Curtain Call: The Perfectly Imperfect Club
Nightlife is often measured by its peaks, but the past Horst Club season found its greatest value in the unfolding experiment. These five weekenders were the culmination of stories written by the hundreds of hands that built, danced in, and cared for this space. We sought to define the 'perfect club,' only to realise that the process is the point.
Published on
10.4.26
Cover photo by Farah Lieten.
Portraits by Redouane Cherkaoui.
5-minute read
Five 24-hour weekenders and countless hours of conversation - with builders, bar staff, carers, technicians, architects, and the crowd - we conclude our third club season. What remains is a perfectly imperfect club that refuses to be finished: an ongoing rehearsal and a collective attempt at meaningful nightlife. There is no such thing as a perfect club; there is only the ongoing, vulnerable, and vivid ritual of showing up for one another. Club Stories began as a tribute to the unsung hands that dream Horst into being. This is its curtain call.
Five 24-hour weekenders and countless hours of conversation - with builders, bar staff, carers, technicians, architects, and the crowd - we conclude our third club season. What remains is a perfectly imperfect club that refuses to be finished: an ongoing rehearsal and a collective attempt at meaningful nightlife. There is no such thing as a perfect club; there is only the ongoing, vulnerable, and vivid ritual of showing up for one another. Club Stories began as a tribute to the unsung hands that dream Horst into being. This is its curtain call.
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Perfectly imperfect
After hours spent talking to those who inhabit the club, the conclusion was simple: Horst Club is a collective work in progress. Building on our previous look at how architecture and scenography set the stage, we’ve learned that the act of trying, failing, and succeeding is the true essence of the experience. It is a space in constant flux. As the crowd shifts and evolves over a 24-hour cycle, so does the club itself; shaped by the different energies, backgrounds, and stories of those on the floor. These differences inevitably create friction, but it is precisely that tension that allows a nightlife culture to thrive. It is the human element, in all its unpredictable and messy glory, that turns a club into a sanctuary.
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Home away from home
For some, like Amir, Horst Club literally became a second home. We strive for a dancefloor where everyone feels seen and safe, but we remain conscious of the delicate balance this requires. On sold-out Saturday nights, maintaining that intimacy is a constant challenge, as Tobha explained in Soft Power: Collective Caring for the Club(bers). Feedback from our community has been vital here. It pointed out clear hurdles like queue times and cloakroom pressure as areas where we need to improve. Creating a home is not a static achievement but a shared responsibility. It requires an active presence of care to ensure that even in the middle of a swarming crowd, no one navigates the night alone.
Not the end
The curtain falls, but the experiment continues. Horst Club is here to stay, and our commitment to this laboratory of the night remains unchanged. Next year, we return with another series of five 24-hour weekenders to keep building, trying, and dancing together. See y'all around?
Team Horst x
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“What’s so amazing about dance floors is bringing together all of these people that are different, but you have this one shared interest, which is that you want to be in this moment in time together.”
“When I go party, one thing that bothers me is that performance is often seen as something just to spice up the night. I always imagine what if performance is an integral part of the party.”
"Clubbing has undergone enormous commercialisation and standardisation. It’s important to stage these works in a way that rethinks or reactivates clubbing as an important cultural experience."
“It’s really nice if a club night can be different things. It can be dancing, it can be talking, it can be resistance, getting out of your comfort zone. It’s almost like a Gesamtkunstwerk”.
“The idea was to find a language throughout space or some kind of movement that can give the club a feeling of passing of time. It’s not as static as a place."
"I think one of the first things we decided to do is to come dancing here and to feel what's going on, what works very well, what could be better, what have we learned from it, but how can it also be different?"
"Party spaces can be overwhelming. I’ve often experienced being at a club and sitting on the cold concrete floor with everyone else."
"The perfect club is when you have the best people inside, a diverse dance floor where people feel represented.”
“Care is the most important expression of community: making sure everyone feels comfortable, trusted and supported among like-minded people.”
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