IF THERE IS ONE BAR THAT SET OFF THE DESIGN REVOLUTION OF POST-MODERN BARCELONA NIGHTLIFE, IT WAS NICK HAVANNA. THE PENDULUM SWINGING FROM A LUMINOUS DOME, WORK OF THE LIGHT MAGICIAN INGO MAURER, MARKED THE TICK-TACKING AND OSCILLATIONS IN BAR-FASHION DURING THE EIGHTIES. THE TALENT OF THE YOUNG ARCHITECT EDUARD SAMSÓ AND THE FEARLESS INITIATIVE OF THE PROMOTER JAVIER DE LAS MUELAS GAVE THIS PLACE ITS EMBLEMATIC CHARACTER.

Benchmark of an age
All the elements initially incorporated into Nick Havanna were in harmony with the moment. Thanks to the work carried out here, restrooms ceased to be the Cinderella of any nightspot and were awarded the dignity to be integrated into the scene. In Nick Havanna bars were taken to the limits of kitsch appropriately making use of cow-hide patterns; even waiters’ and waitresses’ uniforms were specially designed. Next to the pendulum, a video-screen wall tuned in perfectly to a sensitive clientele breathing a sigh of relief upon the passing of 1984, the ominous Orwellian year. At the time, anything to do with the all-seeing look of Big Brother was in style, together with peak aesthetics imposed by the impact of the movie Blade Runner. Next to cathodic decorations, the doors of the bar, with their hints of rusty iron -a feature afterwards so copied and repeated that it became trite- lent a touch of postindustrial apocalypse also inspired by certain film aesthetics. Even the adventurous name could have been replicated in an Indiana Jones-style film name. These days, Nick Havanna may seem well past its prime, but in its time it found precisely the right climate, and light, for the age. The layout at Nick Havanna is open to the logical modifications marked by time, but has endured. And in spite of the bad reputation of the uncomfortable Grup Transatlàntic stools, these have also endured, but the management has added two features to complement them. For those who prefer to stand, there is an island-shaped bar next to the dance floor; for friendly conversation and chatting there are benches and terraces.