Led by Parisian architect Stephane Malka, Malka architecture is an architectural firm famous for its interior projects, art installations, and stage design which reflect their cultural background and recently undertook the renovation of interiors of the le paname comedy club. The club, located in Paris is one of the most popular clubs in Paris with its unusual concept of merging shows, stand-up comedy with a restaurant service under the same roof. With many comedy clubs originating in the urban neighborhood, venues with brick walls as part of their interior décor are commonplace.
For this project, completed in September 2020, the architectural team of Malka, wanted to keep with the theme of ‘the brick wall’ to preserve the cultural context and modify it by introducing an undulating and warped façade of multiple bricks with a puncture in between to display the name of the club. The design team claims that rather than being a monotonous brick wall, it is a compound structure consisting of many single brick units, an urban and progressive chaos timeline, from being aligned to a total explosion. It also physically represents the dissolution of the fourth wall, where urbanity explodes and mankind remains at the center of this vortex.
Moreover, the architects explain that the design of this project is a direct nod to the set designs seen in the Italian renaissance. Thanks to the inclusion of mirrors and directed lighting, a sequence of dynamic reflections are created, allowing for multiple perspectives with endless views. Malka architecture further says, “original and innovative, this contemporary theatre typology breaks the ancestral ‘fourth wall’, an imaginary line between the actors and the audience, by addressing and interacting directly with the audience while respecting new social distancing rules”.
