Italian Club Urbex, Silvanella – Photo of a large, round room with windows all around and a huge skylight in the middle with violet accents.
SILVANELLA, TERAMO. OPENED: 1965. CLOSED: 2008. THE SILVANELLA, IN SILVI MARINA, WAS A MEETING POINT FOR THE WHOLE OF CENTRAL ITALY. PHOTO BY SIMONE NANETTI.
Sex

Eerie Photos of Abandoned Discos

The new Italian photography book "DISCO MUTE" encapsulates the beauty and bleakness of an empty club.
Vincenzo Ligresti
Milan, IT

This article originally appeared on VICE Italy.

Taking a smoke break and exchanging unspeakable confessions with strangers you’ll never see again. Shouting into other people’s ears as you queue up for a drink. Promising to never get this drunk again, only to forget all about it by the next weekend. Ah, the good ol’ days of clubbing: experiences that were inaccessible for most of us over the last two years of the pandemic or came with a very high risk. 

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All these bittersweet feelings of nostalgia are perfectly encapsulated in the pictures from the photo book DISCO MUTE - Le Discoteche Abbandonate d'Italia (“Muted Discos: Italy’s Abandoned Clubs”), which looks back at the golden age of Italian discotheques. The book features pictures taken by different photographers united by a common passion for urban exploration – the hobby and art form of visiting abandoned structures to capture the essence of times gone by.

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The book also retells the stories of the spots that made history in the Italian club scene. Places like the Cocoricò on the Italian riviera, ranked one of the best dance venues in the world in 2015; or the Babaloo, a stunning club built on an artificial lake near the beachside town of Porto Recanati on Italy’s northeastern coast; or smaller clubs which enjoyed incredible success in the 80s and 90s, like the Tana, the Domina and the Majorca. 

Some of these clubs went down due to drugs or financial problems, others because they peaked in the heydays of Italian clubbing, before the 2010s. Now they’re all still there, lying in ruins, their walls forever ringing with these echoes of euphoria.

"Do you remember what it was like when you happened to see a club in daylight?” wrote the book editors Alessandro Tesei and Davide Calloni. “The feeling is more or less the same.”

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Scroll down to see more pictures from the book:

Italian Club Urbex, Woodpecker – retro futuristic structure with floating passage ways built around five circular ponds and a dome-shaped gazebo.

WOODPECKER, MILANO MARITTIMA. OPENED: 1968. CLOSED: MID-SEVENTIES. ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR AND EXPENSIVE CLUBS IN THE AREA, THE WOODPECKER HAS BEEN REDISCOVERED BY A LOCAL ASSOCIATION THAT HAS ORGANISED SOME MUSICAL EVENTS THERE. THE MUNICIPALITY HAS LAUNCHED A TENDER FOR ITS REDEVELOPMENT, WON BY A LOCAL FAMILY IN 2018. THE GOAL IS TO BUILD A MULTIFUNCTIONAL SPACE. IT WAS EXPECTED TO REOPEN IN 2021, BUT WORKS ARE STILL ONGOING. PHOTO: ELSA MANCINI

Italian Club Urbex, Woodpecker – A suspended bridge with skylights on top. The walls are painted in very bright lilac and red tones.

ULTIMA IMPERO, TURIN. OPENED: DECEMBER 1992. CLOSED: 2010. AFTER THREE YEARS OF CONSTRUCTION, THE CLUB WAS INAUGURATED WITH A DJ SET OF FAMOUS ITALIAN ARTISTS OF THE TIME, INCLUDING PIETRO VILLA, CLAUDIO COCCOLUTO, CLAUDIO DIVA, STEFANO SECCHI AND MANUEL BAGNOLI. PHOTO: ELSA MANCINI

Italian Club Urbex, Woodpecker – The walls of the club are painted with images of natural landscapes. The space is filled by red chairs and there's a large and elaborate golden object lying in pieces in the middle.

POGGIO DIANA, PARMA. OPENED: THE 60s. CLOSED: 2009. THIS DISCO CLUB FEATURED TWO DANCE HALLS, A GARDEN, TENNIS COURTS, A GOLF COURSE, A SWIMMING POOL AND A TERRACE. IT HOSTED AN EDITION OF MISS ITALY. IT HAS NOW BECOME A PLACE OF SHELTER FOR THE HOMELESS. PHOTO: ELSA MANCINI

Italian Club Urbex, Woodpecker – large mirrored space with cables falling from the ceiling and two red velvety chairs.

METROPOLIS, LUCCA. OPENED: EARLY 80s. CLOSED: EARLY 90s. THE BUILDING WAS SOLD IN 2021 AFTER FIFTEEN AUCTION ATTEMPTS. PHOTO: ELSA MANCINI.

Italian Club Urbex, Woodpecker – retro futuristic space made of grey concrete and tiles with two large geometric panels.

ADELAYDE, FERRARA. OPENED: LATE 60s. CLOSED: 2017. A SYMBOL FOR PAST GENERATIONS THAT MARKED THE HISTORY OF THE ENTIRE CITY. AFTER SEVERAL UNSUCCESSFUL AUCTIONS, THE BUILDING WAS SOLD IN 2000. PHOTO: SIMONE NANETTI

Italian Club Urbex, Woodpecker – the entrance a very run-run down wooden structure, with plants growing on the left side and graffiti on the walls.

MAJORCA, LODI. OPENED: THE 60S. CLOSED: 2005. THIS PLACE HOSTED CONCERTS BY ITALIAN POP ICONS LIKE PATTY PRAVO, LUCIO DALLA, AND RICCARDO COCCIANTE. MANY PEOPLE HAVE TAKEN AN INTEREST IN THE BUILDING FOR VARIOUS PROJECTS, BUT IT IS STILL IN A STATE OF DECAY. PHOTO: ELSA MANCINI

Italian Club Urbex, Woodpecker – a very grand balcony surrounded by columns with a giant hanging candle holder in the middle.

MICHELANGELO DA VINCI, ROVIGO. OPENED: SUMMER OF 2000. CLOSED: 2014. THIS FORMER CLUB AND RESTAURANT WAS ALSO NICKNAMED “THE PLANES”: ITS PECULIARITY LIES IN THE FACT THAT THE DINING ROOM AND KITCHEN ARE LOCATED INSIDE TWO AEROPLANES, A DOUGLAS DC-6 AND A TUPOLEV TU-134A. PHOTO: SIMONE NANETTI

Italian Club Urbex, Woodpecker – A round space with very low ceilings, complete with seating areas arranged on different levels.

EXPO, VICENZA. OPENED: 1992. CLOSED: EARLY 2000. THIS HISTORIC CLUB FOR THE LOCAL NIGHTLIFE WAS ALMOST REOPENED AROUND THE YEAR 2000. IT NOW STILL LIES IN RUINS. PHOTO: SIMONE NANETTI

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