Amid the colorful walls of Wynwood, Midline Miami beckons clubgoers into the dark. The latest nightlife concept from Eric Fuller and Jeremy Waks of entertainment brand BLNK CNVS, Midline is designed by one-year-old, New York–based studio SINCLAIR COLLECTIVE to mine darkness for its storytelling potential. “In many ways the darkness was liberating,” said SINCLAIR COLLECTIVE’s codirector Craig Sinclair, who also serves as a Syracuse Architecture instructor and researcher focused on sensory ecologies, science, and technology. “The interior finishes have to work differently than they would in a well-lit hospitality space. The attention of the dance floor is directed toward the stage, so our challenge was to craft the experiences around it,” Sinclair added.
Up to 1,200 guests dance and mingle across two stories of a former industrial volume revitalized in collaboration with Moyano Productions. The Light and Space movement and artist Olafur Eliasson, who Sinclair trained under, were instrumental influences for shaping the new venue into a flow of sequences unified by an interplay of light and shadow. “Light is what renders presence in dark spaces like nightclubs. The experience is less about sculpting objects in the space or adorning the interior envelope, but about crafting mood,” Sinclair said.
Upon arrival, the front entrance frames the main bar as a magnetic focal point, where a backlit acrylic panel evokes a solid color field and establishes processional pacing. Linear LEDs further inform pace and rhythm throughout, as they stretch horizontally along ceilings and vertically upon walls. Molded fiberglass grating panels and translucent acrylic sheets also frame the light strips, inviting blurry bodies in motion to animate the club’s entrancing glow. “Actual form matters less than creating moments of experience that feel in tune with the music performed in the venue,” Sinclair added.
Enrobed in simple red epoxy, even bathrooms form an experiential backdrop for activities both ancillary and illicit while contrasting the venue’s pulsating shadows. OMA’s invigorating design of the Mixing Chamber at the Seattle Public Library was a key muse that guided the absorbing tonal shift. “There, you enter into an immersive shiny red space that feels like a different, more free world than the rest of the building. We wanted to recreate that feeling in the Midline bathrooms, as they are a sort of separate world,” Sinclair said.
Now one of the Magic City’s most versatile and in-demand nightlife destinations, Midline Miami sets a precedent in SINCLAIR COLLECTIVE’s portfolio not only as its first completed project, but as a manifestation of the studio’s exploratory ingenuity.
“Our practice is interested in how the human body senses and experiences space, and using those insights to inform spatial design. A nightclub, where music thumps and crowds pulse, is a perfect place for experiential experimentation,” said co-director Lauren Sinclair, who serves as a design manager for the Americas at Hyatt as well. “On one hand, much of Craig’s research is spent in hard science laboratories and this comes through in the light fields and the palette of industrial, robust materials. On the other hand, it is important to us both that our work is fun and Midline is objectively an amazing time.”
