Off-Module Parties

Robert Johnson

Few clubs sustain international relevance while claiming autonomy over trends. Since opening in 1999 — as a cooperation with Offenbach's University of Art and Design, whose ties continue to reverberate — Robert Johnson has grown from a crucial spot for electronic music into one of the most respected venues in contemporary club culture. For 27 years it has shaped generations of producers, DJs and club visitors, evolving for some from a locality into an ideology.

Situated above a rowing club, facing the industrial port on the river Main, its terrace offers views that feed a very particular club romanticism. Countless stories have been told about the infamous wooden floor, where world-renowned DJs play intimately close on an exceptional sound system. The programme reaches beyond the electronic mainstream, guided by a distinct awareness for the balanced use of light, vision and restraint — a lean aesthetic that extends to Neu!, the second dancefloor below the main room. The 2012 publication "Come on in My Kitchen" exposed what lies beneath it all: the spirit of collaboration.