment. On top of all this, after a bomb that exploded on the dance floor in 1970 and injured many, the place never recovered and in 1971 the Electric Circus lost its stamp and closed (Mastropolo, 2013). This is how the fascinating EPI shows came to an end, and when the venue closed, these events also disappeared.
Figure 3.21 : View of Electric Circus through a horizontal slit window from above the dance floor (above), the computer sound-light console (below left), one of the hutches-for-two (below right). (John L. Nuzzo, 1969)
3.2.1.3 The Cheetah Club
At the end of May 1966, the cave-like and expansive the Cheetah Club opened in New York, where visits have been described as a “psychedelic experience” by virtue of the combination of sophisticated equipment that allows the immersive and enchanting effects of light and music to be reproduced. As intermedia had become more public, aesthetics moved towards the psychedelic, and emotional warmth rose with it. Before it found its political focus, the youth revolution was a major rock and roll show hosted under the influence of psychedelics and hormones (Watson, 2003). For this reason, 1966 witnessed the discotheques mushroomed. However, according to experimental filmmaker and regular night owl Jonas Mekas, the Cheetah stood out by making the most interesting use of intermedia. When Mekas compared the Cheetah with the DOM
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that offers another experimental entertainment, he mentions that: “Whereas the Dom shows are restricted (or became restricted) to the in-circle, Cheetah was designed for the masses. An attempt was made to go over the persona, over the ego to reach the impersonal, abstract, universal” (Watson, 2003). Joel Lobenthal (1992) describes how the Cheetah makes customers feel in her book Radical Rags: Fashions of the Sixties: “The discotheque had become a self-contained Aladdin's Cave, in which the visitor surrendered his or her everyday identity in search of Dionysian transport”.
The Cheetah was not only a dance club with a capacity of 2000 people but also a versatile nocturnal venue with its library, cinema lounge, colorful TV room, and stores (Figure 3.22). The disco was housed in a three-storey building with a colored TV room, scopitone room and library in the basement, dance floor, bar, the cloakroom and a boutique on the ground floor, and a movie theatre on the upper floor where the latest, strangest, most underground movies were shown (Brewster & Broughton, 1999; Watson, 2003).
Figure 3.22 : The bubble diagram of the Cheetah Club (Musaoğlu, 2022).
The Cheetah had a wider entrance than other discos. The reason for this was that exclusive discotheque clothes started to be sold in the boutique of Cheetah. When it was noticed that many customers were buying clothes to change the clothes they came in, the cloakroom was expanded accordingly (Lobenthal, 1992). The cavernous space on the ground floor consisted of a dance floor and bar with randomly scattered circular catwalks like large polka dots (Brewster & Broughton, 1999). On the dance floor, as
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the three thousand color bulbs dimmed, the light transformed into endless patterns of light reflected from shiny aluminum sheets (Watson, 2003) (Figure 3.23). The club was covered in smooth and soft black velvet everywhere except the bar covered in faux fur (Brewster & Broughton, 1999). In the 60s, when people often turned to drugs for a psychedelic experience, evolutionary discos like Cheetah were frequently non-alcoholic, as customers were more likely to use cannabis and amphetamines (Watson, 2003).
Figure 3.23 : The dance floor of the Cheetah Club (URL-18).
Cheetah, which changed hands in the late 1970s, continued for a while with a new version that focused on salsa music. In 1974, the Cheetah disco closed and the venue was converted into a musical instrument rental company and rehearsal space. In 2004, the building was demolished to be converted into a luxury hotel (Weiss, 2004) where the working class could never stay overnight.
3.2.1.4 Piper Club
Piper Club opened in Rome in 1965 to replace an old cinema and, inspired by the British beat scene in its style and musical programming, it quickly became a legend for entertainment culture (Daro, 2009). Piper Club, one of the pioneers of the radical architectural movement in Italy, was part of an utterly revolutionary, politicized, countercultural movement. The discotheque, which descended 20 meters below ground with 200 steps, was a place where anything could happen and even where everything actually happened. In the words of one of its architects, Francesco Capolei, Piper Club was an experimental work that created a wide field of composition and an opportunity for formal cooperation between architects, artists and the public. From the beginning, the collaboration between architects Giancarlo and Pinini Capolei, painter
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Claudio Cintoli, and client Alberigo Crocetta was thrilling and special. Crocetta, a lawyer, wanted a space designed just for teenagers and organized like a giant 'pallet' accessible on a limited budget (Capolei, 2015). In the first brainstorm, the desire to escape oppressive morals typical of the era and the widely accepted desire to create a dynamic space came to the fore. The aim was to create psychological and physical spaces that allow like-minded young people from diverse social backgrounds to come together and give the club a sense of pre-established community, bringing people together to create a series of unique, spiritually charged encounters.
The attempt to break the usual single center of attraction (curtain, orchestra, stage) has led the designers to create a series of alternative centers and variable spaces, while at the same time creating temporary meeting places for the participants and aiming to create a sense of belonging. This initiative was not intended to include the nightclub client alone, it had to be a place for everyone, a society that provided incentives for integration, freeing people from the distinctions between ugly and beautiful, rich and poor (Capolei, 2015). Ultimately, the multi-purpose hall, which is encountered after descending the long stairs with visual-covered walls and passing the cloakroom, has become a playground, that includes everyone and where people could come together and stress out, aiming to eliminate the traditional barrier between the actor and the audience, and between the active and passive space. Behind the bar that ran along one wall of the large hall were the kitchen and cold storage and cellar areas with a separate service entrance. All events were intended to take place in this multi-purpose hall since the entire venue was designed open-plan (Figure 3.24).
Since everyone was wanted to feel connected through dance, which was redesigned as a global ceremony rather than individuality, the embodying of the first choices was aimed at creating a kaleidoscopic formation of the psychophysical field. The array of spatial elements, expressed in various ways in different shapes and combinations, has led to new relationships between the public and the group, between the individual and the individual, to enable cooperation between audiences and actors. In order to eliminate the dominance of the hall and stage, the stage was divided into a dynamic platform combination at different levels and the area where the dance floor was traditionally located was eliminated. The wall itself consisted of illustrated sections that aimed to highlight the “Giardino per Ursula” mural designed by Claudio Cintoli, combining different working methods, each corresponding to a stage in a hypothetical
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sequence of visual sensations, with variable lighting used across the entire surface (Capolei, 2015). The three and a half meters high and almost twenty-meters-long mural consisted of a woman's face, a garden, other painted figures, and a collection of scrap metal and plastic urban waste, such as car wheels and road markings that accumulate daily in the city (Bucci, 2017). There were other works of art from Andy Warhol to Rauschenberg and Mario Schifano to Piero Manzoni that disappeared shortly after the club opened (Treppiedi, 2016). These works continued towards the center of the room, allowing the public to come into contact with the mural, apart from describing the scene.
Figure 3.24 : The bubble diagram of the Piper Club (Musaoğlu, 2022).
Different painting methods - brush, spray, nets, matte paint - were used throughout the space, thus producing different light qualities in each section. There were also screens that were animated in various ways with transparent shadow projections of actors and audiences. This arrangement, which includes both positive (illuminating) and negative (non-illuminated) elements, and the possibility to change the combination as desired, provided numerous possibilities for changing the space (Capolei, 2015). While the space was designed with the idea of continuity of cubic elements throughout the room without the intervention of traditional furniture elements such as chairs and tables, a
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self-service line consisting of food and beverage vending machines and the elimination of the waiter presence as a traditional character, the space was rejected due to the rules of authority. Therefore, the designers decided to challenge this imposition by placing tavern tables and chairs and hiding the self-service chain (Treppiedi, 2016) (Figure 3.25).
Figure 3.25 : The Piper Club, 1966 (URL-19).
Piper Club was a response to the needs of young people who wanted to stay together, communicate and establish relationships until the end of the 70's. It has pioneered the transformation of the city's culture and nocturnal venues with reconfigurable furniture, audio-visual technologies and a stage. Although the club, which is still active today, tries to protect its motto, it has been included in the marketing strategy of the 21st century and various changes have been experienced in the interior. While the terraced stage platforms, pop art wall and lighted pedestal dance areas were removed, only the balconies of the place were preserved.
3.2.1.5 Piper Pluriclub
With the Rome-based Piper Club attracting the attention of architects and designers, a course on “Piper” avant-garde disco was opened at the University of Florence by Italian architect and painter Leonardo Savioli (Battista, 2015). Giorgio Ceretti, Pietro Derossi, and Riccardo Rosso, the architects of the Piper Pluriclub designed in Turin in 1966, also participated in this course, which had a significant influence on their designs. Turin, one of Italy's largest industrial cities, was an important hub on the intellectual and countercultural scene at the time, hosting numerous critical and social discussions as well as providing a full exposure to the experimental avant-garde through film, theatre, and exhibits. As such, Piper Pluriclub was more than a nightclub
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in this vast cultural panaroma, which was profoundly political. It was an important venue where artists, writers, and filmmakers could come together, address themes and trends, and then expand the scope of their experiments by shaping youth culture (Guzzetti, 2019). Moreover, it has become a prominent illustration of radical architecture as a place where innovative materials and cutting-edge technology are mixed.
Piper Pluriclub consisted of an entrance area with cloakroom and toilets, a large main hall and a snack bar (Figure 3.26). Piper Pluriclub was planned to be a flexible and transformable venue suitable for the use of different activities such as dance, theatre, cinema, exhibitions, meetings (Url-20). A metallic and mirrored cave atmosphere was created by covering the walls and ceiling with aluminum panels and the reflections of the light reflected on the panels. The floor was covered with rubber, a soft, industrial material that is durable and sound-absorbing. Movable plastic seats, modular metal balcony and illuminated platforms allowed the space to be restructured in line with the needs of the events (Figure 3.27). By aiming to actively involve the audience in the transformation of the space, it was expected that a synesthetic event could take place every night (Guzzetti, 2019). In this club, as in the first Piper, a design has been made to eliminate the concept of the waiter and the drinks are planned to be distributed through vending machines placed in special niches and a self-service bar. The entrance stairs, housed in a “tube” covered with polyvinyl laminate on a cotton backing, thanks to a metallic plastic curtain controlled by photoelectric cells, was designed as a “musical stair” by avant-garde musician and composer Sergio Liberovici (Url-20; Diamanti, 2017). While the forty tracks were commanded by movement, they were recorded in almost endless combinations with sounds such as mixed news effects, electronic music, reading texts of beat poets, and people's speech. As the visitors descended the stairs, they activated the sounds with their movements, thus creating a fluid and instantaneous event. Additionally, five "Blindo-trolley" type rails were passed through the ceiling inside, each equipped with attachments for microphones, speakers, lights and projection devices (Url-20). Multicolored spotlights and metal panels moving along the rails multiplied the space, while videos and images mostly created by designer Clino Trini Castelli were shown on a large aluminum screen measuring 2 × 22 meters with six projectors. Working with command along the central rail in a longitudinal direction across the room, Bruno Munari's kinetic installation
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created lighting effects on aluminum walls and clients (Diamanti, 2017; Guzzetti, 2019).
Figure 3.26 : The bubble diagram of the Piper Pluriclub (Musaoğlu, 2022).
Figure 3.27 : The interior of Piper Pluriclub, Turin, 1966 (URL-21).
The Piper Pluriclub was a nightclub where beat, rock, pop and yéyé musicians and bands played as well as a theatre, fashion podium or exhibition space. It was a habitat designed to meet the needs of the younger generation. Theatres by Teatrogruppo, The Living Theatre, The Open Theatre and Lo Zoo; Beat Fashion Parade fashion show, Marisa Merz's “Living Sculptures” exhibition and many concerts were held (Guzzetti, 2019). After a short but intensive 3-year program, Piper Pluriclub closed in 1969,
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paving the way for the development of counterculture and Radical Architecture in Italy in the 1970s.
3.2.1.6 L’Altro Mando Club
L'Altro Mondo Club, as a continuation of the Pipers influence, was designed in Rimini by Giorgio Ceretti, Pietro Derossi and Riccardo Rosso, who was also the designers of Piper Pluriclub in 1967. The club, which its name means “the Other World” and offers a unique experience, has received considerable critical attention. Cook (1970) argues in his book on “Experimental Architecture” that L'Altro Mondo is the only contemporary Italian work in which a new architectural conception is produced from the moment and atmosphere with the user experience. According to Cook, the building, which is the primary basis of architecture, would be dislodged, and the performance would be an experiment intended to replace it. The world presented by L'Altro Mondo consisted of “active reflections of stage lights against aluminum walls, reconfigurable plans and structures, the pulse and throb of music, and a crowd that was choreographed into motion rather than programmed into behavior” (Lavin, 2012). In his article titled “Divertimentifici”, Trini mentioned, while the sensation of slides, films, and stroboscopic lamps at the concert of Le Stelle di Mario Schifano and the fun feeling created by this aggressive show, he defined this new, moment-focused and impressive the 'Other World' as “the new image of man was perhaps that, present, real and fixed for a moment in the intermittence between two flashes” (1968).
L'Altro Mondo Club was designed as a multi-purpose venue suitable for meeting the needs of many types of entertainment; therefore, it consists of a cloakroom, toilets, and private seating areas that can see the main hall in the entrance hall, and a large main hall with the stage, a bar, and seating areas (Figure 3.28). The main hall contained a container and equipment adaptable to various uses. The container is a large blue box made of glossy enameled metal that provides various services such as electricity, light, and sound, while the equipment is objects placed in the container with varying degrees of complexity and flexibility depending on the intended use (Figure 3.29). The goal was to establish a new sense of space with these functional “holes” without falling into scenography, visually stunning, or the pursuit of magical effects, but rather to emphasize the availability of the equipment to a communal and changing concept of “place” (Url-22). While the theatre is played in a plan scheme where the equipment in
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the space is reduced and the stage is increased, it becomes a socialization and dance space in the plan scheme where the stage is not dominant and the equipment is distributed more heterogeneously.
Figure 3.28 : The bubble diagram of the L’Altro Mondo (Musaoğlu, 2022).
Figure 3.29 : L’Altro Mondo Club, Rimini, 1967 (URL-23).
Similar to Piper Pluriclub, colorful plexiglass chairs and tables, strobe lights, illuminated pedestals, detachable towers, and projection displays projected on the wall have been remarkable interior elements of the space. The widespread use of projection in all areas in the 60s also affected architecture. Using projections as an extra layer of material and extensions of the architectural setting and occurrence, architecture has increasingly benefited from the effects of direct relation 'between the image and the
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architectural surface', as well as between 'the virtual image and moving bodies' (Lavin, 2009). The use of projection in L'Altro Mondo also enabled the architecture to create a super medium. This new perception of space, created by moving images, illuminated surfaces, and objects, filling the space with light and sound, and representation techniques that balance between two-dimensional drawing and the three-dimensionality of digital media created an innovative architectural discipline.
Unlike most of the discos mentioned in the thesis, L'Altro Mondo Club continued to operate in the same location and under the same name. However, the interior design of the place has changed drastically and has no relevance to the counterculture it once appealed to.
3.2.1.7 Mach 2
In 1967, Superstudio designed a disco called Mach 2 in a former flooded cellar in Florence. There were a lot of theoretical ideas behind the creation of Mach 2. The terrible flood of 1966, which devastated many artworks in the city, was interpreted by some as a representation of a radical turn that led to the search for criteria towards other horizons rather than monuments of the past. In this period, which was highly influenced by British beat music, the project, which refers to the example of the submarine that has become legendary in the imagination of the time with the Beatles' song Yellow Submarine, was described by Superstudio as a story of colored lights reflected on the sea surfaces (Daro, 2009). The team claimed that this place was “a real space for participation”, “continuous performance”, “a place for events and for the future” (Superstudio, 1969). However, unfortunately, SuperStudio's conceptual thoughts did not quite overlap when they got back to the concrete. In an interview with Catherine Rossi (2014), architect Andrea Ponsi, then a young student in Florence, argues that Mach 2 was actually less experimental than other venues in the city, saying: “it was bello, refined and traditional in the sense that you went there to drink… But there was nothing artistic about it; it was more of a place that continued the myth of the Italian playboy”.
As a continuation of the Piper effect, Mach 2 was also designed with the idea of a closed box from the outside and a container consisting of atmospheric effects such as sound, light and steam (Daro, 2009). Since this old cellar consisted of small rooms, the space also consisted of a corner with a cloakroom, toilets and boutique area,
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followed by a restaurant and kitchen, and at the end, two rooms with a dance floor, a bar and a storage, a smaller bar and an electrical control cabinet (Figure 3.30).
Figure 3.30 : The bubble diagram of Mach 2 (Musaoğlu, 2022).
While creating a completely darkened space with black ceramics placed on the floor and mirrored portholes; the technical infrastructure with pink strip lights, light bulbs and speakers placed in perforated metal sheet along the ceiling; and bright yellow balustrades along the walls formed the identity of the project (Figure 3.31). This installation design ensured that the users did not lose their way through all this dark experience.
Figure 3.31 : The interior of Mach 2 Club (URL-24).
The aim of the radical architecture in disco design was to provide an experience beyond dance and fun, whether it was beautiful or not, Mach 2 soon closed due to unsolvable acoustic problems.
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3.2.1.8 Space Electronic
Space Electronic was designed by Gruppo 9999 in 1969, at a former engine repair shop in Florence, also affected by the flood of 66. Founders of Gruppo 9999, like most of the radical architects of that period, met at the architecture school of the University of Florence. During this period of the Piper movement, Caldini, one of the founders Gruppo 9999, envisioned technology as a “new divinity” that could “solve any problem in the world”. Yet this utopianism was highly subjective and localized, Rossi states that this motivation stems from the thought that “if technology could put man on the moon, then it could also find a place for them on earth” (2014). Starting with this notion, Gruppo 9999 members Caldini and Preti had observed Andy Warhol's EPI events on a trip to America and realized that Electric Circus is a new form of interior space, not with physical architecture but with a perplexing sensory experience. They were highly impressed by the integration of several artistic disciplines as well as the utilization of lighting and projection technology as architectural media (Rossi, 2014). As Caldini later described, Electric Circus made them realize that “a disco has more potential than a musical venue” (2015). However, opening a counter-cultural space in Florence was not as original as expected, since in the same year McLuhan published “The Medium is the Massage”, which presents the all-encompassing setting of Electric Circus as the 'auditory space' of electronic media. On the other hand, Pierre Restany's article “Breve storia dello stile yéyé” was published in Domus magazine, in which he examined the 'politically and socially engaged' new generation of young Yéyé and their new nightlife venues. Thus, it was apprised that, unlike the traditional dance hall, the new architectural understanding is a moment of hypnosis, which consists of shows for visual, physical, and auditory experiences. In light of all these developments, Gruppo 9999 had to design not just a disco, but a disco that stands out from the others (Rossi, 2014). As a result, Space Electronic was indeed designed for multimedia experiments in art, design, music, and theatre, a physical exploration of the architectural ideas of the radicals, as a technology-saturated space beyond an ordinary disco. Space Electronic consisted of the entrance area, which is a mirrored corridor, a basement with seating areas, and a double-height ground floor with a stage, bar, and seating areas (Figure 3.32).
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Figure 3.32 : The bubble diagram of Space Electronic (Musaoğlu, 2022).
Despite the modernity of its full-length mirrored corridor, the place was entered with the smell of naphtha and motor oil bearing the traces of its industrial past (Rossi, 2014). Downstairs was a rectangular, black-painted underground space with a floor made of silver plastic laminate panels. The rest of the furniture was either salvaged from a junkyard or made by themself; for instance, 200 washing machine drums and red and white filled with 6-meters-long foam rubber were used as seats throughout the club (Caldini, 2015) (Figure 3.33). A ramp leading from this lower level led visitors to a large ground floor area with black high ceilings, black walls and a metal floor. All of these design decisions alluded to the pre-existing Piper typology. However, some elements were also present, such as a multicolored parachute brought from San Bernardino Market in California, referring to the white parachute at Electric Circus in New York, and similarly hanging from the ceiling (Rossi, 2014) (Figure 3.34). Most of the other design details were original to Space Electronic, such as a mezzanine with semi-circular metal seating, a balcony that surrounds it, and a stage made of empty refrigerator enclosures. All the interior elements used consisted of scraps they collected from the landfill because they had no budget (Caldini, 2015). This informality later prompted Branzi to praise its pristine and improvised decor, and despite the mild smell of engine oil, Space Electronic described it as 'a breath of fresh air' in the Piper architectural scene (1986). This fresh breath was a reference to the
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pyrotechnic aspects of the club, because beyond other Pipers, Space Electronic's architecture only came to life when projectors were turned on (Rossi, 2014).
Figure 3.33 and Figure 3.34 : The foam rubber seatings in Space Electronic (URL-25), and The dance floor of Space Electronic (URL-26).
In August 1970, after Space Electronic remained open for more than a year and its success, Gruppo 9999 and Superstudio started a joint project; Space Electronic was now a disco at night and an experimental architecture school called S-Space by day (Diamanti, 2017). S-Space engaged in experimental teaching and information exchange that occurred on two separate occasions. The first was the empty daytime dance floor occupied by a number of artists, architects and students who used their own bodies to 'rethink architectural composition'. The latter was more effective, in 1971, together with Superstudio, he organized the Mondial Festival, an exhibition dedicated to “Miracles of Life, Death and Architecture” (Diamanti, 2017). For this event, there was a 20 cm deep lake in the basement of the club, hidden by various shrubs dug out from Caldini's garden and featuring a stepped path to keep guests from getting their feet wet, and a vegetable garden on the ground floor (Figure 3.35), a project to be exhibited at the 1972 MOMA exhibition celebrating the Radical Architecture movement (Casini, 2013). The ideas behind these installations were symbolically presented on the second night of the festival. All demonstrated expressed Gruppo 9999's special understanding of utopia. Accordingly, nature, technology, and architecture would coexist on the dance floor and beyond. These three days in 1971 represented the highest point of Space Electronic's existence as an architectural experiment. By 1975, Gruppo 9999 disbanded and abandoned the radical design. The movement itself ended a few years later. At the same time, Space Electronic lost its priority among Florence's nightlife venues, and other clubs, suitable for rapidly changing music tastes, were preferred by young people (Rossi, 2014).
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Figure 3.35 : “Bedroom for the Vegetable Garden House” poster prepared by Gruppo 9999 for the exhibition in Moma and the vegetable garden that installed on the Space Electronic dance floor for 1971’s Mondial festival (URL-27).
During this period, Caldini made a series of design changes at the club, with an ever-decreasing avant-garde approach. A giant neon sign was placed above the outside entrance, and at 75, a series of smoked pink lotus flower-shaped plastic seats were added inside (Caldini, 2015). He also added the huge and disturbing, multicolored papier-mâché mask of a carnival king from an amusement park near Viareggio, which was replaced by a karaoke console in the 1980s. A few years later, again after a naturalistic turn, he built four glass-walled aquariums filled with piranha, which would be ritually fed every evening at midnight, under the countertop bar, but piranhas were later replaced by goldfish (Rossi, 2014).
As a result, the end of Gruppo 9999 and the radical design did not exactly represent the end of Space Electronic, even the club is still going on and run by Bolognesi and Caldini. In essence, the architectural decisions of the club, which still continues, have been preserved; still, as a black-walled box for projections, it consists of a multimedia environment filled with television screens for guests to connect with each other and for listening to music and dancing. On the positive side, it shows the current state of Piper architecture in the 21st century, as Space Electronic is indeed a flexible architecture that, while undergoing transformations, has been in existence for much longer than young radical architects could imagine (Rossi, 2014). But of course, Space Electronic has also inevitably become commercialized, and its architectural autonomy and conceptual infrastructure have disappeared.
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3.2.1.9 The Loft
David Mancuso, who preferred rental parties over clubs since they were more intimate and could be held among friends, had organized various parties before. In fact, therewas no specific starting point for the parties, which started anonymously and soon became known as the Loft, to become regular, it was formed as a result of the synthesis of a series of practices and experiences (Lawrence, 2013); however, his “Love Saves the Day” themed party on Valentine's Day of 1970, that he hosted at his home in downtown Manhattan, marked the beginning of the weekly Loft events. Mancuso's perception of the house party was highly related to his past; it was a reflection of the fact that he grew up in a children's home, the nun who took care of them in this house organized parties for children whenever possible with balloons, foods, and records; later, he attended the parties invited by the psychedelic guru Timothy Leary and met the philosophy of the psychedelic experience. Civil rights, gay liberation, psychedelic experiences, feminism, and the anti-war movements of the 1960s were reflected in Loft's egalitarian, come-as-you-go motto and queer coalition demography. As David Mancuso pointed out, there was no control over gender or race at the door, everyone who was invited to the party was economically, sexually and racially different (Lawrence, 2003). It was not a categorized party, it was completely humane and libertarian. Besides, it was a nightlife movement that initiated the first transformations of the disco era (Arnold, 2020). The house of David Mancuso, the Loft, has become a brand new night venue concept alternative to commercial clubs that strives from the context of temporality, creates an egalitarian space for music and dance, and functions as a disco only when there is a party.
The nearly 170 square meter penthouse is simply decorated with multicolored streamers and balloons hanging from the ceiling and balloons on the floor. The tables were loaded up with organic food, bread, and freshly squeezed fruit cocktails, all of which were ideologically positive (Lawrence, 2003). Around 200 guests attended the events at first; however, when the brick wall between the adjacent penthouse and the Loft was removed in 1973, the space was able to host 400 attendees. While describing the queue that party visitors created in front of an imposing warehouse, Lawrence (2003) described the entrance and interior of the Loft (Figure 3.36) as an innovative home for New York:
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They are greeted at the entrance to the building and asked to show their invitation, after which they make their way up the stairwell to the first-floor landing where another person checks off their name. Then they climb to the second floor and make a two-dollar contribution. Finally, they enter the Loft. The interior —an ex-industrial shell that somehow manages to be both expansive and intimate at the same time— is just as striking as the exterior. There doesn’t appear to be a bedroom or a bathroom, and the open plan living area is decorated with hundreds of multicolored balloons that hang from the ceiling, float in midair, and bounce along the timber floor. A yoga shrine runs along one of the walls, a sumptuous buffet of juice, fruit, and nuts along another, and a huge mirror ball is suspended from the center of the ceiling. The rest of the room is empty.
At the invitation of the "Love Saves the Day" party, Salvador Dali's “Persistence of Memory” was reproduced, offering guests the chance to escape the violence and oppression of everyday life, and the idea of socializing and dancing until the morning, entering a different time dimension that everyone can leave behind (Lawrence, 2013). There were indeed no clocks in the place, the absence of clocks contributed to the dance dynamics, creating a timeless situation (Lawrence 2003). The most dominant decorative element of the place was balloon (Figure 3.37). Due to Mancuso's practice of decorating the Loft with hundreds of balloons, time not only stood still, but it was also symbolically reversed. The interior created a familiar environment that inspires confidence, drawing guests into the therapeutic and nostalgic space of their childhood. Traveling into childhood was a way for guests to let themselves flow and relax quickly. As another design decision, the Loft did not have mirrors; this was intended to ensure that no one could see themselves as they were dancing wildly so that there was no embarrassment or anxiety (Lawrence, 2003). The entire interior was planned to allow guests to be liberated and dissolved inside the moment. After a party, a dancer commented that the positive atmosphere and universal attitude of music were too much for her at first, but after a while, her hesitations and insecurities were gone, saying: “Then all the barriers broke and I reached the other side. Like a child, I stopped caring about what other people might think and reached my essence, through dancing” (Lawrence, 2013). The psychedelic journey was also embodied in a place with a yoga temple. When it was first built, it covered an area of approximately 1.5 squaremeters and was enlarged to 90 squaremeters (Lawrence, 2003). It was the area encountered at the moment of stepping into Loft. With the speakers on both sides of the Buddha statue, the music's hallucinogenic experience was increasing. Another key element was the party's soundtrack, which encouraged them to be a musically radical but never
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musically negative ensemble (Lawrence, 2003). While these musical choices seem strange to guests who are accustomed to materialism and conventional politics, the persuasiveness of the counterculture message encircled them all.
Figure 3.36 : The bubble diagram of the Loft (Musaoğlu, 2022).
Figure 3.37 : A party interior at the Loft (URL-28).
The decor that best defined the party, both tangible and abstract, was the disco ball. It mirrored as well as formed the movement on the dance floor. At the beginning of the party, the ball was static while waiting for guests to leave behind the outside world and adjust to their new habitat. Then it would begin to spin cautiously and gain velocity as the vibe got more focused. When the party was in full flow, it would spin rapidly as its sharp, dazzling, laser-like rays reflected throughout the room. Mancuso describes the process of the disco ball as “At some point, I would just let the mirror ball spin,
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but I would also slow it down if we were about to go into another phase. The mirror ball would always reflect the energy of the room”. This energy was never individual but rather social and included the possibility of collective politics. This new form of socialism, rooted in parties, echoed Mancuso's experience in the children's home, with the Broadway crowd of people who for some reason were not part of the idealized white society (Lawrence, 2003).
All of the major social and political movements of the 60s were clearly public campaigns, and countercultural practices focused on lifestyle and fun also began to be held outdoors, becoming more public. However, due to a series of setbacks, various violence and attacks towards the end of this decade, the idea of a closed space suddenly gained much meaning. Countercultural revolts formed the basis of Loft's radical blend, and the safe environment he created increased its importance. A night owl and a DJ Michael Gomes expressed that, in the 60s, people thought that they could really change the world, but at the end of the violence, the next wave of youth realized that they could not change the world (Lawrence, 2013). Instead, these marginalized groups, disenfranchised, abandoned their worlds and created their own little artificial utopias as a sanctuary on the dance floor. Mancuso's crowd attended these parties until 1974 to experience exactly that. According to Mancuso, Loft has created minor social progress for time (Lawrence, 2003). After 74, Loft parties moved to 99 Prince Street and continued there until 85 (Url-29). By the end of the 70s, it would be possible to call the Loft the most influential party of its age (Lawrence, 2016). Indeed, it continued his legacy by having a great influence on the modeling of many discotheques and parties that emerged in the 70s.
3.3 A Counter-Society Between 1985 – Mid 1990’s: Rave People
By the 1980s, the fastest and most radical transformations of the 20th century were experienced all over the world. Communism has been overthrown, the new right has emerged, the free-market economy has prevailed, working styles and leisure practices have changed with the rapid advancement of technology, new environmental crises have emerged with the nuclear explosion, terrorism has continued and the cold war has come to an end.
The Watergate scandal in the 1970s and the defeat of the Vietnam War for the USA caused the trust in the state to be shaken in the USA. This has greatly affected global
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government policies, and developed countries have changed their economic policies. With the election of Ronald Reagan as the US President in 1981, the new right gained power due to its economic stance that would change the perspective of the state and help the society again (Davis, 2019). The neo-liberal perspective was supported by politicians such as Reagan and Margaret Thatcher directing their economic perspectives to the free market. While supporting this stance, Thatcher and Reagan withdrew their aid from the millions of people who depended on the state for their welfare or livelihoods. The fact that this move came at a time when the western world was in a deep recession made life even more difficult and contributed to the current socio-economic problems. However, both leaders remained on the path they chose, and as the recession ended and the New Right philosophy took hold, privatization and deregulation helped reshape the western world (Davis, 2019). This is a transitional period in which individual rights and consumerism have replaced the social values of the post-war era. Subsequently, consumer rights have gained importance as much as workers' rights and a new world order has begun to emerge.
A global and more aggressive model of capitalism has been influential all over the world. With the economic turnaround of the 1980s, tax cuts, the great global recession of 1982, and unemployment soaring to its highest rate of the decade, the class gap has widened. Although a better economy has been achieved than in the 1970s, the neoliberal orientation did not achieve the expected success. Inflation has fallen only for a short time and unemployment has remained a problem everywhere. Nevertheless, although the positive economic power created by the new right was justified by the socialist and communist parties, it has only remained a political victory as it could not achieve what was desired economically (Davis, 2019). Furtermore, Japan and China have grown economically in this period and have reached the point where they could compete with the USA.
In addition to the economic developments in the world, the policy of the period in Turkey was determined as liberalism and the industrial sector was encouraged with the modernization syndrome, and the Western bourgeoisie was emulated; although, all of these brought Turkey closer to global developments, it also brought the commodity culture (Akay et al., 1995). The decline of communism began in Poland in 1981, which started with the segregation of independent workers and continued in 1985 when Mikhail Gorbachev came to the head of Russia and created a reform program (Davis,
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2019). In this decade, there has been a worldwide collective reaction to the left and right dictatorships with the will of the people. At the end of 1989, the anti-communist movement in Eastern Europe reached its peak and the end of the Cold War and the disintegration of the USSR accelerated with the destruction of the Berlin Wall (Winchip, 2010). Non-democratic governments could not keep up with the world order in this period and the cause of democracy continued.
In addition, many bloody events took place in this decade. Wars and terrorist attacks between Eastern countries continued. Another front during the Cold War was formed when Iran became stronger in the 70s and became a power that could pose a threat to the Soviet Union; thus, the U.S. supported Iran. However, the U.S.'s meddling in Iran's internal affairs caused anxiety among the people, and as the government of the period was overthrown, a prisoner crisis was experienced with the U.S. in 1979 (Davis, 2019). In addition, the Iran-Iraq War, which started in 1980 and continued for 8 years, had global effects and ended without a winner. Due to Iran's oil reserves, the U.S., Europe and Arab countries also got involved in the war and followed a policy towards Iraq. Besides, Israel invaded Lebanon. Turkey experienced the third military intervention, the 1980 coup, and martial law was imposed. In 1984, the Kurdistan Workers' Party followed a bloody campaign and many terrorist attacks were carried out. In addition, terrorist attacks continued all over the world, and a discotheque in Berlin was bombed in 1986. Thus, the idea of discotheques creating a safe utopian space began to deteriorate.
On the other hand, the first AIDS diagnosis was made in 1981, but the disease was not talked about publicly for a long time for both appalling and intimate reasons. In addition, the disease was immediately associated with homosexual communities, and even homosexuals who were not sick were treated as patients. This situation has triggered homophobia and the marginalization of homosexual people from society. In 1985, when the disease was seen in two very different cases, it was accepted by society and started to be mentioned (Woodger & Burg, 2006). The mistake of associating the disease with sexual identities continued for a very long time.
Apart from this, it has been seen that there are many problems in the natural environment and these are associated with the consequences of industrialization. The entire ecosystem was being damaged by acid rain from the pollutants of the factories, and industrial capitalism led to an environmental crisis (Davis, 2019). In 1985 it was
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noticed that there was a hole in the ozone layer, and in 1987 the international Montreal Protocol was signed to end ozone depletion (Winchip, 2010). The energy crisis in the 1970s, the high cost of energy, and the environmental damage of fossil fuel use created an environment for the use of nuclear power. As a result of the explosion at the nuclear power plant in Chernobyl in 1986, the natural environment and the built environment were severely damaged, and its effects on ecology continued for many years.
In addition to all these economic transformations and environmental problems, the 80s marked the beginning of the age of communication due to the speed experienced in the development of technology. While computers were only used in the business world until the 80s, they started to enter homes with the introduction of the IBM PC in 1981, and the Internet was born in 1983 with ARPAnet's adoption of TCP/IP protocols (Woodger & Burg, 2006).
Moreover, a phase has passed where technology makes music more accessible. After the Sony Walkman, the handheld version of the music was introduced in 1979, the first commercial CD player was introduced in 1982, the first mass-produced synthesizer in 1983, and the Sony CD Walkman in 1984. With the generation of relatively inexpensive digital technology enabling home studios and small-scale music companies, electronic musicians took a decentralized approach to music production, and this independent medium that fostered DiY culture with personal computers, samplers, sequencers, and other innovations created space for a “democratized” music culture (St. John, 2009). This autonomous attitude, globalized by technology, has permeated music, dance, and youth. Daily life habits have begun to transform and the potential for personal experience areas has expanded rapidly.
3.3.1 Rave culture as a ‘Second Summer of Love’
The post-industrial society, which emerged from neoliberalism, has led to the emergence of new music genres, especially in industrial cities of countries such as the U.S., Germany, and England. Electronic music and its derivatives and rave culture emerged as a countercultural reaction to the pressure applied to society in this period. Rave parties are a collaborative experience of performer and audience, with a constant feedback loop from DJ and equipment to dancing bodies, held everywhere, providing all the necessary parameters to support an all-night danceable space where electronic or techno music is played (Duab, 2014). Rave culture is quite oppositional with its
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anti-capitalist political attitude, illegality, and secrecy, the choice of public space used, its adoption of the “Do it Yourself” attitude as a mode of production and consumption within the space, its egalitarian social relations, and the creation of an alternative economic space.
Rave culture presents a social utopia with the idea of democracy and tolerance in the experience it creates, similar to the countercultures before it that exhibited a universal vision of humanity. The notion that young people that want to be in spiritual relationships with each other form a unified whole in this ceremonial, ephemeral, and festive moment evokes a sense of infinity, communal joy, and freedom, reflecting utopian ideals (Duab, 2014). Representing various freedoms sought from moral codes, legal proscription, race, sexuality and gender prejudice, capitalism, and elitism; rave forms a heterogeneous counterculture on the dance floor with advocates of pleasure and justice, hedonistic and belligerent identities, partisans and anti-colonialism (St. John, 2009). These new formations, which are in principle non-hierarchical and committed to volunteerism, ecological sustainability, social justice and human rights, are related to both pleasure and politics. Although underrated due to hedonism, it is not only political but also future-oriented, with its conciliatory gestures, commitments to direct action, and broader cultural implications.
In response to surveillance, government regulation procedures, and restrictive commercialization that traps youth in “pleasure prisons”9, many sound designers and partygoers have become involved in these illegal events (St. John, 2009). While some of the raves were held in night venues, with the RAVE act and Cabaret Laws10 regulation introduced, the event took a completely illegal attitude and was driven to party boats, gazebos, lofts, warehouses, and other abandoned venues. Events could be reached by buying a brochure from a local record store or by word of mouth. John (2009) explains how clubs restrict the dance experience as follows:
While clubs can be and are experimental and creative, the corralling of the dance experience in standardized clubs and festival frameworks conditioned by
9 Commercialized nocturnal venues (Reynolds, 1998).
10 The Cabaret Laws threatened to shut down any events with more than three persons dancing if they were not licensed. The RAVE Act allowed event producers to be charged, convicted, and imprisoned, as well as club owners to be held responsible for any consumers caught in possession of prohibited drugs at their club or event (St. John, 2009).
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increasingly arduous permit requirements, dress and behavior codes, security searches, penetrative surveillance, and the application of copyright standards is commonly perceived to undermine the immediate and experimental social aesthetic of the dance vibe.
At the level of daily life and at the micro-scale, it creates a heterotopia as a field of resistance in which all these factors are addressed. The temporary transformation of abandoned warehouses into “transgressive sonorous spaces”11 with these illegal parties is similar to a guerrilla operation that does not go into direct confrontation with the state and that self-destructs and re-exists elsewhere before the state destroys it, which Bey (2009) defines as “temporary autonomous zones”. The temporality of these spaces of freedom varies depending on the state of being noticed, however, the revel always creates a liberated space, or T.A.Z., for its participants during the time it is experienced (Bey, 2009). Spaces such as abandoned hangars, fields, warehouses, forests and some clubs, where the rave culture maintains its utopian vision of society, are both physically and intellectually independent from the mainstream society (St. John, 2003). This independence appears to be the last example of countercultural heterotopias in society, which is most likely owed to its transience and thus to its lack of surveillance. Today, it still has not been lost to the general public and has preserved its independence even though it is illegal.
3.3.2 Clubnight raves
In the period when acid house music and rave culture emerged, partially legal rave nights were held in some nightclubs. It extends to venues that left the disco behind and created a new style with accessible music and atmosphere, such as the Warehouse and Paradise Garage, which emerged in the late 70s, inspired by Loft' parties. Later, Future, Spectrum and Rage in Heaven Club, Hot, Nude and Flesh in Haçienda, Shoom in an old gym, The Trip in Astoria and Tresor in Ufo Club are the first examples of legallish rave parties offering a multi-sensory experience.
11 St. John, 2003.
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3.3.2.1 Paradise Garage
By Loft parties, Mancuso's attempt to create a community by focusing on the notion of the party with multi-sensory experience versus pure hedonistic mainstream disco reinvigorated the countercultural approach of disco. This created the second wave of disco and a new experience started in the spaces created by DJs influenced by Loft. However, this period actually caused disco to die and be reborn in completely different forms. Paradise Garage and the Warehouse have become an important link between disco and rave, moving away from the recorded disc music of disco and providing space for new music genres cut, mixed and transformed under the direction of a DJ such as house and techno.
Paradise Garage opened in 1977 inside an indoor parking garage in Soho, New York. The club consisted of sexual and ethnic minorities was initially exclusively open on Saturdays for the queer community, however as demand increased, it began to open on Fridays for a more mixed community (Reynolds, 1998). The club was designed by a young clubber, Michael Brody, with DJ Larry Levan in mind to be in charge of the music, and as a temple for its minority members as AIDS swept through New York and homophobia was on the rise (Brewster & Broughton, 1999). In the 80s, when materialism was at its peak and people were judged by their skin color, money and clothes, the Garage was one of the rare places where equality was achieved. It was open to all kinds of people, and it was a club preferred by especially gay black and Hispanic people, even though it was not planned to be (Reynolds, 1998). In addition, the venue provided the emergence of a new genre of music. Eventually, the Garage style emerged as a result of a unique conflux of Afro-American music and dance with the queer avant-garde (Ryle, 1996).
Paradise Garage was in a two-storey indoor parking garage, one floor of that was converted into a nightclub. It was an industrial space with cars parked on the ground floor and a metal detector portal in the middle of the parking lot. Passing through this area was mandatory, but as Ryle (1996) mentioned, the metal detector appeared to be more of an initiation rite, a gateway leading to another realm, than a security precaution. A curved concrete ramp led to the building's first floor, with a changing room on the right and a cloakroom on the left at the end of the ramp. The original dance stage, the first space encountered after the entrance, has been transformed into the Buddha room, with a Buddha statue on a pillar and glass bricks illuminated from
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the back by UV lights. The next entry was the main hall, with a non-alcoholic bar, a large and decorated DJ booth, and a relatively simple and massive dance floor. The large and bare juice bar area featured floor-to-ceiling murals of Greek and Trojan warriors. On the dance floor, the walls and ceiling were covered with fiberglass and there were sit-on boxes covered with gray carpet (Shapiro, 2014; Raymer, 2018). On the ceiling, fiberglass was arranged in a V-shape to create horns at a certain angle. Moreover, there was a movie theatre area at the back, where those who didn't want to dance could watch movies (Raymer, 2018; Brewster & Broughton, 1999). Finally, after the refurbishment in 1984, a rooftop with a fountain and a lounge was added, where the music inside can still be heard (Figure 3.38).
Figure 3.38 : The bubble diagram of Paradise Garage (Musaoğlu, 2022).
Levan wanted to manage the entire room, not just the music, in order to create the overall experience (Brewster & Broughton, 1999). Since there were no echoes due to the materials utilized, the music sound was quite clear even though it was fairly loud. When the dance floor had become too hot due to the sound systems and the gathering of around 3000 people, he would activate the cooling systems, significantly lowering the temperature (Brewster & Broughton, 1999) (Figure 3.39). He would also abruptly switch the lights, sometimes even totally shutting them off. These nights were like a social experiment to keep the dancers in a different universe with not only music but all atmospheric elements.
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Although it continued for about 10 years, the club, which was affected by the AIDS epidemic and Brody was diagnosed with AIDS, closed in September 1987, with its last party lasting 48 hours.
Figure 3.39 : The dance floor of Paradise Garage (URL-30).
3.3.2.2 The Warehouse/The Music Box
Similar to New York's Paradise Garage, Chicago's the Warehouse was inspired by emancipated parties, notably David Mancuso's Loft. One of the regulars of these parties, Robert Williams, wanted to create a similar free music scene in Chicago, and after trying several venues, he founded a club in 1977 at 206 South Jefferson Street, whose audience consisted mostly of sexual and ethnic minorities. As this club also functioned as a juice bar, parties could be conducted lawfully until the early hours of the morning. While the name of the club was “US Studio” at first, the name “the Warehouse” started to be used commonly as the clubbers referred to it and Williams adopted this name (Arnold, 2012). As with Paradise Garage, the Warehouse's identity was crafted by a DJ, giving birth to a new genre of music. The regular DJ of the club, Frankie Knuckles, kept up with changing music tastes and created house music as a result of different experiments (Brewster & Broughton, 1999). Knuckles, a friend of Levan and Mancuso, was not only interested in music in the club but also produced an intimate atmosphere setup based on sound, light and music.
From Saturday night to Sunday noon, almost 2,000 guests, primarily queer and black, congregated in a former manufacturing building to dance during parties (Reynolds, 1998). The Warehouse provided a sense of community for people who were alienated from society due to their sexual orientation. It was a sanctuary for people who had nowhere else to go, a place where they could get rid of their earthly concerns and
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escape from their daily lives. Since the Warehouse is the city's only after-hours club, after a while, it began to be desired by straight people who approached the club with prejudice, which helped to shatter the dogmatic perspectives and minimize homophobia, at least in this zone.
Located in a three-storey building, the Warehouse's reception and cloakroom were on the second floor, the dance floor was on the first floor, and the bar and an additional party area were located on the ground floor (Figure 3.40). Therefore, when entering the building, it was necessary to go upstairs first and to make a democratically modest entrance payment, considering that everything inside was free (Salkind, 2018). This white and planted area in the second floor was also used as a sitting area, where the dancers were resting upstairs when they got tired (Brewster & Broughton, 1999). After paying, a stairwell at the end of this space led visitors to the dark, hot, steam-filled dance floor, where countless objects were illuminated beneath and flowed as a whole. On the dance floor, there was no ventilation system, only fans and windows opened in the summer to provide airflow (Figure 3.41). Mirror balls and dangling crepe paper decorations on the open-beam ceiling above the dance floor would accompany the dancers whenever there was a gentle breeze (Arnold, 2012). Downstairs was a bar with free juice, water and snacks and an additional party area.
Figure 3.40 : The bubble diagram of the Warehouse (Musaoğlu, 2022).
When club organizers decided to raise the entrance fee in 1982, Knuckles resigned and formed a new club. Shortly that, the club's name was changed to the Music Box, and
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DJ Ron Hardy took over the music (Brewster & Broughton, 1999). Hardy's approach was more rave-like with producing an intense and perplexing ambiance. Owing Hardy's openness to computer technologies and various music genres, he played a tape made for him, which resulted in the emergence of acid house, the genesis of rave. The Music Box also closed down in 1987 when authorities began applying the same restrictions to juice bars as liquor bars.
Figure 3.41 : The dance floor of the Warehouse (URL-31).
3.3.2.3 Hot, Nude and Flesh in the Haçienda
The Haçienda was founded in 1982 by Anthony H. Wilson, co-founder of the record label Factory Records, and was designed by interior designer Ben Kelly. Since Factory Records catalogs not only the music they produce but also creative ideas, concepts, anything that has an artistic endeavor, the Haçienda has been given the catalog number FAC 51. The name of the nightclub was inspired by the situationists' utopian slogan, “The Haçienda Must Be Built”. The Haçienda nightclub became a venue that has radically revolutionized nightlife not only in Manchester but around the world, bringing together radical interior architecture, counterculture, drugs, and acid house in a situation that has changed people's perceptions of the urban context and hence the context itself (Mickiewicz, 2012). Inspired by venues such as Electric Circus and Paradise Garage, the Haçienda was a cathedral –a music cathedral– for young people in Manchester where they could experiment with their own identity and redesign their city 'as it should be'.
A massive single-volume space converted from an international yacht showroom warehouse to a nightclub, the Haçienda was a real-life stage set built using industrial materials, that reinvented nightclub design. The Haçienda had an adaptable design, that allowed it to swiftly change its decor and function. The club had not been designed
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solely as a music venue, it had been planned that the space could be used as a local theatre production, fitness classes, or even a daytime market. The place, with only the nameplate on the exterior, gave no clue to the interior. Inside, urban elements such as cat's eyes, steel columns, bricks, monolithic panels, emergency exit signs, graffiti on toilet walls were taken out of their contexts and reinterpreted, as if creating a new city. After the entrance hall with the reception and the cloakroom, the club's ground floor consisted of an eating area and a kitchen, a dance floor, a stage, a DJ booth, toilets, fixed seats, and the main bar (Figure 3.42). The mezzanine floor consisted of a balcony bar, balcony seats, and a light control room. In the basement, which is descended from the dance floor, there was a cocktail bar and a hairdressing salon, which artists sometimes used as a dressing room and backstage (Hook, 2009).
Figure 3.42 : The bubble diagram of the Haçienda (Musaoğlu, 2022).
Throughout the space, the walls were painted in cool blue and gray tones, and the balcony supports and columns were colored in bright crimson and yellow with black diagonal stripes. In the critique in the Architectural Review, it was stated that the diversity of the elements in the vertical plane is matched with the serenity in the horizontal plane, thus providing a neutral background where the vertical elements can be seen more sharply (Best & Cochrane, 1982). While in most nightclubs the
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architecture was rendered invisible and focused on the atmosphere, in the Hacienda the architecture was highly visible. With this use of elements, the aim was deliberately to dominate the space and to make the nights work in that context, within the context of Manchester.
The dance floor, the heart of the venue, was one step above the ground. Therefore, cat's eyes had been considered to prevent people from stumbling; however, due to the risk of getting high-heeled shoes on the ledges, the idea of using the cat's eye on short poles came up rather than the usual way of use (Figure 3.43). Apart from that, the lighting system was designed more like a theatre than a typical nightclub.
Figure 3.43 : The dance floor with the cat’s eye on short poles (URL-32).
Despite its splendid architecture, designed with creative ideas according to its function and user, acoustic and visual problems had been experienced due to the size of the space and its column structure. Due to these problems, shortly after the first performances in 1985, the DJ booth was installed on the balcony to be both elevated and concealed above the dance floor. In this way, DJs had been turned to invisible elements with music and lighting and had become part of the architecture. From this moment on, people no longer appreciated the music, the musician, or its creator, but the medium. In this way, the birth of the rave culture with the mechanization of the beat was embodied in the Haçienda.
The club's first rave night, Nude night -before rave nights were yet defined-, was started in 1984 by DJ Mike Pickering with the idea that clubs could also function without bands. Nude, which means 'nothing on', took place almost every Friday night for 6 years. On the nights, which were little known at first, the dance floor really started to fill up when DJs had switched to a house-dominated playlist in 1986 (Brewster &
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Broughton, 1999). While it had an industrial and dystopian atmosphere, in the beginning, the atmosphere became more positive when DJs started to add house to the music (Reynolds, 1998). Another rave night, Hot, was held by DJs Mike Pickering and Jon DaSilva on Wednesdays in 1988 for only a few months, but it was quite effective. During the Hot nights, the club had been equipped with a swimming pool, seaside lamps, and ice pops, and some of the partygoers had danced in beach clothes (Collin, 1997; Hook, 2009). Along with the lighting, thick dry ice had been pumped into the club, giving the dancers a mysterious and unreal impression. Hot was an intensive event that made people experience the warmth of an Ibizan night. As enthusiasm for the acid house rose, it was followed by weeknights at The Haçienda with names such as Void and Hallucienda (Reynolds, 1998). Finally, one of its last but the most impressive nights has been Flesh nights. These nights were a queer event organized by Paul Cons and Lucy Scher on Wednesdays from 1991 to the end of 1994. Hook (2009) describes how wild the Flesh nights were as follows:
They’d put shower cubicles by the toilets and hang cages from the ceiling with male dancers writhing inside. Later they added massage tables. Drag queens from all over England made the pilgrimage. Even by our standards Flesh could be really debauched. It was completely over the top.
The non-profit Haçienda, has often been financed at a loss by Factory Records and the label's most successful artists, New Orders. The club's membership policy kept the venue in a position to profit only from drinking; however, as Peter Hook stated in an interview, while drug use made “even the white man dance”, the intensity of ecstasy use prevented visitors from drinking (Wray, 2020). This led to the club's lack of income, the integration of drug dealers into the venue, and the loss of security of the club. The security cameras and systems added to the club for these reasons destroyed the atmosphere of the club and caused a decrease in participation. All of these incidents led to the conclusion that the club was not functional anymore in the long term and should be shuttered, and so, in 1997, the Haçienda held its last party. Nonetheless, despite its closure, it left a significant legacy behind. Those who participated in the events of the Haçienda became less interested in hierarchy, the desire to outperform one another or the capitalist system's economic drive and more as a collective enjoyed that expressing their identity (Mickiewicz, 2012). Whether in its presence or absence, the Haçienda has enabled many more to reproduce in the nightlife.
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3.3.2.4 Shoom at a basement gym
Shoom was a once-a-week all-night dance music event held at four different venues in London from September 1987 to early 1990. It has been one of the pioneering events of the acid house movement in the UK. Shoom was originally founded by a DJ and record producer, Danny Rampling, and his wife, Jenni Rampling, in a basement gym with 300 people capacity, on Southwark Street in South London. By May 1988, its growing popularity required a move to the larger Raw Club in central London and a switch from Saturday to Thursday nights. Later relocations were made to The Park Nightclub, Kensington, and Busby's Club on Charing Cross Road.
Rampling's idea to create Shoom came from a trip to Ibiza to celebrate Paul Oakenfold's birthday in August 1987. The open-air after-hours club Amnesia in Ibiza inspired the emergence of Shoom, as did many of the acid house events. According to Rampling, Shoom was tiny and intimate, and it drew a diverse collection of people of various races, colors, and sexual orientations, including street kids, fashion designers, and art students (Walker, 2018). Rampling cared about social change, and together with Shoom, he aimed to break down class distinctions and social and sexual taboos. The wave of optimism and positivity brought many people together and created a collective spirit in the atmosphere established with the happy vibe and DiY culture (Corrigan, 2017). On early nights, Danny Rampling and Terry Farley played a mix of house and techno as in-house DJs. There was only a bar, dance area, DJ booth, and toilets in the completely open-plan space, which is encountered when going down the stairs after a limited entrance through the door facing the street (Figure 3.44). The club featured a modern, minimalist interior with mirrored walls, strawberry, apple, and cherry-scented smoke machines, and colorful strobe lights (Brewster & Broughton, 1999). The smiley face logo was integrated with Shoom and these logos and slogans were used on the walls throughout the venue (Figure 3.45). Rampling states that “the smiley face symbol fully reflects Shoom's feeling and morality of positivity, love, unity, fun, and happiness” (Williams, 2018). Later, the smiley logo was generally associated with all acid house parties.
In the weeks after its opening, more people have tried to get into Shoom than the club could handle. To circumvent this, Jenni Rampling has been obliged to implement a stringent entrance restriction. This circumstance clashed with Shoom's inclusive personality, resulting in a lot of backlashes (Reynolds, 1998). Also, by this time,
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electronic music had gone mainstream as it became more popular, and Shoom's quirky vibe had begun to disappear. Apart from that, the rave scene had become progressively dark and was slipping into the grip of criminal organizations. With all these occurrences when the usage of substances in clubs drew the notice of authorities, Shoom was forced to close in 1990.
Figure 3.44 : The bubble diagram of Shoom (Musaoğlu, 2022).
Figure 3.45 : The smiley face logo as a decoration on the walls (URL-33).
3.3.2.5 Future, Spectrum and Rage at Heaven Club
Heaven was founded by Jeremy Norman at a disused nightclub in London in December 1979. The 1950 m2 interior was designed by Norman's life partner, Derek Frost, and sold to Richard Branson in 1984. Heaven was a two-storey building, the ground floor could accommodate 1200 people, while the upper floor could accommodate 1000 people. The ground floor of the club had an entrance hall consisting of toilets, a
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cloakroom, a bar, a small room and the main area consisting of a stage, backstage and dance floor. On the first floor, there was a slightly smaller dance floor, another bar and a balcony with a lounge area and its own bar (Gavin & Gervat, 2006) (Figure 3.46). The space was very large and could accommodate many different genres. While Terry Farley and Roger Beard played Balearic rhythms and reggae upstairs, downstairs was for the acid house (Brewster & Broughton, 1999). Inside the club were magnificent decorations such as giant spiders, the Statue of Liberty, a floor full of fake snow. In the smoky atmosphere, strobe lights hovered over the walls and bodies that danced and glowed with sweat. The only purpose of being in the venue was music and dance. The DJ was becoming more revered, especially due to the positioning of Heaven’s DJ booth like a pulpit, as in the Shoom (Brewster & Broughton, 1999).
Figure 3.46 : The bubble diagram of Heaven (Musaoğlu, 2022).
Heaven's return to a rave venue begins in '87 when Ian St. Paul and Paul Oakenfold, influenced by Amnesia nights, organize an event where they gather to the accompaniment of Balearic music (Norris, 2008). Held every Thursday night in a small room of Heaven, the Future was the ideal environment for the emergence of a new culture, but the Future was a closed event that only accepted members (Figure 3.47). The club had a distinct ambiance with its dark, hidden, and underground atmosphere, with 90 individuals enough to bring the room alive.
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Figure 3.47 : A ‘Future’ rave in the small room of Heaven Club (URL-34).
“The democratic promise of Balearic morality” could not be held for long in the protection of the elected few (Reynolds, 1998). Heaven's main hall hosted two nights that would become legendary at the height of rave culture in the late 1980s. In April 1988, Paul and Oakenfold, along with Gary Haisman, started a new Monday night called Spectrum. After the Future for a few hundred people, the Spectrum had a capacity of 1800. Spectrum was later renamed Land of Oz after the club's owner was allegedly involved in various crimes, in an article in The Sun. The Spectrum ended in 1990, never to be repeated. The other rave night was Rage, a Thursday night hosted by DJs Fabio & Grooverider, Trevor Fung, and Colin Faver, that started in October 1988. Rage was a darker atmosphere with tougher Techno music compared to other events. Sometimes the red light at the back of the field was the only light source, with the strobe lights flickering only when the beat of the music rose (Muggs, 2019). After 5 years, in 1993, Rage also gave its last party and closed. Heaven, on the other hand, maintains its existence today and still functions as a gay club.
3.3.2.6 The Trip/Club Sin in Astoria
The Astoria building was originally a former pickle factory building on London's Charing Cross Road converted into a theatre in 1927. The interior of the 4-storey theatre building was remodeled several times until 1977, and in 1985 it was completely transformed into a nightclub and live music venue, splitting into two areas. The main area had a capacity of 2000 and was interconnected with a basement with a capacity of 1000. In the main space, called the London Astoria, the seats on the stalls have been removed, the stage has been transformed into a dance floor, a bar has been added to the back stalls, and the mezzanine has been transformed into nightclub style seating
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with tables and more bars (Figure 3.48). Meanwhile, the old ballroom in the basement of the theatre was turned into a gay nightclub called 'Bang!'.
Figure 3.48 : The bubble diagram of the Astoria and Bang! (Musaoğlu, 2022).
The London Astoria hosted the Trip, which opened on Saturdays in 1988 by Nicky Holloway, who was inspired by the trip to Ibiza. Alongside Shoom's strict door policies, the Trip was more inclusive and open to everyone. It was a real rave place with its concept that allowed people of all races and classes to come together and dance. The Trip was wonderful acoustics and lights, with wacky decor and hypnotic music, and every inch of the floor was covered with crazy, jerky bodies (Collin, 1997). Holloway draped long white curtains over the club's massive main hall and projected huge, technicolor images onto the walls, with red orb lights reaching all the way to the corners of the balcony (Figure 3.49). On the first night, the DJ Mike Pickering had played, followed by the resident DJ Pete Tong at later events. Trip's experience for the ravers was all about collective enthusiasm, bodies pressed together, the freedom to lose yourself in the crowd (Reynolds, 1998). All of this, also with the effect of location and timing, created lines at the door of The Trip from the very first events and filled the venue with the crowds. When The Trip closed at 3 a.m., the road outside turned into a carnival-like street party where people danced above the cars and in the fountains below the Center Point office block (Collin, 1997).
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Figure 3.49 : The ‘Trip’ rave in the Astoria (URL-35).
The trip had lasted only 10 weeks, and due to its connotation of drugs, its name had been changed to Club Sin in 1989. However, Club Sin did also not last long and closed completely in 1990. Nevertheless, the London Astoria continued in its music venue format until the building was demolished in 2009.
3.3.2.7 From Ufo Club to Tresor
The first embodiment of the acid house effect in Germany occurred with the establishment of the UFO Club in Kreuzberg, West Berlin, before the wall fell down in 1988. The club was founded illegally in the basement of a former residential building that they rented as the headquarters of the Interfisch electronic music company founded by Dimitri Hegemann and Achim Kohlberger. As it was run in complete secrecy, one could reach the area filled with fog and strobe lights, which could only accommodate 150 to 200 people and with a ceiling of 190 cm, by going down the stairs and through a kitchen after entering the building (Hegemann, 2009; Geisenhanslüke, 2005) (Figure 3.50). In 1989, the club caught the attention of local authorities when it organized an after-party for the first love parade; therefore, first, the UFO had been moved to another venue, then held at a different location every Saturday (Kalwa, 2009). Meanwhile, Tresor had started out as a clubnight rave in Ufo and as a record label. However, with financial difficulties, UFO was permanently closed in 1990.
By the closure of the UFO, Hegemann and Kohlberger, together with Johnnie Stieler, had headed to East Berlin in 1991 to find a new club location, when all of West Berlin was filled and the wall had just fallen. In an alley in the East, and decided that the underground vault room on the property, which would also give the club its name, was an ideal space for the new club Tresor (Waltz, n.d.). The chaos in the city after the wall
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came down and the lack of relevant authorities had caused the club to not get a license for a while. When the authorities were unsure of the law and did not interfere in anything, East Berlin became for a time an area where parties were possible freely until the morning (Brewster & Broughton, 1999). Tresor, which could become a club after about 6 months, was founded as a family that would give the club its social spirit and its holistic originality. Hegemann (Waltz, n.d.), refers to that period as follows:
It was a community experience. It reminded me of the hippie era. Everyone was helping each other. It was the spirit of optimism after the fall of the wall that dominated in certain age groups. We were now building a home in the middle of the city.
Figure 3.50 : The bubble diagram of Ufo Club (Musaoğlu, 2022).
Tresor was the first club to represent the sensation of freedom and hedonism that young people born during the height of the Cold War had never experienced in their lives. Unlike other clubs, aiming to minimize social and economic divide, there was an unprecedented culture of unity within the club, with a new musical form sprouting around the concepts of inclusivity and community, as children of East and West reunited (Brewster & Broughton, 1999; Sullivan, 2020). This union has become a new era, not only with the unification of East and West, but also with the merging of race, gender, and political lines. In this open-minded and tolerant environment, the people
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of this union put their social fears aside and re-existed and felt at home and safe, as in all other countercultural heterotopias.
When Tresor was founded in 1991, there was no paved road, no nightlight, not even a street (Waltz, n.d.). While the ground floor and upper floor of the 3-storey building were “Globus” playing softer house, Tresor playing techno music was in the basement of the building (Dicker, 2021). After descending a narrow staircase to the basement, a 30-meter-long corridor where a few vendors did business was reached, and the heavy steel door was reached. Concrete walls, about 150 cm thick, completely isolating those inside from the real world, there were safety deposit boxes everywhere, and a barred door led to the hidden dance floor (Figure 3.51). It offered an extremely radical experience with the vibration of the bass music and flashing strobe lights, red illuminated corners and brutalist structure (Waltz, n.d.). Archaic-style music mixed with technology was in perfect harmony with Tresor's cave-like interior.
Figure 3.51 : The barred door to the dance floor in Tresor (URL-36).
Tresor remained open at this venue until 2005, however, closed after several temporary shutdowns and raids. Finally, it was moved to its final location, which still stands today, in Köpenicker Straße, close to the UFO's original location, in 2007.
3.3.3 Event-based raves
At the end of the 1980s, with the reflection of clubnight raves in the press as a drug and sex hotspot, raves attracted the attention of young people nationally, while the attitude of goverment agencies and the police to such clubs had changed considerably. Also, with the police attention being drawn by the enthusiastic crowds pouring out of clubs like Trip, which closes at 3:00 am, Parliament in England has tightened anti-club laws and it has become increasingly difficult to organize a rave in a traditional club
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setting. Therefore, large groups of club-goers have begun to secretly gather in warehouses, industrial spaces and fields to avoid police raids (Vannoni & Pandelo, 2018). This is the pinnacle of the countercultural free party scene, where thousands of young people who form “one-night communities” dance together, moving from clubs to industrial buildings and fields, while Thatcher denies the reality of society (Brewster & Broughton, 1999). Brewster and Broughton (1999) describe the end of club-based raves and the rise of this new trend:
House music had introduced the endless beat, bringing a demand for all-night dancing marathons; ecstasy inspired us to do this in large numbers. Legal clubbing simply couldn’t cope. Large illegal unlicensed parties were the only way acid house could accommodate its inevitable expansion. This was a culture inspired by the open-air clubs of Ibiza anyway. Like school kids screaming into the playground, we drove out of town and went mad in a field.
The summer of 1989, called Second Summer of Love, became a new mass movement with rave organizations suddenly multiplying. The spirit underlying these illegal raves, the next stage of the acid house, is anarcho-capitalist (Reynolds, 1998). Bringing together thousands of like-minded souls, with the ability to generate tax-free income and the perception that the ideal of the acid house, “it was people that counted above everything”, had a cumulative effect that was blissful (Brewster & Broughton, 1999; Reynolds, 1998). Rather than visiting a party venue, event-based raves were about creating a new place together, building instant cities for the night. Massive sound systems, majestic lasers and light shows have transformed the space that was a mere field without the presence of dancing people, into a rave scene (Figure 3.52). To keep these illegal parties secret from the police until the very last moment, the organizers resorted to cutting-edge technology, such that events were only announced via cell phone messages and pirate radio stations (Brewster & Broughton, 1999).
Event-based Raves were not just about being in the venue, going to a rave was an important part of that fun too. Highways such as the A13 and M25, which are part of a capitalist dream, had been the routes of this journey, and gas stations had been the meeting points. In addition, highways have become a way to protect raves as ravers park their cars and block police entry (MacNeill, 2018). These event-based raves, which started spontaneously, continued until the stricter bans in 1994, with the emergence of many organizations such as Sunrise/ Back to the Future, Biology,
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Energy, Genesis, Hypnosis, World Dance, Thunderdome, Live the Dream, Joy and Spectrum.
Figure 3.52 : World Dance Rave next to the M25 Orbital motorway in East Grinstead, UK,1989 (URL-37).
Despite the fact that event-based raves in the late 1980s included large number of people, trespassed into new territories, and created new areas for youth leisure, they have done little to reform the social issues (Thornton, 1995). This environment, which gave birth to a new trend and provided a musical heteroptopia for escaping from daily life, remained in a more hedonistic perspective compared to previous countercultural nocturnal heterotopias. In addition, although it changed in later years, the demographic scope of raves in this period remained within the hierarchy of white, working-class and heterosexual men (Thornton, 1995), which rendered illegal raves inadequate in terms of inclusivity.
Commercialization, which is the final result of every countercultural youth movement, has also taken place in rave culture and this situation has replaced the heterotopia of the occupied space with controlled and legal nightclubs, replacing the liberating pleasure with acceptable pleasures, turning the raver performance into the artistic product of the DJ and the perception of unity turn into a meta show. turned into a show (St. John, 2009). In these new commercial raves, the DJ was built as an icon to admire, and hierarchies abolished by the counterculture re-emerged in the commodity world, completely estranged from the culture of rave.
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3.4 Conclusion of This Part
As an environment where the individual, whose spare time has been transformed into consumption and passive activities with the control mechanism of capitalism, can experience fun as a means of socialization in leisure time practices, space typologies that oppose the capitalist economy, create temporary societies, and focus on the fun are examined with a retrospective view. As a result of this examination, it has been noticed that the night spaces that arise from the counterculture and the countercultural perspective are manifested as an area of salvation. Accordingly, the periodical counterculture types that emerged from the 1960s, which was a breaking point for the freedom struggle, and the countercultural nocturnal spaces of those periods were examined in the context of heterotopia with their temporary and contradictory nature. Although the existence of these places is sometimes quite short, considering their overlap with social events and technological developments, they have been quite effective in the cultural framework in the long term. Therefore, in order to read the social construction of these spaces, it is necessary to know the period of their existence (Figure 3.53).
Since most of the places examined within the scope of the thesis are located in the past and the ones that remain today have undergone a lot of change, in order to stick to the cultural framework they expressed, the places were interpreted architecturally in the light of literature, documentaries, photographs, and information obtained from the memories of former regulars, and their spatial diagrams were produced.
Although the countercultural movement in the 1960s started with a revolt against technocracy, it grew and developed by feeding off the utopian vision of a society emerging from famine after the Second World War. At the same time, the youth movement that revolted all over the world, especially in Europe and America, wanted to make their voices heard in the world by touching on many social issues, especially human rights and environmental problems. Inspired by the 50s Beat Generation, the 60s counterculture was much more inclusive, with the Beat's opposition to its elitist side being open to the young and middle class.
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Figure 3.53 : The chronological mapping of nocturnal heterotopias with social and political events and technological developments (Musaoğlu, 2021).
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This counterculture society was defined as the Hippies, and they showed that a different and alternative life could exist with the collective festivals created by the communes returning to the countryside. This situation led to the formation of temporary and egalitarian short-term heterotopias, just as in the carnivalesque theory. During this period, rock music was shaped as a form of expression and became a tool to reflect ideas on social and political issues. This situation was seen as a problem by governments as it triggers rebellious behavior and efforts have been made to prevent it. The manifestations of fun during this period aimed not only at escaping from reality but also at promoting the spread of mental transformation. These open-air festivals, which were more difficult to control, were organized in the countryside and with a collective effort, mostly free of charge but open to contribution, with no profit target. Few-day festivals of music, art, and cultural activities were a reflection of the utopian philosophy of this multi-layered counterculture. The festivals examined were the Monterey Pop Festival held in California in 1967, the Woodstock Music & Art Fair held in Bethel, a town close to New York, in 1969, and the Glastonbury Festival in Glastonbury in 1971.
The libertarian and uncontrollable natures of the festivals worried the administrations and were subject to regulations, so other festivals were not included in the thesis as they ceased to be counterculture festivals. n addition, the manifestation of the free festival, which was characterized by the counterculture in Turkey, was examined and the BarışaRock Festival, which was held between 2003 and 2013, was mentioned as the only example. However, due to the fact that it was in a very different period historically, it was not included in the parametric disassembly to be made in the next chapter. Apart from this, it has been determined that another element that reflects the nightlife and fun practices of hippie culture is hippie house parties, but since the spatial data obtained is very limited, it is only mentioned without being categorized.
The 1970s are a continuation of events that began in the late 1960s; The Vietnam War ended in 1975, but the human rights struggle could not reach the desired point. The biggest problem of the period was the emergence of the oil crisis after the disagreements with the OPEC countries, and this diplomatic problem, which affected all sectors, revealed that consumable resources were problematic and led the world to use sustainable resources in all areas. During these developments, modern terrorism emerged and many bloody attacks against civil society took place all over the world.
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Originally, discos, another nocturnal heterotopia that emerged in parallel with the festivals, some of which even chronologically appeared before, were also examined in the plot of the 1970s, considering their lifetimes and becoming a preferred area for socialization with the restriction of festivals and the increase in modern terrorism. The fact that disco belongs to the counterculture is in a more complex relationship than other countercultural nocturnal heterotopias. This is because disco can easily be seen as a capitalist element, but it is its content that distinguishes disco from this element. It is the reflection of the emancipatory life with the secret world it contains under its so-called capitalist identity.
Disco creates a heterotopia by presenting an alternative sociality where the differences between classes disappear, creates a space for the liberation of queer and colored users, and also creates a discourse against racism, homophobia, and dominant ideology. Within the scope of the thesis, 9 discos found in Europe and America, mostly consisting of experimental environments of radical architects, were examined as the first examples of disco typology: the Voom Voom Disco, Electric Circus, the Cheetah Disco, Piper Club, Piper Pluriclub, L'Altro Mondo, Mach 2, Space Electronic and the Loft. However, with the widespread use of disco in the media in 1974 and its marketing to the society as a capitalist element, the demand for discos increased and started to shift to the mainstream. Still, the subversive impact on the countercultural attitude of discos has been the destruction of the hidden world inside, with the accompanying increased control mechanisms and surveillance cameras.
In the 1980s, the most rapid and radical transformations of the century were experienced with the overthrow of communism, the emergence of the new right, the dominance of the free market economy, and the development of technology. The Watergate scandal and the defeat of the Vietnam War greatly shook the USA, and this affected global government policies, and developed countries directed their policies towards the economy in a neoliberal perspective. Especially Reagan and Thatcher's policies based on the economy both left the society in a very difficult situation and failed to achieve the desired success, remaining only as a political success. After the global recession in 1982 along with the aggressive capitalist model, unemployment rates increased suddenly and the class gap increased. Terrorism continued to exist as a major problem throughout the world in this period as well. Apart from that, the
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emergence of AIDS and its misassociation with the queer community propagated homophobia and triggered the exclusion of queer people from society.
As a result of all these events, societies were once again divided and discrimination increased. In the midst of these problems, rave culture emerged in the late 1980s as an intercultural response to the pressure exerted on society. Raves, which emerged as a response to the restrictive commercialization brought about by government regulatory procedures and escapism from surveillance cameras, are simply a music and dance experience that can be secretly arranged anywhere, creating an environment in fluid spaces where all night danceable parameters can be carried. Rave culture has an oppositional attitude with its anti-capitalist attitude, illegality and secrecy, transforming space, adopting the “Do it Yourself” attitude as a mode of production and consumption in space, egalitarian social relations, and alternative economy production. In the temporary and festive moment created, the rave presents a social utopia with its democratic and inclusive attitude, awakening a sense of joy and freedom for individuals who are in a spiritual relationship with each other. Raves, which represent purification from moral codes, race, gender, and class, are associated with both politics and pleasure. Raves, which represent purification from moral codes, race, gender, and class, are associated with both politics and pleasure.
While raves initially consisted of nights that started out as club-based, they became completely illegal due to laws against them, developing a directly event-based version similar to free festivals but in a more pop-up form. From this point on, raves began to be performed on boats, warehouses, attics, and other abandoned spaces. Within the scope of the thesis, club-based raves consisting of a total of 7 examples, 2 of which offer a temporary typology between disco and rave by carrying spatial data, were examined: Paradise Garage, The Warehouse, Haçienda, Shoom, Heaven Club, The Trip, and The Ufo Club. Due to the confidential behavior of event-based raves, sufficient spatial data could not be obtained; therefore, they were not included in the parameter extraction even though it was mentioned in the thesis. Rave is the last example to create an independent nocturnal heterotopia by its ephemerality and evasion of surveillance, but rave is the only typology that is still practiced today and preserves its countercultural stance owing to its secrecy.
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4. DISMANTLING DESIGN ELEMENTS OF NOCTURNAL HETEROTOPIAS
Nocturnal heterotopia is intertwined with its atmosphere, spatial senses, and bodily experiences. A night out is an ephemeral experience in the dark with various parameters such as smell, light, sound, movement, touch, and even memories that create the atmosphere, only the space is permanent. Yet, these spaces born from the counterculture have created a form that makes the architecture temporary by breaking the stability of the built environment with dynamic elements. Thus, the architecture is instantaneously regenerated, creating a different experience for each visit. Performances, both public and private at the same time, not only produce entertainment, they allow users to temporarily transcend the political and physical boundaries of the outside world, and perhaps even themselves. When talking about a night out, the atmosphere is remembered and defined beyond the architecture. Therefore, in nocturnal heterotopias, the built environment remains in the background, while atmosphere and emotions take the first place. In this chapter of the thesis, first, the ethos of space will be mentioned, then the atmospheric dismantling of spaces defined as nocturnal heterotopias will be performed and the parameters that provide the ecstatic experience will be explained.
4.1 Ethos of Nocturnal Heterotopias
In the Greek – English Lexicon, Liddell and Scott (1901) state that Ethos is derived from the root “etho”, which means “habit, custom” in Ancient Greek, and it means “an accustomed place, haunts or abodes, custom, habit, character, identity, natural habitat, and temperament”. When Ethos is considered on the subject of space design, it should be seen as designing the space in accordance with the expectations of the users. Thus, space can become an accepted and habitual place for the user. The acceptance of the space is important for the people having fun to feel comfortable, safe, and liberated, in this manner, they can have fun by staying in the moment and emancipating, as mentioned in the previous chapter. De Botton (2010), in his book The Architecture of Happiness, states that, ultimately, what all designs and architecture have to offer is a
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way of life that is consistent with the ideas they represent and that is designed to elicit those feelings in and around those who live in them. He points out that the only incentive to find a building beautiful is not aesthetics, but that the individual likes it as a result of coinciding with his own vision of a happy life and that the buildings provide various possibilities for happiness (De Botton, 2010). This situation stems from the relationship of perception with memory and emotions. Sensory stimuli taken from the space are combined with the emotions and memories of the user and reach consciousness, and the overlap between them determines whether the response will be positive or negative. When the ethos of the space coincides with the feelings and memories of the users, it makes the users happy and can turn into a habit for them. This is a tangible indicator of how fun will realize the feeling of happiness and the need for repetition through space.
In order to see the tangible reflections of the ethos, it is necessary to focus on the emotions that physical stimuli in the space evoke in humans. Chupnik (2011) expresses that feelings are the shadow of cognition in the sense that the assessment of the content or meaning of the examined occurrence is perceived by enjoyment, attraction, or enthusiasm in his study on fun and emotions. His research that based on media entertainment, but the idea, that feelings caused by fun are results of mental and bodily activity and are aesthetic emotions, is the same for the entertainment experience of the nocturnal spaces. The ethos of the space creates different emotions and that triggers the fun or the exact opposite that shatters the fun. Chupnik states that when intense emotions arising from fun are experienced, the situation experienced by the person is as follow:
Accordingly, when people experience a deep emotion, the very parameters of experience are transformed; time slows down or speeds up, space expands or contracts, sensory awareness may become acute, a sense of connection to others may be enhanced or diminished, and the structure of causality may be distorted when the event is self-related. A crucial point is that these transformations are spontaneously and implicitly embodied in people’s experience of the event itself and projected onto their world, either onto an everyday event or onto their experience of a play, story, or film. (Chupnik, 2011)
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Undoubtedly, it is the atmosphere that detaches the participants from reality, which ensures the formation of these feelings, so architectural qualities should also remain in the background. However, certain architectural arrangements contribute to the production of atmospheric qualities (Wilkinson, 2018). Various factors such as entrance, presence/absence of the bar, position of the stage and DJ booth, size and availability of the dance floor, presence or absence of seating/resting area, and other functional areas, if any, are the determining factors for the experience to be spent in the venue.
4.1.1 Types of nocturnal heterotopias
The examined models have emerged as a new species in modern nightlife or have embraced and transformed an existing species. Free festivals differed from many other fairs and festivals with the vision of the life they offered. Radical disco transformed an ancient form of the nocturnal venue into an experimental heterotopia. Raves, on the other hand, created a new genre as an alternative to disco, which became more gentrified as it became popular and surveillance increased. The examples examined in the thesis were classified as periodic and examined in a global framework with a purely cultural perspective. In this framework, 3 festivals, 9 discos, 2 late discos that are transition places between disco and rave venues, and 5 clubnight raves were examined (Figure 4.1).
Figure 4.1 : The types of nocturnal heterotopias examined (Musaoğlu, 2022).
This variation in the number of samples and the change in the density of the samples examined are highly related to the sustainability of the existing culture, the speed of popularization, and the speed of attracting the attention of the administrative power. Although the uncontrollability of free festivals quickly caught the attention of the administration, the sheer size of its capacity was of interest to the capitalist system. For this reason, although free festivals are still trying to be implemented, it is difficult to stand against commercialization. On the other hand, discos, with their smaller
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capacities and a closed interior, were protected from the mainstream for a longer period of time, but nevertheless became popular and commercialized or closed down as they received media coverage. Raves, on the other hand, tried to be legal while inside the venue at a time when there were a lot of restrictions, but when the enthusiastic crowd overflowed the streets, it attracted a lot of attention and started to be controlled again, which caused it to move away from its countercultural purpose.
4.1.2 Functional use of nocturnal heterotopias
As can be seen in the specimens examined within the scope of the thesis, the essential common function in all nocturnal venues is listening to music, dancing, and socializing. Moreover, any physical space where these functions take place can be transformed into a venue, such as festivals and event-based raves that have no physical boundaries. The countercultural nightlife has not only been a social venue, a dance venue, and a music venue, but it has also created a more experimental space; different functions have been put forward in these experience centers, which are far from everyday life and offer a utopian life. At this point, functions that will support intellectual and ideological sharing through art have come to the fore: theatre, avant-garde cinema, exhibitions, conversations, meetings, fashion catwalks, and audio-visual performances. In addition, in some of the countercultural heterotopias, especially at festivals, a sale function has been added to turn their own finances into an anarcho-capitalist manner (Figure 4.2).
In order to realize multiple functions, the dance area is designed to allow flexible use in discos, while the functions are spread freely outside the stage in the strolling area with ambiguous boundaries in festivals. However, other functions were eliminated in clubnight raves and only the main functions had begun to take place. This simplicity is also an indication of the fact that raves were not very active in the countercultural perspective. The loss of the intellectual environment almost eliminates the physical environment as a countercultural heterotopia; yet, these spaces still remain within this scope as they were a place to escape from daily life and a sanctuary for a countercultural community composed less of an economic framework and more of a human rights framework.
The presence of these functions, which are essential in many nocturnal venues, may turn the clubbing experience into an instant salvation space and make it possible to
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have an emancipating experience. However, just having functions is not enough, these functions need to be supported by atmospheric elements.
Figure 4.2 : The functional uses of nocturnal heterotopias (Musaoğlu, 2022).
4.1.3 Capacity of nocturnal heterotopias
In nocturnal venues, the capacity is not limited by the physical possibilities of the place, in fact, most of the time the places have hosted more people than their capacity. The primary reason for this is the deterioration and reconfiguration of social distances in nightlife. The fact that bodies that do not know each other can come into contact with each other in the dark, by going beyond the norms, allowed the planned capacities in night places to be doubled most of the time. The capacities that the examined countercultural heterotopias had met at the highest level are shown in Figure 4.3. While these capacities were quite high at festivals, they remained at low levels in discos and raves due to limited physical space. This situation has allowed festivals to
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offer larger communities a more utopian vision of the city, while discos and raves provide a more instantaneous experience to a smaller community by using technology and the interior. In addition, limited access in places such as Shoom, where the capacities are quite limited, caused reactions and accelerated the problems with the authority of the places with the increase of the crowds outside the venue. As another version of this, the extremely high capacity of the festivals prompted an attempt by the authorities, which regarded the assembling of big crowds as a danger, to control them more rapidly.
Figure 4.3 : The capacities of nocturnal heterotopias (Musaoğlu, 2022).
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4.2 Sensorial Elements of Nocturnal Heterotopias
Nocturnal spaces are environments that are less dependent on the content of the spatial layout and architecture, more focused on the intangible qualities of the space, and exist due to the "instant interior" atmosphere. Pallasmaa, in his Eyes of the Skin book, states that the experience of each of the impressive architectures is a multi-sensory experience and that all senses have an equal share in measuring the qualities related to space, matter, and scale (2018). Invisible architecture is shaped by the multi-sensory experience aimed at the loss of the daytime self, and it is there as long as the atmospheric elements are present. The ambiguity, disappearance, and togetherness needed for the formation of fun can be constructed as a sensory experience by refilling an empty space with light, sound, smoke, dancing bodies, and warmth (Figure 4.4).
Figure 4.4 : Sensorial elements of nocturnal spaces (Musaoğlu, 2021).
The important thing here is that all these parameters can exist simultaneously and in relation to each other and keep the pulse of the party-goers. This simultaneous situation is achieved by Marshall McLuhan's (1967) theory of “Allatonceness” (All-at-once-ness) with the regenerative and retribalizing features of experience and temporal architecture, using the environment where everything happens together, time stands still and space disappears. Indeed, all parameters must be interrelated and occur simultaneously in order to provide the atmosphere. As a result of the specimens examined in chapter three, the main sensory parameters that affect each other in nocturnal spaces are determined as sound/music, light/darkness associated with sound,
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bodies moving in sync with sound and lights, heat/humidity emerging with dancing bodies, and smoke/fog associated with both bodies, light, and sound.
4.2.1 Sound (auditory system)
Sound is the parameter that has the greatest effect on the atmosphere formation of nocturnal spaces. It affects both the interior and the user in terms of acoustic comfort, and the spatial characteristics in a musical context. The intensity of the sound is measured using the decibel (dB) scale, while the sounds at the pressure that the human ear can hear in accordance with international standards are measured with the A-weighted level dBA scale. Since long-term exposure to loud noise can cause health problems, there are many studies and regulations on this subject. Accordingly, in terms of acoustic comfort for both dancers and employees, the safe maximum sound level that should be in a nocturnal venue has been determined as 85 dBA (Embleton, 1997; Williams et al., 2010). Not only is the speaker quality adequate for sound quality and loudness, but also the positioning of the sound output and transmission to the dancers, the materials used in the venue, and the isolation of external sounds are all critical. Thereby, although it may vary according to the concept of each place, the position of the speakers should be arranged so that the sound is more on the dance floor and less in the seating areas. On the other hand, in decentralized venues such as Piper Club, it is necessary for the sound to spread homogeneously throughout the space. Furthermore, the materials used should also be insulating to keep the reverberation time of the sound to a minimum. For example, the absence of measures to prevent reflectivity in the interior of Mach 2 converted from a cellar and the fact that the huge sports field area of Haçienda consists only of reinforced concrete reflective surfaces has created significant acoustic problems for the venues. Structural components of the space, such as interior curtains, insulating wood, or sponge wall materials, should be designed with acoustics in mind.
Night venues are highly dependent on the genre of music, the medium of the music, and the ability of the music or sounds to transform the space. The feature of sound that unifies and directs inner experience creates instant societies of spaces by creating a sense of bond and solidarity (Pallasmaa, 2018). The sound and the crowd mutually produce an emotional atmosphere, which is crucial as it is the ambiance that the partygoers are primarily seeking (Malbon, 1998). Music genres and counter-cultural
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heterotopias fed each other, and mutually led to the emergence of new genres (Figure 4.5).
Figure 4.5 : Relations of music genres in historical order (Musaoğlu, 2021).
Music genres in countercultural heterotopias have changed to rock at hippie festivals; mostly rock, pop, soul, beat, and jazz at discotheques; and EDM, acid house, and techno at raves. At the same time, the medium of the music has been the bands at festivals; the bands, the DJs, and records at discotheques; and the bands and the DJs at raves (Figure 4.6). While rock was the most preferred music genre for discos and festivals, acid house was for raves. As the medium and genre of music changed, the character of the spaces also changed, so the sound parameter is the sensory parameter that contributes the most to the space ethos.
It is not always required for the music to be excessively loud in venues; however, the sound of music in nocturnal venues that provide an escape from the difficulties of life, is high enough to isolate individuals from reality and to experience an “inward emigration” (Goffman, 1963). Since it is necessary for the dancers to feel immersed and surrounded by the sound. On the other hand, the loudness of the music, as it makes it difficult to talk, causes the creation of 'micro-auditory social spaces' where the conversation between two people cannot be heard even by other people in close proximity (Malbon, 1998). Thus, the sound not only generates a utopian atmosphere where the individuals move away from reality, but it also stimulates the formation of various social relations and rapprochements.
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Figure 4.6 : Music genres and mediums by nocturnal heteropias (Musaoğlu, 2021).
4.2.2 Darkness (visual system)
The second most important parameter for nocturnal spaces is light, even the absence of light. As Gombrich (1972) stated, today's age is a visual age and vision is strong enough to overwhelm all other senses. Owing to the darkness, which reduces the hierarchy of the visual sense, awareness of other senses increases and makes it possible to experience the multi-sensory experience in a more homogeneous way. Other than this, since the use of space by individuals differs when they are observable, darkness by reducing the sense of sight emancipates individuals' bodies and facilitates escape (Malbon, 1998) (Figure 4.7). Besides, Wilkinson (2018) states that darkness is used to hide bodies, genders, and illegal acts that would not be accepted in the light. This is an indication that the created darkness accepts everything as it is, independent of norms. Fincham's review of fun (2018) also mentions that darkness and night are associated with a mysterious and unpredictable attitude in the imagination. The fun aspect that emerges with the feelings of uncertainty and excitement, the liberating aspect that can go against social norms, and the conscious darkness that dominates the other senses makes the architecture invisible and allows the focus to be on the atmosphere.
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The use of light in nocturnal venues is not to illuminate the space, it is aimed to create a new spatial and social experience with the lighting tools used. In addition, images seen to escape from everyday life must also be distorted and hallucinatory colored, which does not normally exist. Strobe lights, black lights, neon lights, video projections, and disco balls move in rhythm with the beat of the music, supporting the creation of an exuberant experience in the space. When looking at the light and color scheme of the examined spaces, although some colors are dominant, generally the whole color spectrum is used with strobe lights.
Figure 4.7 : The correlation of darkness and emancipation of the body (Musaoğlu, 2021).
Another important element of the light parameter in nocturnal spaces, other than lighting, is disco balls. Moving with the rhythm of the music, disco balls not only reflect the light as a hybrid object between light and darkness but also express the social reflection of the community in the space. Lavin (2011) defines the temporary social ecology created by disco balls in her book "Kissing Architecture" as follows: “Disco balls have catalyzed an entirely new notion of the social sphere, creating a flux of heterogeneous people, shaping them into tightly knit and mobile masses that dissipate and reemerge with quixotic regularity”. Indeed, disco balls with their dark plays, flashing lights, and luminous movements keep the pulse of the space and using the power of seeing/not seeing, make the non-existence of architecture live in a magnificent atmosphere away from the norms.
4.2.3 Bodies (haptic system)
Another important parameter that comes after light and sound in the formation of the nocturnal space atmosphere is the physical bodies, which are not only in the space but also become a spatial dynamic when they are in the space. Bodies contribute to the atmosphere of space both physically and emotionally.
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The physical presence of the bodies in the space provides interaction between all atmospheric parameters. Body movements that respond simultaneously to light and sound parameters are shaped as dance and touch. As a result of the physical intimacy, the temperature/humidity parameter increases in direct proportion, and the movement of the bodies also affects the smell. In addition, visually, each body that makes up this crowd fills the space as a part of the multi-sensory experience for both the spectator and the watched. Since the individual must be immersed in the moment for the fun to emerge when the person moves from the observer to the intense activity dance, the interpersonal distance intensifies, and the experience increases. (Figure 4.8).
Figure 4.8 : The correlation of body relations by activities and existence of experience (Musaoğlu, 2021).
The emotional participation of bodies in the atmosphere is related to both the liberation and unity of the participants. Pluralism, which is one of the conditions for the formation of fun, creates an instantaneous community with shared feelings, with the participation of physical bodies in the festival of nocturnal venues. According to Malbon, by joining together, dancing bodies both acquire and lose control of their own bodies at the same time, and they become part of a whole (1998). Although the perceived intersubjective atmosphere does not affect everyone in the same way, the shared experience resulting from participation always ensures that the desired sense of intimacy is found. In the nocturnal space, dancing, touching, chatting, or simply being there, bodies produce density, anonymity, and spatial intimacy with their physical and tactile representations (Malbon, 1998; Oznobikhina, 2021). Thus, the atmosphere generated by the bodies may aid in the abolition of most of the norms and traditions recognized in 'civilized' daily life (Malbon, 1998). As a result, the body, as a spatial
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dynamic, is not only a participant, it is an element whose concrete expression is difficult but cannot be ignored.
4.2.4 Temperature & humidity (haptic system & taste-smell system)
Another atmospheric parameter for nocturnal spaces is temperature and humidity, which are directly related to the bodily presence and movements of visitors. The temperature and humidity, which often increase with the crowds of partiers and the number of dancers, must be kept under control by air-conditioning and ventilation systems. Due to the direct relationship between the increase in temperature and aggression (Anderson, 2001), the temperature is important not only for the comfort of the participants but also for their safety. In addition, the control of temperature and humidity helps to prevent the emergence of undesirable odors. While there is no regulation for the temperature and humidity of nocturnal spaces, the ideal temperature of the dance floor should be between a minimum of 21 °C and a maximum of 24 °C degrees (Url-38) (Figure 4.9).
Figure 4.9 : The correlation of temperature and body state (Musaoğlu, 2021).
4.2.5 Smoke/fog (visual system, haptic system & taste-smell system)
The last atmospheric parameter in nocturnal spaces is fog and smoke, which appeals to both the senses of sight and smell. Smoke/fog not only envelops the atmosphere in a mysterious environment but also contributes to the ecstatic experience by providing three-dimensional distribution of light and reducing vision. It functions similarly to the darkness and encourages the dancers to move more freely. Pallasma (2018) also states that the fog awakens the imagination by making visual images blurry and ambiguous, and the unfocused way of looking creates a trance-like meditative state. However,
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when the fog becomes too dense, it creates a suffocating effect when it reduces the oxygen in the interior and causes a distraction from the experience (Figure 4.10). Fog and smoke in nocturnal spaces are sometimes created spontaneously by the cigarette smoke of the partiers, and sometimes artificially by dry ice, fog or haze tools.
Another effect of smoke and fog is that various odors spread in the space and trigger the sense of smell. Scents have been one of the most vivid memories of the places in the minds of the visitors during the research of the specimens examined in chapter two. An example of this is when a party-goer talking about the days of Electric Circus remembers the place with the scents of patchouli and musk, or another party-goer remembers Shoom with the scents of strawberry and cherry (Url-39; Brewster & Broughton, 1999). A study examining whether the nightlife experience can be improved through scents has also discovered that masking unwanted body odors with ambient scents has positive effects on visitors after smoking is banned (Schifferstein et al., 2011). On the other hand, different ambient scents did not have a significant effect; however, it is possible to match these scents with the identity of the place and use them to enhance the visitor's experience.
Figure 4.10 : The correlation of density of smoke and ecstatic experience (Musaoğlu, 2021).
4.2.6 Conclusion of this part
In this section, the characteristic analysis and atmospheric extraction of the spaces that were theorized and categorized in the third chapter were carried out. It is important for the people having fun to accept the space they are in so that they can feel safe and liberated, and for this, the space must coincide with the individual's vision of entertainment. This situation arises from the relationship of perception with memory and emotions. The sensory stimuli received from the place reach the consciousness by
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combining with the feelings and memories of the person and determine whether the experience is positive or negative. If the ethos of the place coincides with the user's perception of fun, a positive experience emerges for the user, this is the spatial manifestation of the feeling of happiness created by the fun. In his research on fun and emotions, Chupnik (2011) observed that fun triggers emotions such as pleasure, attraction, and enthusiasm. Although various findings have been obtained for the physical presence of the space in the studies on emotions and space, it is the atmosphere of the space that creates these feelings in the architecture of the party, so the architectural qualities should remain in the background. However, certain architectural arrangements both contribute to the production of atmospheric qualities and feed the experience in a positive way. Various functional areas such as the suitability and size of the dance floor, the presence of the bar, the location of the DJ booth or stage, and the presence of seating areas are quite decisive for the experience.
Firstly, the spaces examined in the previous chapter were categorized in terms of type, function, and capacity in order to examine their characteristics. Accordingly, countercultural heterotopias are grouped into four types, one of which is a transitional typology: free festivals, discos, late discos, and raves. Functionally, the counterculture nightlife is much more than a typical nightlife with its utopia, it is even an experience center. For this reason, they have presented this alternative life in a way that supports intellectual and ideological sharing, with different functions apart from the main functions of socialization, dance, and music: theatre, avant-garde cinema, exhibitions, conversations, meetings, fashion catwalks, and audio-visual performances. However, when the raves are examined, the functions have become simplified and consist of main functions, the existence of these functions can be accepted as they can transform the clubbing experience into an instant liberation area and enable the emancipating experience. Considering the capacities of the spaces, great differences have been observed, but the capacity in nocturnal spaces is not limited to the physical possibilities of the space, social distances are violated and restructured in nightlife. Thus, with bodies approaching each other by deviating from the norm in the dark, the space rises above its normal capacity and creates an alternative norm within itself. In addition, when the capacity of the space is quite high or quite low, it has attracted the attention of the "establishment" and caused the control mechanisms to be directed towards them.
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Although all these characteristics are important facts for the experience of fun, they are not enough, these functions need to be supported by atmospheric elements.
Nocturnal heterotopias are environments that are less dependent on spatial order and architectural content, and more focused on abstract qualities, allowing them to exist momentarily. In order to provide the immersed experience expected in nocturnal venues, a multi-sensory experience must be presented in the space. Atmospheric parameters obtained from the heterotopias examined in the third chapter were determined as sound, darkness, bodies, temperature/humidity, and smoke/fog.
Nocturnal heterotopias are highly dependent on the genre, the medium, and the ability of music or sound to transform the space; hence, sound or music is the most important parameter. Music in venues does not always need to be excessively loud, but the volume needs to be loud enough to isolate individuals from reality and allow them to have an inner experience. However, in terms of acoustic comfort, the safe maximum sound level that should be in a nocturnal venue is 85 dBA, although many venues violate this limit. In addition, it is necessary to position the sound systems in such a way that the sound will be distributed homogeneously in the spaces and to take acoustic precautions by using materials that will prevent the sound from echoing. Apart from its architectural order, the fact that loud music makes communication difficult and produces close distances creates “micro-auditory social spaces” in the words of Ben Malbon (1998). Thus, sound not only distances the individual from reality but also encourages the formation of new social relationships.
Another parameter is darkness, which allows for a more homogeneous multi-sensory experience when the hierarchy of visual sense is reduced. Darkness is a very important atmospheric element for fun and nocturnal venues, with its aspects that make it easier to escape from reality and liberate people without having to hide and trigger the imagination with its mysterious and unpredictable attitude. In addition, the darkness should be supported by the use of hallucinogenic colored illuminations consisting of unusual colors that do not exist in daily life for this emancipatory experience. Moreover, disco balls, a hybrid object between light and darkness, also reflect light and keep the pulse of the space up with these colorful lights. Thus, the physical space, which was destroyed by the darkness, re-exists with colorful iluminations and a reflective disco ball.
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After light and sound, bodies, which have become spatial dynamic as an atmospheric element, are discussed. The physical presence of bodies provides the interaction between all atmospheric parameters. Body movements formed by light and sound parameters are shaped as dance and touch, and the temperature/humidity parameter increases in a direct proportion and also affects the smell as a result of these movements. In addition, bodily density becomes an element that fills the space for both the viewer and the watched. Bodies, who are a sociological element in the formation of fun, become a part of the space by sensorially participating in the atmosphere in a physical way. Another atmospheric parameter directly related to the presence of bodies is temperature and humidity. Temperature and humidity are very important for both the comfort of the partygoers and the safety of the temperature increase due to its direct relationship with aggression. For this reason, it is necessary that the ventilation systems in the space are properly solved, this also helps to prevent unwanted odors. Although there is no regulation for nocturnal venues, it has been determined that the ideal temperature of the dance floors should be a minimum of 21 °C and a maximum of 24 °C degrees. The final atmospheric element is smoke and, which appeals to the senses of sight, smell, and even haptic. Smoke and fog work similarly with darkness, creating an ambiguous environment and awakening the imagination by making images blurry and ambiguous, creating a trance-like meditative state. However, if the fog becomes too dense, it can also negatively affect the experience by creating a suffocating effect due to reduced oxygen. Nevertheless, low levels of smoke and fog can also diffuse the scent, making it one of the most vivid reminders of memories and contributing to a positive experience.
The important thing in nocturnal heterotopias is that all these atmospheric parameters should exist simultaneously and in harmony with each other. This simultaneity can be explained by McLuhan's theory of All-at-Once-ness, with the regenerative and retribalizing properties of experience and temporal architecture, where space disappears and time stops. Indeed, all parameters must be conjugate and simultaneous to provide the atmosphere.
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5. HACK THE PANDEMIC: THE ONLINE DISCO PARTIES IN THE HOUSES
In this section, the transformation of the counterculture into cyberculture and the emergence of new nocturnal habits through the virtual world are examined. With the Covid-19 pandemic, which started at the end of 2019 and affected the whole world as of 2020, started a global homecoming process, and the mandatory closure of nocturnal venues; people who cannot get out of their homes have turned to new experiences for their nocturnal habits, and their homes have turned into their own personal nocturnal venues.
Even though the nightlife is sometimes reflected on macro scales and sometimes on micro scales with the effect of social and political events, it has never been separated from human life. While it is customary for nightlife to belong to the night and to the streets, and to embody in certain places where the night is experienced, it is not a new situation for nightlife to be carried home. In the retrospective examination, it was seen that there was a return home for various reasons at various times. Hippie house parties in the hippie era, and the Loft as a professional house party in the disco era are examples of this situation. While hippie house parties had emerged when social liberation was not possible, the Loft had emerged to enable individual liberation through sexual identity. And today, a new digital house party has emerged, where socially isolated individuals meet to be freed from their collective disappointment in homes that have been returned due to a global health concern.
With the pandemic, the transition to house parties in isolation from everyone in virtual events, although it is not the first nocturnal experience of cyberculture, it has found the opportunity to become global for the first time. Clearly, these online parties did not arise to replace physical nightclubs, but they created a new alternative and allowed people to transform their comfort zone into personal nocturnal spaces at the same time. How permanent this situation and this alternative will be can be measured over time, but documenting this now is important for future studies. On the other hand, developments in working life show promising regulations regarding the permanence of returning home. This is the first stage of returning home for the people who have
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been driven out of their homes by the industrial process, thanks to the production/working processes that can be carried out from home with the opportunities created by technology. This situation, which was predicted in the “New Times” discourse12 put forward in the 1980s, accelerated with the pandemic and took place earlier than its organic development. This will enable the development of a new form of society and social policies, new identities, new people and new social habits. Certainly, the nightlife also will continue to evolve with these innovations.
5.1 Today’s Manifestation: Cyber-Society
The physical manifestations of the counterculture began to disappear as the 1990s approached, but with all these developments, a new culture emerged as new, collaborative communities that would transform society were interconnected via computer networks: cyberculture. Cyberculture is a culture without national borders, based on many manifestations of the use of computer media for fun, leisure, work, and communication. “Cyber” comes from the concept of cybernetics, which was developed by technology studies that started at the end of World War II. Mathematician Norbert Wiener, one of the pioneers of cybernetic theory, predicted quite early that cybernetics is inclusive for societies (1948). This interpretation, which was quite futuristic for its time, became a reality with the attempt to manufacture personal computers starting in 1975 and the invention of ARPANET, the primitive version of the Internet, in 1983. By the 1990s, room-size calculating machines of the Cold War era had completely disappeared (Turner, 2006). With the increase in accessibility to computers in the 1990s, Negroponte (1995) stated that computers could change the social structure and have a positive effect, similar to Wiener:
It can flatten organizations, globalize society, decentralize control, and help harmonize people in ways beyond not knowing whether you are a dog. In fact, there is a parallel, which I failed to describe in the book, between open and closed systems and open and closed societies. In the same way that proprietary systems were the downfall of once great companies like Data General, Wang, and Prime, overly hierarchical and status-conscious societies will erode. The
12 The “New Times” discourse is a theory produced by the writers of Marxism Today magazine in 1988, claiming that in the future, the liberated person in the Post-Fordist production process will return home, this return will transform the home and reveal new identity politics (McRobbie, 1994).
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nation-state may go away. And the world benefits when people are able to compete with imagination rather than rank.
Rheingold similarly believed that the computer was a tool that could transform the consciousness of its user, thereby allowing the user to enter a new, alternative and exemplary community with others (1993). The development of cybernetics and the personalization of computers offered an alternative to society. According to Turner, it especially seemed to be able to fulfill the dream of counterculture with its potentials for individualism, collaborative community, and spiritual togetherness (2006). The counter-society was turning to small-scale technologies, from LSD to amplifiers, strobe lights, and projectors, to bring people together and have a common experience, in exchange for the countries' war-oriented weapons systems. Later, when industry and government bureaucracies aimed to wear people down psychologically, the experience of togetherness created by the computer environment allowed them to be self-sufficient and whole again (Turner, 2006).
While computer technology was initially realized for the military-industrial complex, its transformation into an individual tool is directly related to the counterculture. Soldiers, scientists, managers, and technicians in research laboratories during and after World War II and in military engineering projects of the Cold War cooperated, ignoring the barriers of bureaucracy while embracing both cybernetics and computer technologies. Not merely in a technical setting, they began to imagine institutions as living organisms, social networks as information networks, and the collection and interpretation of information as ways to understand natural and social life (Turner, 2006).
In the 1990s, Stewart Brand, the creator of The Whole Earth Catalog, which was a counterculture magazine that was active from the 1960s to 1998, has evolved technology into a format that society can use and disseminate, “drawing on the systems rhetoric of cybernetics and entrepreneurship models borrowed from both the research and countercultural worlds” (Turner, 2006). He has established a series of meetings, broadcasts, and digital networks where members of multiple communities can meet, collaborate and imagine themselves as members of one community. Over time, these forums in turn produced new social networks, new cultural categories, and new forms of expression.
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According to the philosophy of the counterculture, the main key to social change is not changing the political regime but changing the consciousness of individuals (Turner, 2005). In this case, if the mind is the first place of social change, knowledge has to become the most important element of the countercultural perspective (Turner, 2006). Access to information has started to become easier with the advent of computers. This actually comes from Levy's Hacker Ethics philosophy. Levy had called out to “hardware hackers”13, semi-independent, creative individuals who play an important role in the personalization of the computer, and stated that access to computers should be unlimited and completed, information should be liberated, computers can be used for art and beauty, and moreover, they can change the lives of individuals (Turner, 2006). At a later hacker conference, Brand stated that although he wanted information to be expensive because it was valuable, he imagined that information should circulate in public discourse, saying “information wants to be free”. These two discourses articulated, in Turner's words, “an irresistible fusion of the cultural legitimacy of the research worlds that had brought forth computers and the countercultural communities that had tried to set the world free” for the general public (2006).
Marshall McLuhan's celebration of tribal social forms and new media together, and Buckminster Fuller's futuristic designs allowed Stewart Brand to imagine the use of technology as a tool that could be a source of social transformation and even a solution to the cold war (Turner, 2006). In particular, McLuhan's assertion that new media offers the possibility of individual and collective transformation, even though the technocratic society threatens to destroy nature with the psychological fragmentation of the young individual and nuclear destruction, made it possible to imagine new model communities. Computer technology has become the most fundamental tool of this transformation. Some of the new computers, especially the 1984 Apple Macintosh, were introduced to the market as devices that could be used to break down bureaucracies and achieve individual intellectual freedom (Turner, 2006). However, the idea that the counterculture gave rise to personal computer technology does not fully capture the breadth and complexity of cyberculture arising from the
13 The hackers mentioned here clustered in and around the San Francisco Bay area, including the young founders of Apple Computer, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, as well as early personal computer proselytizers such as Lee Felsenstein, Bob Albrecht, and Ted Nelson. (Turner, 2006).
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counterculture. Countercultural awareness and visions of society have created a new community in the way they use personal computers.
The first one of the new communities was formed in 1985 with the establishment of a teleconferencing system where individuals could write messages to each other in simultaneous or real-time conversations, called the Whole Earth ‘Lectronic Link (or WELL), for which the Whole Earth Catalog became a model. For its users, WELL has become not just a computer conferencing system but a way to recreate the counterculture ideal of a shared consciousness within a new ‘virtual community’ (Turner, 2006). Shared interests, experiences, and emotional connections among WELL users, where information about music, sexuality, knowledge, life, and many other topics are shared, have helped spread the idea that WELL creates a virtual community. Although some users insisted that WELL could be compared to the best ‘pub’ or ‘virtual coffeehouse’, both current accounts and online archives suggested that WELL users' most frequently used metaphor was the concept of ‘community’ (Turner, 2006). Apart from the emotional intimacy it creates, with the new network economy that they have embraced, John Coate (1998) likens WELL to a virtual village in that business and pleasure mix together: a setup where business is done by day, drinking together at a local tavern at night or going to a Friday dance. In 1990, WELL's technology and management style, together with networks centered around the system and other Earth-related organizations, became sources for redefining cyberspace itself (Turner, 2006).
Although the counterculture has seemingly disappeared, there is still a vision of a world connected by invisible patterns (Turner, 2006). The computer had uncovered a secret order for collective action, while also helping to create a cooperative social group. The consciousness of individuals began to transform in the forums, thus enabling the destruction of the political hierarchy, the elimination of the psychological boundaries between the individual and the group, and the establishment of a strong social whole. In this way, it has been shown that computers support the countercultural ideal (Kelly, 1994).
The Internet had long served as a system for exchanging text messages for many, but with the establishment of the World Wide Web (www) in 1990, a new system of information exchange was created by utilizing the Internet's information transfer protocols. With the advent of the web, it became a way to publish information, to
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combine multimedia formats, and to connect previously disjointed sets of information quickly and easily (Turner, 2006). The Internet was creating a new, collaborative, game-oriented culture with its current versions. Experts, academics, and investors have seen the image of an ideal society that is decentralized, egalitarian, harmonious, and free with the spread of networked computing (Turner, 2006). The concept of “global village”, first used by McLuhan in 1964, was realized by the simultaneous sharing of cultures and the simultaneous expansion and contraction of world culture, with technologies such as television, radio, and computer being a part of social life. Indeed, the world is now a global village.
Although it is true that the legitimation of access to information, the creation of virtual communities, and a common culture have provided important developments in the social field globally, the new civilization has not been able to realize all the dreams of the first periods of cyberculture, and could not completely flatten the hierarchy. However, the environments created by virtual communities provide this to a certain extent. The counterculture has not yet overcome the hegemonic culture, but it has transformed it. Perhaps social progress would not have been possible without countercultural dreams. However, although technology has become widespread and turned into a commodity, the limits of the digital world are unknown, indicating that cyberculture can always expand and transform. Jordi Costa explains the end of countercultural movements as “the transformation of utopia into merchandise by the mechanisms of assimilation of the hegemonic culture” (2020). Yet the countercultural vision will always recur for social utopia; youth formations that come together for global issues such as the climate crisis, animal rights, queer manifestos, and feminist manifestos are the manifestation of this.
5.1.1 Cyberculture in the 2000s and social media
After WELL, many forums have been formed and small virtual communities have been established to chat and share various thoughts in these forums. Since the 2000s, with the development of social media, different platforms have been established and more people who do not know each other have started to be in the same environment.
At the same time, the development and expansion of social media and its emergence in different genres pushed them to privatize, and these tools were built on the rejection of some principles and the adoption of others. This situation has caused virtual
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communities to differentiate, but the continued use of virtual communities by definition has complicated the concept. For instance, all social networks such as microblogging websites (eg. Twitter, Tumblr), virtual worlds (eg. Second Life, Entropia Universe), video sharing sites (eg. YouTube), and photo sharing sites (eg. Pinterest, Houzz) have been named a virtual community by scientists and practitioners (Porter, 2015). However, the interaction between the individuals differs by the working systems of the sites, in this case, the same level of communication is not established in every virtual platform, and even the situation of creating a virtual community remains dubious.
In this case, in order to measure the existence of virtual communities created on social media platforms, it may be possible to classify the platforms by looking at the anonymity-visibility, public-private, and active-passive status of individuals (Table 5.1). When social media platforms that have become global in the last 20 years are examined, it is seen that as a more advanced version of WELL, media such as blogs, Twitter, Tumblr are places where people communicate by writing their feelings and thoughts, and where anonymity is protected. Social networks such as Facebook, Google+, Linkedn, which are based on the addition and follow-up of individuals, generally create more closed virtual communities connected with people who are related to the physical world and work environments. It is seen that photo and video sharing sites such as Instagram and Snapchat are platforms designed to show the personal world and tastes of the individual.
However, video-based social media platforms are important because the fictions that cause snapshot sharing and interaction are examined within the framework of the thesis. When looking to perceive that social communities are formed on these platforms, while the focus of applications such as Youtube and Tiktok, which are video uploading and watching platforms, is shared video and the user is in a passive role; In applications such as Skype, Zoom, and Google Teams, which are video conversation platforms, the focus is on one or all of the users and the users are in an active role (Figure 5.1).
The formation of virtual communities on passive platforms is not possible because there is no communication, therefore, although instant communities and neo-tribes can occur in music venues, they cannot occur on music-related social media platforms. This will give an unexpected perspective to video calling applications that have
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emerged for business and personal conversations, and during the pandemic, especially Zoom and similar platforms have become a venue for new communities.
Table 5.1 : Characteristics of global social media platforms that have emerged in the last 20 years and status of their users (Musaoğlu, 2022).
Figure 5.1: Differences between the interfaces of Youtube and Zoom in terms of user interactions and relation to the screen (Musaoğlu, 2002).
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5.1.2 COVID-19 pandemic process
The World Health Organization (WHO) declared a pandemic on March 11, 2020, due to the COVID-19 epidemic, which started in Wuhan, China at the end of 2019 and quickly affected the whole world (Url-40). After the first case in Europe appeared in France on January 24, Italy became the second country with the highest number of cases after China at the beginning of the epidemic, and as of March 13, the epicenter of the pandemic has been Europe (Nebehay, 2020). Italy was the first country where social interaction was gradually restricted by the government due to the increasing number of sudden cases and the limited health system (Saglietto et al., 2020). Other European countries have also started to impose restrictions and social distance rules with the rapid increase in the number of cases within a few weeks. Turkey also took quick measures against the pandemic and gradual restrictions started on March 12, 2020. During the pandemic process, the first measures taken in almost all countries were the protection of the 1.5-meter social distance limit, the limitation of international and national flights, the interruption of education and the transition to the online model, the closure/restriction of social life places such as cafes, restaurants, and nightclubs. Subsequently, curfews were added and some countries entered full quarantine.
With the findings that the concept of social distance causes psychological effects that may lead to reduced social communication, loneliness, and alienation, the restriction, which was previously defined as the social distance, was changed to the physical distance with the decision of WHO (Sørensen et al., 2021). However, this concept continued to be used among individuals. Although sociologist Erving Goffman discussed the concept of social distance long before these events and mentioned that a social distance should already be applied according to the role, status, and culture of individuals in social life, Romania (2020) states that the increase in this social distance with the pandemic will create interaction anomie and the digitalization of intimacy rituals will increase, and the continuity between offline and online interaction will lead to the online pole. Especially since the areas where normative social distance is not applied, such as nocturnal venues, were the first restricted places, the interest in the online versions of nightlife increased in this process.
On June 1, 2020, the bans were reduced globally, and night venues were opened for limited times and with social distance rules. However, it was not possible to implement
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social distance in physical night places, open air environments were preferred and the use of indoor spaces remained at low rates due to the necessity of masks in indoor spaces. With the increase in cases during the summer of 2020, the bans came into question again at the end of the summer. On December 31, 2020, the WHO approved the Biontech vaccine for immediate use, and in the first months of 2021, the BionTech vaccine started to be applied in countries gradually. With the spread of vaccinations, countries that have completed a certain vaccination limit have lifted many bans at the end of 2021 and the process of globalization has begun. In this process, as a normalization step, education and business life have switched to hybrid models, and nocturnal venues have been fully opened and turned into places where social distance is not applied again. It remains to be seen over time whether the demand for nocturnal venues will be restored or whether their online versions will continue.
5.2 Fun and Nightlife of the Cyber-Society
Cyber-entertainment forms have not emerged recently. With the emergence of social networks, the act of socialization depending on physical and temporal parameters gave individuals the opportunity to gather and communicate in a virtual environment independent of these parameters, and various transformations began in the physical order (Dilmen & Öğüt, 2010).
Forms of cyber-entertainment have differentiated between physical space-based and digital media-based. Physical space-based ones are a version in which the physical atmosphere of the people who experience it is included in the experience as well as using a cyber environment. One of the first examples of this is the London-based Boiler Room events that started in 2010. Boiler Room is an online music streaming platform that initiates and broadcasts live electronic music sessions around the world. The first Boiler Room session was recorded using a webcam channel taped to the wall of a disused boiler room, and the session was broadcast live online on Ustream (McQuaid, 2015). Later, these events began to repeat on a weekly basis, reaching an audience not met by mainstream radio or television and had gone global within a year of its creation. The Boiler Room allowed not only to listen to music without going to a club but also to reach the masses for performances that could not be heard in every club. However, the concept of the Boiler Room has received criticism for the reduction of a dance-based culture to watching DJs on screen. Although it is likened to a video
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and exclusive playlist (McQuaid, 2015), the Boiler Room has been the proof of how a night event can be made accessible to the masses by internet. However, the Boiler Room was unable to form a solid community due to the users' inability to communicate with each other and continued with an individual audience like Youtube events.
Cyberculture entertainments, which are based on digital media, are those that take place online in a virtual place, where people take on a virtual character by creating an avatar for themselves. The ‘plug.dj’ website, founded in 2012, is one of the earliest examples of this as an interactive online social music streaming site. ‘Plug.dj’, operating until 2021, played an influential role in the formation of online music communities and created a virtual space similar to the basic setup of metaverse music venues. Real-time parties take place in music and nocturnal venues created in virtual worlds such as Decentraland, and it has become possible to act and attend parties in these places through the created avatars. However, these platforms, which can only offer a watched and heard experience to most users, may provide users with a more multi-sensory experience as VR technology becomes accessible. For this reason, nocturnal habits in virtual worlds will not be examined and mentioned in this thesis.
The Covid-19 pandemic has deeply affected people's social and professional lives and quick actions have been taken to find urgent solutions, the most important of which is digitalization. All this process has led to the formation of new habits in social relations, individuals trying to stay isolated, and the world turning digital. Fully online or hybrid models have been tried for business and education life and these applications have been continued for a long time. Social life and nightlife were the parts that suffered the most, and the music industry had a difficult period. All planned festivals have been canceled, venues have been closed and street access restricted. This situation has pushed musicians, party organizers, and individuals isolated at home to seek new alternatives in the digital world. Thus, unknown cyber-entertainment genres have been experienced by more people and different models have been developed. In this process, virtual nightclubs such as Quarantee, Club Quarantine, and Distance Disco, which are heard globally, were created on online platforms in Zoom and similar formats. Among these clubs, Distance Disco, which creates the most interaction among users, was selected and examined.
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5.3 Returning Home and Distance Disco
The masses, swept away from home by the industrial process, returned home with the pandemic. For this reason, the house has become a new focus of orientation, new ways of working and producing have emerged, and the basic usage purposes of the house have begun to transform with the increase in the time spent at home. During the pandemic, the house has become a place where all time is spent, not just leisure. Thus, people's homes have become their personal spaces, workplaces, gyms, and nocturnal venues. As Ruiz points out, unlike the concreteness of the nightclub, the architecture of the party is nomadic, compact, modular, and portable, so it can be applied from the largest industrial structure to the smallest residential unit (2017). Owing to this fluid-structure, individuals have transformed their homes in a way that allows the simplest form of spatial reflection of fun to be read.
Showing is as important as seeing in the digital world. The transformation of the house from the personal to the semi-public in digital transmission has caused the houses to be reconstructed to show. These transformations were made not only to put them into the atmosphere, but also to present themselves in that atmosphere. The home has now become a semi-public space where others are virtually involved in online conversations, within the territory permitted by the host. Turning the house into a party space as a temporary structure can provide an escape from daily routines, hack the space for a short time and make it part of a social gathering space in the digital environment. So, what are the most important atmospheric features in this entertainment setup for individuals? Which spatial and atmospheric features have been transferred from nocturnal spaces to the house?
Distance Disco (DD), which held its first event in March 2020, was established by the Netherlands-based Tin Design Studio and Affect Lab, is an open-source online dance platform designed as a game where individuals can host a disco or attend a planned disco, where both people dance to the same song and try to find their dance partners. Klasien van de Zandschulp, one of the creators of Distance Disco, states that this project was first thought of as a phone application in 2013, however, although the game concept is the same as its current version, it was designed to be used in physical venues such as festivals or events. This idea, which was later shelved, resurfaced for the team, which turned to the digital world with the start of the pandemic, and all its
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projects were canceled, and they decided that they needed to mobilize people since they realized that everyone was sitting and just looking at the screen at the events held on platforms such as Zoom. Thus, they have turned this dance game concept into a pandemic event with a more colorful interface and flashing lights, with Jitsi14, which has a more flexible structure than Zoom, which has become the symbol of business life (Van de Zandschulp, personal communication, January 26, 2022). This colorful interface helps the participants stay on the move with flashing lights that turn the beat into visual perception by meeting the light, which is an important parameter, even if it is not in their own atmosphere (Figure 5.2).
Figure 5.2: The interface of the Distance Disco (URL-41).
DD is a game format where each user appears to be of equal size, only two users dance to the same song and the participants search for their dance partners, thus collecting points, as well as chatting via chatbox. Through the medium of the game, it pushed the participants to interact with each other in the virtual world, both through competition and fun. Dixon states that Distance Disco is much more than just a group of random people dancing in front of the camera: “The site, its architecture and its dedicated group of followers represent a collective expression of frustration against pandemic restrictions, and the joy of being able to connect with others and dance right through it.” (Dixon et al., 2021). Anita Bharos, a regular at DD, states that Distance Disco connects very different people: "At Distance Disco you don't have to speak the same language, because it is all about dance. You can feel the music. It doesn't matter which
14 Open-source video conferencing tool.
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country you are from; you can connect with dance and movement" (Bharos, personal communication, May 10, 2022). The language of communication here is music, and music is definitely a universal language. Bharos also describes her Distance Disco experience as follows: "Because of the pandemic, everyone felt lost in connection and isolated, so it was very special to know that 15 or 20 people from different parts of the world were communicating with you through dance at the same time" (Bharos, personal communication, May 10, 2022). The pandemic was the only time in the 21st century when the whole world felt the same emotions at the same time. This created the opportunity for a new global unity and formations. Indeed, both the game interaction of DD and the global crisis created by the pandemic have created a virtual community among users, creating a permanent and virtual core audience from instant communities, which are an essential component in the construction of nocturnal venues.
The Friday Disco series has become DD's weekly event and has been the “social antidote to social distance” by holding 51 events regularly during the pandemic process (Mallalieu,2020). By means of the Friday Disco series and other DD parties, which were created free of charge and announced on Eventbrite and various other social media platforms, the event became global and individuals from countries such as England, Germany, America, and Turkey participated in addition to the Netherlands. With regular participation, users began to transform their indoor atmospheres. DD can also be seen as a reflection of the DIY culture, a space where people create their own atmosphere, prepare their own drinks, and meet with others via a computer and webcam.
Certainly, the experience that DD can provide to the user through a virtual platform is limited. Since online activities can only appeal to the visual and auditory senses, they lack a certain level of experience. However, DD does not aim to replace any physical nocturnal venue, it emerges as a different experience (Van de Zandschulp, personal communication, January 26, 2022). A DD regular described the advantage of online parties as "sometimes you're not in the mood to go out, but being able to go to your living room at Distance Disco and dance for a while and then go back to bed is a unique experience." Distance Disco has become a break zone to their lives for people who cannot leave their homes due to tight restrictions during the pandemic. Thus, after the
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restrictions were lifted, due to this comfort Friday Disco activities continued, although not as regularly as every week.
5.4 Scope and Methodology of Fieldwork
The architecture of the party and entertainment is flexible, temporary, modular, and compact. Therefore, it can be adjusted to any space, from huge industrial spaces to small studio apartments. Within the scope of this thesis, nocturnal heterotopias, which are places to escape from the daily life of communities formed outside the norms, were examined and it was investigated whether party architecture could be transferred from large spaces where physical unity can be achieved to personal spaces with digital unity.
Two study methods were applied for this study. Both studies were presented to the ethics committee and applied with approval (Appendix A). The first one is a two-phased survey study prepared on online activities and providing the parameters revealed from the places examined and theorized during the literature research. In this context, with the questions asked to the survey participants, ensuring the determination of the preferred spatial and atmosphere characteristics of the nocturnal venues, the observation of the interaction between the nocturnal habits and venue preferences of the individuals, the detection of the atmospheric effects of online parties formed during the pandemic process on the personal areas of the participants, entertainment habits and the determination spatial transformations before and after the pandemic, is intended. Within the scope of this field research, the study, which is aimed to be carried out in various cultural contexts through different channels, was carried out online to the survey participants in English via Google Forms, since it was conducted internationally. In the first stage of the survey, data on demographic information, perception of fun and nocturnal venues, pairwise visual comparison, re-comparison of compared images using keywords, pre-pandemic nightlife habits, and space atmosphere were collected with various multiple-choice and open-ended questions. In its second phase, data on online parties and party atmospheres were collected during the pandemic. The obtained qualitative and quantitative data were analyzed using statistical methods and content analysis methods.
The second method is individual interviews that examine the atmosphere of the space and the transformation of the house into a nighttime heterotopia through the focus group that participated in the Distance Disco events held during the pandemic. Online
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meetings were held with the volunteer Distance Disco participants via Zoom, where open-ended questions were asked about the party setup and atmosphere in the home environment.
5.4.1 Survey study
The online survey queries the emotions created by fun and nightlife habits and the perception of space and examines the reflections of these emotions as physical environment, interior architecture, and atmospheric elements. In other words, the relationship of preferred spaces with emotions and interior design, and at what levels atmospheric parameters enable escape/fun from daily life are investigated.
The survey study consists of two phases. In the first stage, participants are expected to have visited at least a nocturnal venue (nightclub, disco, etc.) before and be over the age of 18. In the first part of this phase, the users were asked about their age, country of residence, educational status, gender, marital status, with whom they lived, how many people they lived with, and their life perspectives which are essential for the cultural relevance of the thesis. In the second part, the participants were asked to make a choice by giving keywords related to these terms in order to determine the perception of fun and nocturnal venues. In the third part, the participants were asked to choose between the visuals taken from the nocturnal venues locates/located in different places of the world. Images are selected from core areas of nocturnal venues such as the entrance, dance floor, concert area, and bar. The images selected in this section were compared as two, and according to the elements of Simonds' (1961) study on emotions and the physical environment, one of the images was determined as the emotions expected to occur in nocturnal venues, and the other the opposite. In the fourth part, these spatial factors were used as a keyword and the images shown in the third part were asked again, this time according to the keywords. Thus, it was measured whether the first selected images were selected according to these keywords. In the fifth part, firstly, in order to understand what kind of experience the participants prefer in a venue, they were asked about the area they were most in on a nocturnal venue plan. Then, questions were asked about the preferences of atmospheric parameters such as lighting, fog/smoke, color scale, and body density, where there were pairwise visual comparisons and a 5-point Likert table was used. In addition, in the continuation, it is aimed to ask again in written form to verify both visual, auditory, and tactile
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parameters independently of the visuals. In the sixth part, questions were asked to determine the nocturnal venues and nightlife habits before the pandemic. Thus, the correlation between people's visual preferences and nightlife habits was examined.
The second phase addresses online party atmospheres and examines the new normal nightlife habits that have emerged as a result of increased social distancing due to COVID-19. This section is only for attendees who have participated in online parties. For this reason, it was stated that the participants should end the survey if they did not attend at least an online party, and continue if they did. In this last part, the participants were first asked about the online parties they attended, types of parties, and frequency of participation. Afterward, open-ended questions were asked about which areas of their houses they used, the atmospheric changes they made in their own areas, and the deficiencies they felt. Finally, their sense of belonging to places at online parties was questioned and their thoughts on the privacy of the home were asked.
5.4.2 Survey results
The survey results were collected digitally via Google Forms and analyzed with the IBM SPSS Statics Data Editor (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences), a statistical data analysis program.
5.4.2.1 Demographic information
In the first stage of the questionnaire, 137 volunteer participants from different age groups, living in different countries, having different education levels and different life perspectives, and 39 participants attended in the second stage.
According to the respondents' demographic data, 73,7% of the respondents were between the ages of 26-35 and 18,2% were between the ages of 18-25. No one under the age of 18 or over the age of 54 participated in the survey. 81,8% of the survey respondents live in Turkey and 13,1% of them live in European countries. It was seen that 55,5% of the respondents had a bachelor's degree, 29,2% had a master's degree, 5,8% had a high school diploma, and 1,5% had a doctorate degree or higher. While 48,2% of the respondents identified themselves with female, 42,3% with male, 4,4% with non-binary, 1,5% with agender gender identity, 3,6% of the respondents did not want to answer (Table 5.2).
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Table 5.2 : Demographic Information Table of Participants.
As a result of the questions asked to understand the family life and home use of the respondents, 70,8% of the respondents were single, 27,7% were married or in a cohabiting relationship, and 1,5% were widowed/divorced/separated; it has been determined that 33,6% live with their parents and/or siblings, 32,1% live alone, 24,1% live with their spouse/partner and/or children, and 10,2% live with housemates. According to the household, 34,3% of them live in their house with 2 people, 33,6% with 3 or 4 people, 30,7% with one person, and 1,5% with 5 or more people (Table 5.3).
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Table 5.3 : Frequency and Percentiles of Martial and Household Status of Participants.
In order to understand whether the respondents overlap with the cultural background of the thesis, non-political but various social attitudes were asked with multiple answer options in order to perceive their life perspectives. Respondents defined their life perspectives at most as an environmentalist with 48,9%, liberal with 28,5%, marginal with 27%, activist with 25,5%, and rebel with 23,4%. Mainstream with 8,8%, pacifist with 6,6%, and conservative with 2,9% were the least preferred. 10 people did not want to answer the question (Table 5.4).
Table 5.4 : Frequency and Percentiles of Life Perspectives of Participants.
5.4.2.2 Perception of fun and nocturnal spaces
Before the venue comparison images were shown to the participants, associative words were given to evaluate the perception of the fun and nocturnal venue, and they were asked to make multiple choices from these words. Participants first selected concepts related to fun and the frequency of responses was analyzed. The two concepts most
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associated with fun were music with 76,5% and happiness with 75,7%. This was followed by excitement with 61,8% and nightlife with 60,3%. The least preferred were nocturnal and escapism with 25,7%. The results were analyzed according to life perspectives and it was observed that there was no change in the most and least selected concepts. Secondly, the participants chose the concepts related to night places and the frequency of the answers was examined. The first word most associated with nocturnal venues was fun with 83,2%, followed by immersed with 52,6% and joy with 41,6%. The least preferred was sublimation with 8,8% and psychedelia and adventure with 14,6% (Table 5.5). The results were analyzed according to life perspectives and it was observed that there was no change in the most and least selected concepts.
Table 5.5 : Frequency and Percentiles of Fun and Nocturnal Venue Perceptions.
Subsequently, the participants were given 5 options regarding the perception of a night out, and the frequency of the answers was analyzed by asking them to define it with multiple answer options. While the definition of “it is a way to escape from the activities and context of daily life” with 67,2% and “it is emancipating and unique” with 51,1% was chosen the most, the definition of "it is equal to daytime activities" with 14,6% and “it is distressed and dangerous” was preferred the least with 10,9%. 3 participants chose the “no opinion” option (Table 5.6). The participants were asked about the purpose of going to the night place and they were expected to choose among the given actions. While having fun with 90,5% and socializing with 79,6% was the
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most stated purpose, sharing opinions and ideas with 20,4% was the least preferred purpose (Table 5.7).
Table 5.6 : Frequency and Percentiles of Perception of Night Out.
Table 5.7 : Frequency and Percentiles of Purpose of Night Out.
The participants were then asked on a 5-point Likert scale (from 1=does not matter to 5=very important), how important it is a night out in leisure activities. Since the 5-point Likert scale is an interval scale, the mean value is required for analysis. Its mean value is interpreted as very insignificant in the range of 1-1,8, insignificant in the range of 1,81-2,60, neutral in the range of 2,61-3,40, significant in the range of 3,41-4,20, and very significant in the range of 4,21-5. In the first question, the mean value was calculated as 3,3, indicating that night out among leisure activities had a neutral effect on the participants. Afterwards, the participants were asked whether a night out helps them escape from daily life or not with a 5-point Likert scale (from 1=not at all to 5=definitely yes). The mean value was calculated as 3,5, in this case, it can be interpreted that a night out helps the participants to escape from daily life (Table 5.8).
Table 5.8 : Descriptive Analysis of Importance and Escapism of Night Out.
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5.4.2.3 Spatial characteristics evaluation
In pairwise visual comparison questions, the participants were given binary images from the core areas of the nocturnal venues by selecting a visual according to the reactions expected to occur in nocturnal venues and the opposite characteristic visual, based on Simonds' (1961) theory about the spatial characteristics of the volumes and the emotional and psychological responses aimed to create, and they were asked to choose what they prefer (Appendix B).
In the main structure of the thesis, it is thought that a nocturnal venue should appeal to the emotions of excitement, joy, dynamism, and fun. For this reason, with the questions applied to the participants in inverse order, the respondents' association of nocturnal venues with fun, and fun with music and happiness gives the expected results. In the pairwise visual comparison, it was measured whether these emotions corresponded spatially and whether the images matched with the thought keywords, and the frequency of the answers was examined (Table 5.9).
In the pairwise visual comparison, the first two visual comparisons are related to the entrance of a nocturnal venue, and in the comparisons created with the keywords of excitement and uncertainty, the participants preferred both visuals equally. Therefore, it was interpreted that the participants' preferences for entry were related to the concepts of excitement and uncertainty, but did not provide the expected data from an architectural point of view. The third, fourth and fifth visual comparisons are about the dance floor, which is one of the places where the most time is spent in nocturnal venues, the frequency of the choices made was found as expected according to the emotions and architectural features to be created. Accordingly, the image with high ceilings for the feeling of spaciousness and splendor in the third visual comparison, the image with curved surfaces for the feeling of joy in the fourth visual comparison, and the image with dynamic and ambiguous spatial features in the fifth visual comparison were preferred. The sixth and seventh visual comparisons are related to the stage/concert area. In the sixth visual comparison, instead of the atmosphere predicted to provide an immersed experience, a calmer and more focused atmosphere was preferred, the expected data was not found; however, in the seventh visual comparison, the scene and dynamism correlation were made to meet the preferences and the expected result was obtained. Lastly, the eighth visual comparison is about the bar area, which is also used as a meeting space where people can socialize. As
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expected, the participants mostly chose the option that could create intimacy in terms of texture, lighting and furniture in both comparisons.
Table 5.9 : Frequency and Percentiles of Image Comparisons.
Although it was evaluated whether the fiction was dependent on the keywords by re-selecting the same images based on the keywords, the chi-square analysis was also used to determine whether there was a correlation between the images and the provided keywords. Pearson Chi-Square and Fisher Exact Tests were performed to execute this (Appendix C).
Accordingly, there is a correlation between the preferences of the first entrance visuals and the concept of excitement, but a correlation could not be established between the preferences of the second entrance visuals and the obscurity. A correlation was established between the preferences of the first dance floor visuals and the concept of spaciousness, and between the preferences of the second dance floor visuals and the concept of joy; however, no correlation could be found between the preference for the
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third dance floor visuals and the concepts of engaged/focused. While no correlation could be established between the choice of the first concert venue visuals and the concepts of escape/lost/immersed, it was established between the choice of the second concert venue visuals and dynamism. Finally, a correlation has been established between the choice of bar area visuals and the concept of intimacy.
5.4.2.4 Atmospheric evaluation
Since the architecture of the party is nomadic, portable and sometimes invisible, whether it was the atmosphere that created the space and the accuracy of these atmospheric elements was measured according to the findings obtained from the samples of the retrospective research. Both pairwise visual comparison and 5-point Likert scale questions were used to measure whether the participants preferred the determined atmospheric elements.
First of all, a floor plan sample of a nocturnal venue was given to the participants in order to predict how much they would prefer to be involved in the experience, and they were asked where they would prefer to be most in this plan. According to the findings, while, the participants preferred the most to be in a dancing position on the dance floor with 54,7% in a night venue and to sit in a crowded seating arrangement with 46%, they preferred the least to sit alone with 18,2% and hang out alone with 19,7% (Table 5.10). Accordingly, it can be deduced that the majority of the survey participants are actively involved in the experience.
Table 5.10 : Frequency and Percentiles of Location Choices inside a Nocturnal Venue.
For atmospheric elements, the visually measurable fogginess/smoke, darkness, color, and body density parameters were asked as a pairwise visual comparison and the participants were asked to choose only one (Table 5.11). While the participants
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preferred fogginess with 53,3% in the fogginess/smoke-clear visibility comparison, the values remained almost equal. It is foreseen that the lighting will be at different levels for different purposes. However, while dancing, they preferred a darker environment with 83,2% for lighting, they also preferred a darker environment with 58,4% while chatting. Finally, since the body density is considered as a parameter, it was seen that the participants preferred the crowded environment with 77,4% when the density was compared.
Table 5.11 : Frequency and Percentiles of Image Comparisons for Atmospheric Evaluation.
While the importance of light-darkness level among atmospheric elements is mentioned, it has been found that lighting can cover the entire color spectrum, therefore, there is no specific color information for nocturnal venues in the literature. Participants were given 6 different illuminated images from the same space and they were expected to choose multiple choices (Table 5.12). When the frequency of the answers is examined, Option 2 was preferred at most with 71,5%, and Option 3 was preferred at least with 8%. Accordingly, while the participants preferred the lighting consisting of red, purple and blue the most, they preferred the light spectrum consisting of yellow and blue the least.
Table 5.12 : Frequency and Percentiles of Color Choices.
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Afterwards, a qualitative evaluation of the preferences was made by using a 5-point Likert scale for both the same parameters and the non-visually measurable sound level parameter. In order for the scales to be standardized, they must be reliable. Therefore, Cronbach Alpha analysis was performed to measure its reliability. Values above 0.60 are considered acceptable in Cronbach analyzes, and values above 0.70 are considered reliable (Kılıç, 2016). The scales are reliable as the result found is 0.706 (Table 5.13).
Table 5.13 : Reliability Statics of Atmospheric Evaluation.
Looking at the mean values of the choices made, it is observed that the atmospheric expectations of the participants are in harmony with the anticipated expectations. Between 50 dB background music and 160 dB eardrum burst music level, the mean value of the music volume level is 3.7, which means they prefer a much higher-than-regular musical volume. In the lightness-darkness comparison, the mean value was 3.8, that is, the majority of the participants prefer a very dark environment. In comparing clear visibility and dense smoke/fog, the mean value was 2.4, showing that almost clear vision was preferred. In the comparison of being isolated and surrounded by people, the mean value was 3.5, indicating that they preferred to be partially surrounded (Table 5.14).
Table 5.14 : Descriptive Analysis of Atmospheric Evaluation.
The values of the parameters other than the music level measurement were compared with the visual comparison on the crosstabulations and the relationship between them was examined. When the fog/smoke parameter was examined, it was determined that even the participants who chose the foggy image remained at the haze level in the Likert scale, and the density of the smoke was not desired (Table 5.15). As stated in
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the fog/smoke parameter, there is a risk of creating an uncomfortable atmosphere because the dense smoke creates a feeling of suffocation.
Table 5.15 : Crosstabulation of Smoke/Fogginess Visual Comparison and Fogginess Likert Scale.
In the evaluation of light and dark levels, it was predicted that darker lighting levels were preferred while dancing, and brighter lighting levels were preferred while chatting. However, when the ratios were examined, it was observed that the participants preferred dark in both activities, and even the users who chose the light image in the visual encounter remained at a moderate level in the Likert scale (Table 5.16 and Table 5.17).
Table 5.16 : Crosstabulation of Lighting While Dancing Visual Comparison and Darkness Likert Scale.
Finally, the visual comparison of the crowd density of the participants and the body density likert scale were crossed and the participants did not prefer to be isolated but preferred a regular density or the crowd; thus, it has been observed that body density is important in spatial preference in night spaces (Table 5.18).
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Table 5.17 : Crosstabulation of Lighting While Chatting Visual Comparison and Darkness Likert Scale.
Table 5.18 : Crosstabulation of Crowd Density Visual Comparison and Density of Bodies Likert Scale.
5.4.2.5 Nocturnal life habits before Covid-19 pandemic
The nightlife habits of the participants before the pandemic were examined. To find out how active and social they were in nightlife, the participants were asked how often they went out at night and how many people they went out with. Accordingly, 62% of the participants go out once or twice a week. 16,8% go out 3 or more times a week, 16,1% go out twice a month, 3,6% go out once a month, and 1,5% go out less than once a month. 59,1% of the participants prefer to go out with 2 or 3 people, 32,1% with 4 or more people, 8% with 1 person, and 0,7% alone (Table 5.19).
Participants were asked about the type of music they would prefer when they went out at night, the type of venue and the type of party or festival they would prefer as a special event, with multiple answer options. According to this, the music genres that the participants listen to the most are pop with 58,1% and disco with 55,9%, the music genres they listen to the least are jazz with 4%, and Latin with 5,1% (Table 5.20).
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Table 5.19 : Frequency and Percentiles of Periodicity of Night Out and the Number of People Going Out Together.
Table 5.20 : Frequency and Percentiles of Preferred Music Genres.
The most preferred venue types when they go out at night were, respectively, the pub with 74,5%, the nightclub and temporary party spaces (rave, event-based parties, house parties, etc.) with 59,1%. On the other hand, rock bar was preferred the least with 7.4% (Table 5.21). In the question of the type of party/festival that they would prefer to attend, while, they preferred the most house parties with 67,2% and disco parties with 48,9%; they preferred the least silent disco parties with 2,6% and technival with 3,6% (Table 5.22). These preferences show that the participant profile in terms of pre-Covid life habits coincides with the venues and music types found in the retrospective review.
Afterward, participants were asked about the frequency of attending/hosting house parties before the pandemic in order to perceive their own atmospheric and spatial changes. According to this, as 39,4% of the participants occasionally, 22,6% frequently, 2,2% only once, in total 64,2% of them attended/hosted a house party, while 3,.8% of the participants had never attended a house party before (Table 5.23).
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Table 5.21 : Frequency and Percentiles of Preferred Venue Types.
Table 5.22 : Frequency and Percentiles of Preferred Party/Festival Types.
Table 5.23 : Frequency and Percentiles of Hosting/Attending House Parties.
Participants who answered yes to the previous question were asked about the atmospheric and spatial changes they made for a house party, and 48 participants answered this optional question with an open-ended answer method. 83,3% of the respondents mentioned lighting as the first of the spatial and atmospheric transformations they stated: dim light and colored-pulsed lighting elements. One user mentioned that the light should be created as ambient lighting, not overhead and direct and that it should be transformed according to the activity: using brighter lighting during the meal, dim lighting while dancing, and rhythmic colored lights that move accordingly as the tempo of the music increases. For the same reason, many of the participants state that they prefer dimmer systems and colored bulbs. Specifically, the color preference indication is only on warm light and red light. The second most cited
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atmospheric element is sound with 68%. While only 4 respondents stated that they preferred the party setup for dinner and conversation and using background music, 29 of them stated that they preferred music and dance-oriented party setups and rather loud music. While 54,2% of the respondents stated a change in furniture installation, 19 stated that they arranged their furniture to consist of comfortable sofas and armchairs in a circular or opposite and spread way to chat, while 16 of them stated that they moved the furniture aside to create a dance area. Only 20,8% of the respondents stated that they specifically created a bar area.
5.4.2.6 Nocturnal life habits during Covid-19 pandemic
The second part of the survey is about the online parties and indoor atmospheres of the individuals returning home with the pandemic to continue their nightlife during the isolation process. Therefore, only 39 out of 137 respondents – only those who have attended online parties at least once – answered this part.
According to the respondents' demographic data shown in Table 5.24, 92,3% of the respondents were between the ages of 26-35, 17,9% were between the ages of 18-25 and 7,7% were between the ages of 36-45. 69,2% of the survey respondents live in Turkey and 12,8% of them live in Germany and the rest of them lives in different European countries. It was seen that 64,1% of the respondents had a bachelor's degree, 28,2% had a master's degree, 5,1% had a high school diploma, and 2,6% had a doctorate degree or higher. While 35,9% of the respondents identified themselves with female, 41% with male, 12,8% with non-binary, 5,1% with agender gender identity, and 5,1% of the respondents did not want to answer. 76,9% of the respondents in this section were single and 23,1% were married or living together. Additionally, it has been determined that 35,9% live alone, 25,6% live with their parents and/or siblings, 20,5% live with housemates, and 20,5% live with their spouse/partner and/or children. According to the household, 33,3% of them live in their house with 2 people and 33,3% with 3 or 4 people, 30,8% with one person, and 2,6% with 5 or more people. In the question of life perspective, online party participants defined their life perspectives as an environmentalist the most with 56,4% and as an activist with 41%, while at least as a conservative with 2,6% (Table 5.25).
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Table 5.24 : Demographic Information Table of Online Party Participants.
Table 5.25 : Frequency and Percentiles of Life Perspectives of Online Party Participants.
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In this part, participants were first asked about the names and types of online parties they attended. Accordingly, the most cited online party names are Distance Disco, Club Coweed, and Queerwaves. The participants were then asked how many online parties they attended, and the frequency of the answers was examined. Accordingly, 48,7% of respondents attended 2-4 times, 18% attended once, 17,9% attended 5-9 times, and 15,4% attended 10 or more online parties (Table 5.26).
Table 5.26 : Frequency and Percentiles of Attendance to Online Parties.
Participants were asked about their purpose of participating in online parties with multiple answer options and the frequency of the answers was examined. According to this, having fun with 82,1% and socializing with 64,1% were the most frequently mentioned reasons, while flirting with 12,8% and sharing ideas with 15,4% were the least preferred reasons. Although the most preferred ones in the online party for the purpose of going to the nocturnal venue are the same, the least preferred ones have changed. While discovering new music is the least preferred in the physical environment, this has become a medium-level goal since online events are more experimental environments. The fact that the least preferred thing online is dating has been interpreted to be due to the lack of physical environment and bodily sensation, while this is not the case in the physical environment (Table 5.27).
Table 5.27 : Frequency and Percentiles of Purpose of Attendance.
Participants were asked which area of their home they used to attend online parties with multiple answer options, and the frequency of the answers was analyzed. Accordingly, the living room was the most preferred area with 89,7%, and the bedroom
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was the second most preferred area with 38,5% (Table 5.28). When the use of preferred areas was examined according to the people living in the house and marital status, it was found that there was no effect for the living room, but the bedroom was mostly preferred by those living with their family or siblings. In other words, party areas are organized at points where people can feel autonomous.
Table 5.28 : Frequency and Percentiles of Areas of Joining Online Parties.
Subsequently, the participants were asked to explain the atmospheric changes they made for the online party at home and whether there were any atmospheric changes they felt were missing, if any, with an open-ended question type. 15 of 16 participants describing their online party atmosphere stated that they dim the environment for lighting and they bought lamps that can give colored lights. Regarding the sound, only 5 participants stated that they used a special sound system, and 1 participant stated that she/he used headphones. Regarding the furniture arrangement, 3 participants stated that they pulled the furniture to the sides to open a dance area, and 2 participants stated that they arranged a seating arrangement with seats where they could sit comfortably. Only 1 participant stated that she created a drinking area specifically. Only 5 of the participants stated that they felt a lack of party atmosphere: sound insulation, better quality webcams, larger venues, and physical presence of other bodies.
Participants were asked on a 5-point Likert scale how important their own atmosphere was for their fun mood during the online party, then asked whether the atmospheres of other participants had an effect (from 1=noneffective to 5=very effective). The mean value of the first question is 3.7, showing that the influence of the participants' own atmospheres on their mood is effective. The mean value of the second question is 3.43, showing that the atmospheres of the other participants have an effect on the fun mood of the respondents. Then, in order to perceive the feelings of the participants about the perception of privacy while sharing their homes, they were asked how they described
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their atmosphere during the party (from 1=public to 5=private) and whether they felt comfortable showing their homes (from 1=not at all to 5=perfectly) were asked using a 5-point Likert scale. The mean value of the first question was 3.7, meaning that the participants thought their home was private during the online party as well. The second question has a mean value of 3.5, indicating that the participants were comfortable allowing part of their home to be seen during the online party (Table 5.29).
Table 5.29 : Descriptive Analysis of Atmospheres and Privacy of Online Parties.
In addition, the participants were asked whether they felt belonging to their own atmosphere and to the atmospheres of others, and the frequency of the answers was analyzed. Accordingly, while 53,8% of the participants feel a sense of belonging to both environments, 25% of them only feel a sense of belonging to their own environment and 17,9% of them only feel a sense of belonging to the environment of other participants; 2,6% do not feel a sense of belonging to any environment (Table 5.30).
Table 5.30 : Frequency and Percentiles of Belonging to Atmospheres.
Finally, participants were asked to atmospherically compare online parties with open-ended questions, if they attended house parties before the pandemic. All of the participants talked about the lack of physical presence of the body and therefore a lack of intimacy and communication. In addition, it has been stated that atmospherically physical parties are more satisfying. Only 1 participant defined online parties as a safe space and stated that she/he found it unsettling for others to be included in her/his personal space and stated that she/he preferred online parties.
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5.4.3 Interviews
Semi-structured interviews were conducted as the second research method in order to conduct a more detailed analysis of the information collected about spatial data of online parties during the survey phase of the thesis. For this reason, the interviews were planned with four DD regular volunteers who attended more than 10 Distance Disco events organized during the pandemic period. Demographic information and coding of the interviewees are defined in Table 5.31. In order to ensure the confidentiality of the participants, their names were kept confidential in this study and they were mentioned in the thesis through the given codes. All of the interviewees live in the Netherlands and regularly attend Distance Disco. Interviewee 1 is 38 years old, female, married, and lives with her spouse. Interviewee 2 is 45 years old, male, single, and lives alone. Interviewee 3 is 42 years old, female, married, and lives with her husband. Finally, interviewee 4 is 43 years old, female, single, and lives alone.
Table 5.31 : Demographic Information Table of Interviewees’ and Their Codes.
Short online meetings were held with the interviewees individually via Zoom, and 6 open-ended questions were asked about the party setup and the atmosphere in the home environment (Appendix D). First, the interviewees were asked to share a photo or sketch of the space they used while attending the online party. Secondly, they were asked to describe the image transmission mechanism and positions of the cameras. Thirdly, it was asked whether they used extra lighting in the interior and if they did, where they positioned them. As the fourth question, it was questioned what they used as a sound system and whether the sound level was sufficient. In the fifth question, it was asked whether other significant spatial changes were made and whether there were any elements added or removed. Finally, the interview was concluded by asking the interviewees whether there were any spatial elements that they found missing.
5.4.3.1 Interview with Int-01
The 39-year-old female Int-01 first experienced Silent Duo Disco, the physical version of the game in 2013, as she has an old friendship with the creators of DD, so she is
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familiar with Distance Disco. She is one of the oldest regulars as she is a beta tester participant of Distance Disco. The interviewee lives with her husband in her detached three-storey house in the Netherlands. She stated that since she became a beta tester, the whole hall looked different during this one and half year. However, she stated that from time to time, the other person in the house, her husband, wanted to use the house for her normal purpose, so she went to the downstairs kitchen or upstairs to the bedroom and adjusted her arrangement. Nevertheless, the main setup is still in the hall.
When the interviewee was asked about the image transmission mechanism, she stated that she used the internal camera of her iMac, which is a desktop computer, for its basic setup in the living room, and that she used the laptop camera in the other areas like the kitchen or the bedroom. The camera adjusts its position to show the upper part of her body, thus allowing people to see the dance moves precisely, adjusting the diameter of the dance area to provide this view. She also stated that she sometimes gets very close to the camera, thus showing her facial expression and lip sync. Int-01 stated that it is sometimes fun to come near the screen and establish close contact with other participants. That's why she stated that she has always taken care to have an area where she can both get away and get closer. However, she stated that she has a small dance area to stay within the limits of what the camera can see with the wall on the right side of her setup.
Int-01 also stated that she dimmed the environment for lighting, that there were two screens in her setup in the hall, that she put a lamp with colored lights on the left side of the screen, which has an image transmission mechanism, and that she participated in the Distance Disco, and that she sometimes opens a youtube video of “disco lights” from a second screen on the right. Thus, while the disco lighting lamp reflects colored lights on the left of herself and on the wall on the right, lights from videos on the second screen reflect on the right of herself, making the lights double-sided.
The interviewee uses the computer speaker as the sound system but stated that she wears bluetooth headphones when the other person (her husband) in the house does not want to be involved in the atmosphere. She stated that they can use the space for two different purposes, so Int-01 created her own silent disco. However, she also stated that it is not always ideal, as headphones can dash off when she dances too fast.
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As for other spatial changes related to the space, Int-01 stated that she took her chair from the front of the work area for her setup in the living room, that the worktable is adjustable, that is, it can be raised and lowered, and that she elevated the image transmission in the desired setup. She also stated that she moved the visible plants further back to reduce the background a little and open up the distance for the dance area. She stated that even if she is partying with her laptop in other areas of the house, she places her laptop at eye level by placing books on the table in the kitchen and on the bed in the bedroom in order to elevate the camera view. Int-01 explained that DD is accessible and easy: “Distance disco proves that you do not have a lot of room to have a party”.
The interviewee stated that there was no atmospheric or spatial element that she found missing for DD. Expressing that many participants felt other bodies were missing and sought it as a spatial parameter, she stated that she thought being alone was more ideal for an online party. She explained that the reason for this is that a profile participating in the party cuts off communication with other users on the screen when they are with more than one person, and they start to party among themselves.
Finally, Int-01 described the Distance Disco as a great success. She stated that it is a great comfort to be in one's own home, to have a party without the stress of going out -especially in the wheather of the Netherlands-, waiting in line, paying exorbitant prices for drinks, and then returning to one's own bed immediately and she explained the advantage of Distance Disco as follows: “Sometimes you feel you want to party, but you do not want to go to all the trouble to go outside and buy a ticket... But you do want to party… Then, Distance Disco is just perfect!”.
5.4.3.2 Interview with Int-02
45-year-old male Int-02 discovered DD through using this platform to throw an office party and became a regular. The interviewee is single and lives alone in an apartment in the Netherlands. He stated that he usually attends Distance Disco from his study room, where he uses his laptop.
Int-02 stated that he uses a regular laptop camera as an image transmission mechanism. Unlike the other interviewees, Int-02 stated that he did not raise his camera, instead, he adjusted the field of view by changing the screen angle -tilting the screen downwards.
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The interviewee stated that he used two different variations for lighting. Accordingly, the first variation, which he used more often, was to use a USB fan on the right side of his laptop that showed colored lights to the camera. The second variation he used in between was to sometimes turn off the light in the room and use a desk lamp just to the left of the laptop.
He stated that he did not have a problem with the sound system and that the sound level was not a problem either. He stated that he used a mini-speaker, which was given as a promotion, that could produce enough sound for both watching movies and dancing. He also states that he has a headset for the short-term chat area after the DD party, so as not to create an echo.
As a spatial change, he stated that he only moved the chair in front of the work table and removed the floor protector, thus creating a dance space for himself. He also stated that due to the angle of positioning his laptop, it was also useful for chatting after the disco, so that he could sit back in the chair and not have to stand and bend over all the time.
Int-02 stated that there were atmospheric and spatial features that he found missing and explained them as follows. First, if Distance Disco had continued, it would have been better if he could move his setup to the living room to put his laptop in front of a larger area; he also stated that he could use more colored light spread throughout the space. Apart from that, he stated that he thought he could have a more effective disco and dance experience by showing his whole body from his feet, as he could change the image transmission mechanism. Finally, Int-02 expressed how easy it would be to create the atmosphere for the transformation of his home in this process with his Distance Disco experience: “Looking back, you can see how easy it was to create a good environment with a few tricks. It was also clear that more was possible -with more time and effort invested”.
5.4.3.3 Interview with Int-03
37-year-old female Int-03 stated that she discovered Distance Disco thanks to a colleague and became a regular. She lives with her husband in a two-storey detached house in the Netherlands. She stated that because there is another user in the house, she uses various areas of the house: sometimes in the living room, sometimes in the kitchen, and sometimes in the guest room upstairs. Although she uses the living room
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as the main area, she stated that she often uses the kitchen and the guest room when her partner wants to use the house as a home.
Int-03 stated that she used the laptop camera for the image transmission mechanism. She stated that she mostly adjusted the image so that her face and upper body were visible.
She stated that she darkened the environment and used extra lighting for lighting. Moreover, she stated that when she first joined Distance Disco, she used two small disco lights that were battery operated, and that she changed the lighting system over time and bought a more advanced disco light that plugs into the socket.
Int-03 stated that although she sometimes only uses her laptop as a sound system, she uses JBL Boombox, a portable and powerful speaker since she finds the sound system very important.
For other spatial changes, Int-03 first talked about their laptop lifting system. She stated that since there is a 1,10 cm high television cabinet in the living room, she placed the laptop there, but when she is in the kitchen she places books on the table, and in the guest room she puts storage boxes on the bed and elevates the laptop to eye level. Apart from that, the interviewee stated that she thought the background to be empty and calm is very important for the atmospheric context, so she adjusted his own position in the volumes of her house and the position of her laptop accordingly. She stated that she could position the desk and laptop as she wished, especially in the kitchen, since it has a plain white wall.
Int-03, who stated that there was no atmospheric or spatial element that she found missing, describes Distance Disco as follows: “The whole concept was very renewing and I really enjoy it”.
5.4.3.4 Interview with Int-04
43-year-old female Int-04 stated that she had heard of distance disco from the beginning thanks to a friend and that she was involved in almost all events. She lives alone in an apartment in the Netherlands. She stated that she used the living room of the house.
She stated that she uses the laptop camera as the image transmission mechanism and she stated that in order to keep the camera at chest level, she places it on a raised
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furniture such as an ironing board, and if it stays low, she raises it by supporting it with a little more book.
In terms of lighting, Int-04 stated that she darkened her living room and used small disco lights. One of them is a small lighting that can be plugged into the laptop via USB, the other is a plug-in disco lighting. She stated that she always placed the lighting behind and at an angle and danced in front of a wall, thus using the reflection of the light on the wall and ceiling.
Int-04 stated that she used only the voice of her laptop as a sound system and she found it sufficient. She also stated that although she kept her volume low, she could focus on dancing and at the same time, she did not want to cause discomfort because she lived in the apartment.
Apart from that, she stated that as the specific spatial changes she made, she moved the small coffee table close to 2 meters so that she could open a dance area, and she did not make any spatial changes other than that.
When asked if she found any spatial or atmospheric elements missing, she replied that there was nothing she found missing. She stated that it is a great advantage to be able to be included in such an atmosphere so easily by opening her laptop only in her own living room. She stated that Distance Disco, apart from being an important bridge and offering an alternative for people who cannot socialize during the pandemic, very easily produces an enjoyable experience and even works like a physically active workout, not just a party.
5.5 Findings of the Research and Discussion
Within the scope of the study, the existence of the current manifestations of counterculture and night habits was examined, while cyberculture was reached. From here, it is discussed that individuals who are forced to technology in a way due to the effect of the pandemic, transform their own homes in order to maintain their social lives. For this, the researcher was involved in the research in an autoethnographic way and discovered an activity that could create a community and transform the interior space of the participants over time. As a result, the hypothesis of instant interior spaces expressed in the main structure of the thesis, that is, spaces whose existing architecture
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is rendered invisible by the atmosphere is made true by the questionnaire prepared first to obtain more general findings and then by individual interviews.
Although the data meet the expectations in terms of ratio in the measurement of the emotions envisaged to be created by night places and the spatial characteristics that these feelings may arise, the fact that some ratios are very close to each other can be interpreted in two ways. Firstly, there is no clarity about the architectural equivalent of the expected emotion, secondly, the visual comparison did not provide sufficient spatial perception. In future studies, in order to obtain more concrete data of the research, the participants' being in the places themselves and making comparisons may provide more precise results, but such a study was not possible during the pandemic.
In the retrospective space analysis, the results of the data such as sound, darkness, and bodily density were found as expected in the examination of the atmospheric parameters that should be found concurrently in night spaces according to the atmospheric removal performed, but it was observed that the participants looked at the fog/smoke parameter negatively.
Apart from these, the most important atmospheric elements for the participants who use part of their homes for digital activities were music, darkness, and colorful lighting, and these activities, which are the social saviors of the lonely individual, enabled people to make minor changes in their homes. The presence of flashing lights was noted by all Distance Disco participants in individual interviews for in-depth analysis. This element, which is very effective for the inclusion of movement in the space, supports the fiction of entertainment and offers a different dynamism to the individual in the absence of moving bodies. Other than that, the most obvious spatial changes are the creation of a dance space by moving the furniture as far away as possible, the creation of flatter backgrounds, and the camera placements to show the upper part of the body. As for the music, the type of house is effective, in apartments it is quieter, while in detached houses the volume is set higher. However, most digital activities lack sensory experience and can only provide an auditory and visual experience. Besides the advantages of virtual parties, all of the users stated that they are a different type that cannot be compared with physical venues. The participants moved away from the virtual with the opening of the physical environments, but they stated that they would still prefer it to those they want to reach an effortless party in harsh weather conditions or for other reasons. This is due to its inability to provide adequate
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multisensory experience. However, it is possible that multisensory digital experiences will increase with the advancement of technology. For this reason, virtual party platforms, which are periodically preferable at the end of the pandemic, can become an experience that can become a part of daily life with the development of technology. Consequently, it is possible to create modular virtual party areas inside the houses in the future.
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6. CONCLUSION
In the main structure of the thesis, it is aimed to define the fun and the social unity that is significant in the formation of fun, which is an important but overlooked part of human life, and to determine the places that will provide this unity. After the Second World War, with the change of perspective on fun, the fun has become an expression of freedom, as Wolfstein mentioned (1951). In the formation of fun, there are some social and psychological parameters such as transience, deviation from the norm, commitment to experience, social cohesion, and distraction (Fincham, 2018). In adulthood, entertainment begins to be associated with leisure activities and space through the phenomenon of socialization. For this reason, leisure time at night is evaluated and the social construction of leisure spaces is emphasized. At the same time, nighttime socializations enable the individuals who have separated from their habitus to transform the identity into a more fluid and temporary version in social integration, regardless of race, gender, age, and social status. In this case, transitory and instantaneous communities and lifestyles emerge. Modern nightlife, which is very related to the carnivalesque theory and consists of music and dance, is a space of freedom that provides a temporary distance from the established system and real life. In these carnivals, where the whole society became identical even for only a short time, and where extremes took place, a new life alternative was presented. Emancipating nighttime practices, like these carnivals, although they exist for a short time, transform the social structure of the society suddenly or over time.
However, although the libertarian aura of leisure time manifests itself in the historical process, in order to maintain its stability, the capitalist system took control by promoting its own leisure time in order to manage people whose working times were shortened and their leisure time increased with the industrial revolution. In this case, leisure time has ceased to be an area of individual emancipation and personal development and has become a part of the economic system. Individuals have been transformed into a society that is directed to consumption and can be managed within a passive perception of leisure. Perceiving this situation as a problem, when the typology of spaces that opposes the capitalist economy, creates temporary societies
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and focuses on fun is examined with a retrospective view, it is thought that nocturnal spaces that arise from a countercultural perspective manifest as a salvation space. Accordingly, in the third chapter, periodical counterculture types that emerged from the 60s, which was a breaking point for the freedom struggle, and the countercultural night places of those periods were examined in the context of heterotopia with their temporary and contradictory nature. Although the existence of these places is sometimes quite short, considering their overlap with social and political events and technological developments, they have been quite effective in the cultural framework in the long term. In order to be obedient to the cultural framework of counter-spaces, as most of the nocturnal heterotopias examined within the scope of the thesis are located in the past and the ones that remain today have undergone a lot of change, the places were analyzed architecturally in the light of literature, documentaries, photographs and the information obtained from the memories of former regulars, and their spatial diagrams were produced.
Although the countercultural movement in the 1960s started with a revolt against technocracy, it grew and developed by feeding off the utopian vision of a society emerging from famine after the Second World War. This counterculture society was defined as the Hippies, and they showed that a different and alternative life could exist with the collective festivals created by the communes returning to the countryside. This situation led to the formation of temporary and egalitarian short-term heterotopias, just as in the carnivalesque theory. During this period, Rock music was shaped as a form of expression and became a means of conveying ideas on social and political issues. This was seen as a problem for the "establishment" as it triggered rebellious behavior. Entertainment manifestations during this period aimed not only at escapism from reality, but also at providing intellectual diffusion. These open-air festivals, which were more difficult to control and organized by a collective effort in the countryside, were held for free or at very low fees with no profit target. Few-day festivals of music, art and cultural activities were a reflection of the utopian philosophy of this multi-layered counterculture. The liberal and uncontrollable nature of the festivals has worried the governments and has been subject to regulations, so their examples are quite limited. Apart from this, it has been determined that another element that reflects the nightlife and entertainment practices of hippie culture is hippie
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house parties, but since the spatial data obtained is quite limited, it is only mentioned without categorizing it.
Looking back to the 1970s, the most critical issue was the birth of modern terrorism and there were many attacks all over the world. In fact, discos, another nocturnal heterotopia that emerged in parallel with the festivals, some of which date back chronologically, were also examined in the plot of the 1970s, as they became a preferred area for socialization with the restriction of festivals and the increase in terrorism. The disco's belonging to the counterculture is in a more complex relationship than any other typology of nocturnal heterotopias. This is because it is easy to see disco as a capitalist element, whereas what distinguishes disco from this element is its content. Disco creates a heterotopia by presenting an alternative sociability where the differences between classes disappear and creates a space for the liberation of queer and colored users, and also creates a discourse against racism, homophobia and dominant ideology. Thus, it is the reflection of the utopian counterculture perspective with the hidden world it contains under its so-called capitalist identity. Also, another important difference is that the strong atmospheric expression of discos is designed with a conceptual background, as opposed to the collective production of other types with organic and DiY culture. However, with the widespread use of discos in the media in 1974 and their sale as a capitalist element, the demand for discos increased and started to slide into the mainstream. Still, the devastating impact to the countercultural attitude of discos has been the destruction of the hidden world inside, with the accompanying increased control mechanisms and surveillance cameras.
In the 1980s, the most critical issue was economic developments. With neoliberal economic policies and the aggressive capitalist system, stratification has increased, societies have once again divided and discrimination has increased. In the midst of all these problems, rave culture emerged as an intercultural response to the pressure exerted on society. Raves, which emerged as a response to the restrictive commercialization created by the government's regulatory procedures and escaping from surveillance cameras, offered a social utopia by bringing together the festive, self-generating and collective production of festivals by feeding on DIY culture and the atmospheric data of discos, evoking a sense of joy and freedom for individuals. While raves were originally club-based nights, due to laws against them, they became
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directly event-based in a similar but more pop-up form to free festivals and became completely illegal. Within the scope of the thesis, club-based raves were examined due to their carrying spatial data, sufficient spatial data could not be reached due to the confidentiality of event-based raves, so they were not included in the parameter extraction even though they were mentioned in the thesis. Rave has been the last example to create an independent nocturnal heterotopia thanks to its temporality and evasion of surveillance, moreover, it is the only typology that is still being made today and preserves its countercultural attitude thanks to its secrecy.
In the fourth chapter, the characteristic analysis and atmospheric extraction of the spaces that were theorized and categorized in the third chapter were carried out. The architecture of the celebration is temporary, portable, nomadic and compact, therefore, although various findings are obtained for the physical existence of the space in the studies on emotions and space, it is the atmosphere of the space that creates these feelings in the architecture of the party, so the architectural qualities should remain in the background. However, certain architectural arrangements such as the state of the dance floor, the presence or absence of the bar, the location of the stage or DJ booth, the presence or absence of seating areas both contribute to the production of atmospheric qualities and feed the experience in a positive way. Nocturnal spaces are environments that are less dependent on spatial order and architectural content, more focused on abstract qualities, allowing them to exist momentarily. In order to provide the impressive experience expected in nocturnal venues, a multi-sensory experience must be presented in the venue. Atmospheric parameters obtained from the heterotopias examined in the third chapter were determined as sound, light, bodies, heat/humidity and smoke/fog. The important thing in nocturnal spaces is that all these atmospheric parameters can exist simultaneously and in harmony with each other. This simultaneity can be explained by McLuhan's theory of “Allatonceness”, with the regenerative and retribalizing properties of experience and temporal architecture, where space disappears and time stops. Indeed, all parameters must be conjugate and simultaneous to provide the atmosphere.
In the fifth part, cyberculture has been reached while examining the existence of the current manifestations of counterculture and night habits. From this point of view, it has been examined that an individuals who were socially isolated and in global despair during the pandemic turned their home into a resistance area as an area of emancipation
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while participating in virtual parties. For this, the researcher was involved in the research in an autoethnographic way and discovered a platform that could create a community and transform the interiors of the participants she followed by participating in 51 different events. The research was carried out by two methods: questionnaire and semi-structured interviews.
As a result of the survey, users prefer places that will create emotions such as excitement, dynamism and joy in nocturnal places, but the findings related to the space typologies theorized over these emotions have not been established sufficiently. The measurement of atmospheric parameters, on the other hand, was provided reliably, and it was revealed that only the fog/smoke parameter was not preferred as in the study. These findings make the hypothesis of instant interior space, spaces whose existing architecture is rendered invisible with atmosphere, expressed in the main structure of the thesis correct.
Apart from this, the participants, who use part of their homes for virtual parties, briefly stated that they hide their existing character by darkening the spaces in their homes and transform them by using atmospheric elements. Similar findings were obtained in semi-structured interviews conducted for in-depth analysis. In particular, the presence of flashing lights is the most dominant element. Other than that, the most obvious spatial changes are creating a dance space by moving furniture as far away as possible, creating fewer complex backgrounds, and camera placements to show the upper body. The sound level is related to the type of house and other individuals living in the house.
As a final word, most virtual parties and its entertainment types are devoid of sensory experience and can currently only provide an auditory and visual experience. Indeed, virtual parties have not emerged to replace physical ones but offer a new kind. It is possible that this new type will offer multisensory experience with the advancement of technology. For this reason, virtual party platforms, which can be preferred periodically at the end of the pandemic, can become an experience that can become a part of daily life with the development of technology, and even modular virtual party spaces may occur inside the houses in the future.
The aim of this research is to provide data about the spatialization of the entertainment of counterculture and cyberculture to studies that will take place in disciplines such as sociology, interior design, digital communication, experience design. In future studies,
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the examination of interior manifestations of digital entertainment practices can be expanded and the perceptual dimension of the changes made and the definition of sight and seen spaces and design criteria can be evaluated. On the other hand, a virtual space-oriented study can be carried out by examining Metaverse music venues and party formats on a large scale within the framework of cyberculture, as fully digitalized venues.
Apart from this, although the use of home with a focus on fun is mentioned in this study, a study can be carried out on this subject by increasing the time spent at home permanently, the idea of returning home to transform the way of using the home and the interior design references for the definition of a new home design.
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APPENDICES
APPENDIX A: Ethics Committee Approval
APPENDIX B: Survey Questions
APPENDIX C: Data Frequencies
APPENDIX D: Interview Questions
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APPENDIX A
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APPENDIX B
Istanbul Technical University -Graduate School
The International Master of Interior Architectural Design Program
Thesis topic:
Nocturnal Heterotopias from Counterculture to Cyberculture: A Study on Nightlife and Online Party Interiors
Student:
Meriç Musaoğlu – 418181005
Project/Thesis Coordinator:
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Emine Görgül
Dear Participant,
This questionnaire has been designed for the thesis prepared by Meriç MUSAOĞLU under the supervision of Assoc.Prof.Dr. Emine GÖRGÜL at Istanbul Technical University, Institute of Social Sciences, International Master of Interior Architectural Design Program (IMIAD).
With this survey, it is aimed to examine the correlation between the places examined in the literature part of the thesis and the determined atmospheric parameters. On the other hand, in this context, with the questions to be asked to the participants through the survey, the determination of the preferred venue characters and atmosphere characteristics of the nocturnal venues, the observation of the interaction between the entertainment habits and venue preferences of the individuals, the atmospheric effect of the online parties formed during the pandemic process on the participants' personal areas, before and after the pandemic. It is aimed to determine the spatial transformations and entertainment habits after the Therefore, the questionnaire consists of two chapters. The first chapter examines the pre-pandemic nightlife habits and spatial characteristics. The second chapter examines the increasing online parties and household habits during the pandemic. For the first chapter, respondents are expected to have been to at least one nocturnal venue (nightclub, disco etc.) before and
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be over the age of 18. The second chapter is only for respondents who have attended online parties.
The data to be obtained through the questionnaire form are collected for statistical purposes to be used in the thesis study. This information will not be shared directly with third parties and will remain confidential between the researcher and the participant. Confidentiality will be ensured by a defined coding procedure and access to the code will be limited only to the researcher responsible for the study. Research results will be used only in scientific studies, in compliance with all confidentiality principles. The data collection method of the study does not carry any risk for the participants. No audio or video recording will be taken during data collection. This survey takes about 20 minutes. Participants can stop filling out the questionnaire at any time, there is no sanction in this situation. You can download the informed consent form from the link below:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HGw9lURBqe_5cOGKP7EYks_922id8rMV/view
During the research or after the research is over, you can reach the researcher via e-mail and ask questions and request information about the results of the study. Thank you very much for your valuable time and contribution.
Researcher Information:
Name Surname: Meriç Musaoğlu
Address: İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi Mimarlık Fakültesi, Harbiye
Mah., Taşkışla Cad. No:240, 24267 Şişli/İstanbul
E-mail: musaoglume@itu.edu.tr
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1. CHAPTER
The first chapter examines the pre-pandemic nightlife habits and spatial characteristics. Respondents are expected to have been to at least one nocturnal venue before and be over the age of 18.
1. I declare that I am over the age of eighteen (18).
Mark only one oval.
Yes Skip to question 2.
No You may finish the survey.
DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION
2. What is your age range? *
Mark only one oval.
18-25
26-35
36-45
46-55
56-65
66 or above
3. Which country do you live in? *
4. What is the highest degree or level of education you have completed? *
Mark only one oval.
Less than a high school certificate
High school certificate
Trade/technical/vocational training / Associate degree
Bachelor's degree
Master's degree
Ph.D. or higher
Prefer not to say
Other:
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5. Which gender identity do you most identify with? *
Mark only one oval.
Female
Male
Prefer not to say
Other:
6. What is your martial status? *
Mark only one oval.
Single
Married or in a cohabiting relationship Widow/Divorced/Separated
Other:
7. Who are you living with? *
Mark only one oval.
Alone
With parents and/or siblings
With roommate/s
With spouse/partner and/or children
Other:
8. How many people do you live at your home? *
Mark only one oval.
1
2
3-4
5 or more
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9. Which of the following words below are closest to describing your point of view? *
Check all that apply.
Activist
Conservative
Environmentalist
Liberal
Mainstream
Marginal
Radical
Rebel
Pacifist
Prefer not to answer
Other:
PERCEPTION OF FUN
This section examines the perception of the users about fun and night venues.
10. Which of the following words come to mind when you think of fun? *
Check all that apply.
Adventure
Escapism
Excitement
Happiness
Leisure
Music
Nightlife
Nocturnal
Other:
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11. Which of the following words come to mind when you think of nocturnal venues? *
Check all that apply.
Adventure
Escapism
Excitement
Fun
Hedonism
Immersed
Joy
Obscurity
Psychedelia
Sublime
Other:
12. How would you describe the activity of night out? *
Check all that apply.
It is a way to escape from the activities and context of daily life.
It is emancipating and unique.
It is equal to daytime activities.
It is distressed and dangerous.
No opinion.
Other:
13. Which of the following are your intentions of going to a nocturnal venue? *
Check all that apply.
Having fun
Discovering new music
Dancing
Socializing
Meeting new people
Flirting
Sharing ideas
Other:
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14. How important is a night out in your leisure activities? *
Mark only one oval.
1 2 3 4 5
Does not matter Very important
15. Does a night out help you escape from your daily life? *
Mark only one oval.
1 2 3 4 5
Not at all Definitely yes
CHARACTERISTIC EVALUATION
This section examines the spatial characteristics of nocturnal venues.
16. Which nocturnal venue's entrance would you prefer? *
Mark only one oval.
17. Which nocturnal venue's entrance would you prefer? *
Mark only one oval.
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18. Which nocturnal venue's dance floor would you prefer? *
Mark only one oval.
19. Which nocturnal venue's dance floor would you prefer? *
Mark only one oval.
20. Which nocturnal venue's dance floor would you prefer? *
Mark only one oval.
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21. Which nocturnal venue's concert area would you prefer? *
Mark only one oval.
22. Which nocturnal venue's concert area would you prefer? *
Mark only one oval.
23. Which nocturnal venue's bar would you prefer? *
Mark only one oval.
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24. Which nocturnal venue's entrance reminds you of the concept of excitement? *
Mark only one oval.
25. Which nocturnal venue's entrance reminds you of the concept of obscurity? *
Mark only one oval.
26. Which nocturnal venue's dance floor reminds you of the concept of spaciousness? *
Mark only one oval.
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27. Which nocturnal venue's dance floor reminds you of the concept of joy? *
Mark only one oval.
28. Which nocturnal venue's dance floor reminds you of the concept of engaged/focused? *
Mark only one oval.
29. Which nocturnal venue's concert area reminds you of the concept of escape/lost/immersed? *
Mark only one oval.
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30. Which nocturnal venue's concert area reminds you of the concept of dynamic? *
Mark only one oval.
31. Which nocturnal venue's bar reminds you of the concept of intimacy? *
Mark only one oval.
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ATMOSPHERIC EVALUATION
This section examines the preferred atmospheric properties of nocturnal venues.
32. Which place would you spend the most time in a nocturnal venue? *
Check all that apply.
1
2
3
4
5
6
Other:
33. Which atmosphere below do you prefer while having fun in terms of smoke/fogginess? *
Mark only one oval.
195
34. Which atmosphere below do you prefer while having fun in terms of lighting? *
Mark only one oval.
35. Which atmosphere below do you prefer while chatting at the party in terms of lighting? *
Mark only one oval.
196
36. Which atmosphere below do you prefer while dancing at the party in terms of colors? *
Check all that apply.
197
37. Which atmosphere below do you prefer while dancing at the party in terms of crowd? *
Mark only one oval.
38. Could you evaluate the party atmosphere you prefer according to music sound level? *
Mark only one oval.
1 2 3 4 5
Background music (50 dB) Eardrum burst music (160 dB)
39. Could you evaluate the party atmosphere you prefer according to the lightness/darkness level? *
Mark only one oval.
1 2 3 4 5
Light and bright Dark with strobe lights
40. Could you evaluate the party atmosphere you prefer according to fogginess? *
Mark only one oval.
1 2 3 4 5
Clear Visibility Dense Fog/Smoke
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41. Could you describe your preference in terms of your position with other people at a party? *
Mark only one oval.
1 2 3 4 5
Secluded/isolated Surrounded by people
PRE-PANDEMIC NIGHTLIFE
This section examines the nightlife habits before the COVID-19 pandemic
42. What kind of music do you prefer to listen while you party? *
Check all that apply.
Alternative
Blues
Disco
EDM
Hip Hop
House
Jazz
Latin
Rap
Rock
Pop
Trance
Other:
43. What kind of nocturnal venues did you prefer mostly to go for a party and have fun? *
Check all that apply.
Pub
Disco
Rock bar
Nightclub
Open-air spaces (like parks, beaches, etc.)
Temporary party spaces (like raves or event-based party series etc.)
Other:
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44. What kind of parties would you prefer? *
Check all that apply.
Disco party
Drag party
EDM party
Free festival
House party
Rave
Rock festival
Pop festival
Silent disco party
Teknival
Event-based party
Other:
45. How often did you go outside before the pandemic? *
Mark only one oval.
3-4 days a week or more
1-2 days a week
2 days a month
1 day a month
Less then 1 day a month
46. How many people would you go out to have fun? *
Mark only one oval.
Alone
with 1 person
with 2-3 people
with 4 or more people
200
47. Would you attend or host house parties before the Covid-19 pandemic? *
Mark only one oval.
Yes, frequently
Yes, sometimes
Yes, once
No
48. If you said yes to the question above, could you describe the spatial atmospher of the party setup in the house? (lighting choice, furniture setup, sound system etc.)
2. CHAPTER
This chapter examines the increasing online parties and household habits during the pandemic. The second chapter is only for respondents who have attended online parties.
49. Have you attended at least one online party during the pandemic? *
Mark only one oval.
I have attended at least one online party during the pandemic.
Skip to the question 50.
I have not attended any online parties.
You may finish the survey.
NIGHTLIFE IN THE PERIOD OF THE PANDEMIC
This section examines the nightlife habits of the new normal as a result of social distancing due to COVID-19.
50. Which online parties do you prefer to join? Please, indicate the names of the parties and the type of them.
201
51. How many online party did you attend?
Mark only one oval.
1
2-4
5-9
10 or more
52. Which of the following are your intentions of participating online parties?
Check all that apply.
Having fun
Discovering new music Dancing
Socializing
Meeting new people
Flirting
Sharing ideas
Other:
53. Which place do you use while partying in your home?
Check all that apply.
Living room
Bedroom
Kitchen
Hall
Basement
Attic
Study room/Recreation room
Balcony
Other:
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54. Could you describe atmospherical changes that you prepare for partying at your home? (lighting choice, furniture setup, sound system etc.)
55. Do you feel any absence about your party atmosphere? Do you need any other spatial changes?
56. How effective is the party atmosphere of yours at the online party for your mood?
Mark only one oval.
1 2 3 4 5
Noneffective Very effective
57. How effective is the party atmosphere of others at the online party for your mood?
Mark only one oval.
1 2 3 4 5
Noneffective Very effective
203
58. Do you feel included in the atmospheres of other participants or just in the atmosphere of your own space while partying?
Mark only one oval.
Of other participants
Of mine
Both
None
Other:
59. How do you evaluate your personal space at online parties in terms of privacy?
Mark only one oval.
1 2 3 4 5
Public Private
60. Do you feel comfortable showing your personal space?
Mark only one oval.
1 2 3 4 5
Not at all Perfectly
61. If you do house parties before pandemic, how would you compare them with online ones?
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APPENDIX C
205
206
207
208
APPENDIX D
Interview Questions:
1. Could you share a photo or draw a sketch of the area you used for the online party?
2. How was the image transmission mechanism that connected you to the party in your party area, where was the location of your camera?
3. Did you use extra lighting in your interior during the online party, and if so, where did you position them?
4. What kind of sound system did you use as a sound system, was the volume sufficient for you?
5. What are the other obvious spatial changes? If there are other elements related to the place and atmosphere apart from costume, make-up and accessories, could you describe them?
6. Were there any spatial elements that you found missing, and if so, what are they?
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CURRICULUM VITAE
Name Surname : Meriç Musaoğlu
EDUCATION :
• B.Sc. : 2017, Istanbul Technical University, Architecture Faculty, Interior Architecture
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE AND REWARDS:
• Since November 2019, she has been working as a research assistant at Istanbul Medipol University, Faculty of Fine Arts, Design and Architecture, Department of Interior Architecture and Environmental Design.
• Between 2017-2019, she worked as an interior architect at Berna Bora Design Studio.
• In 2015, she received an honorable mention in the Flamingo Deluxe Ball and Event Spaces Architecture and Interior Student Design Competition.