Geneva · A story in three lives
SIP,
since 1862.
From Geneva precision
to Geneva nightlife.
A factory. A club. A generation.
And a story that goes on.
1862
Geneva · PlainpalaisBefore the nightlife,
there was
precision.
The story begins in 1858, with a workshop on Marc Thury’s property. In 1862, together with Auguste de la Rive, he founded the Société genevoise d’instruments de physique.
Scientific instruments, engineering and high-precision measurement: in Plainpalais, SIP developed Geneva expertise that reached beyond borders.
1921. The jig-boring machine marked a new chapter in this industrial story.
1958
Engineering · Measurement · ExpertiseA village
within the city.
+1’000
Precision mechanicsand engineers
In 1958, more than a thousand precision mechanics and engineers worked on the site. Workshops, buildings and vast production halls.
The Canton of Geneva describes a true industrial “village”. Within the city, an entire world revolved around precision.
The machines
stopped.
SIP didn’t.
1994
A place begins a new lifeFrom factory
to culture.
Industry gradually left Plainpalais. The buildings remained. And began a new life.
In 1994, MAMCO opened in building D of the former SIP complex. Alongside the Centre d’art contemporain and other organisations, the factory became a place for creativity.
This archive shows the industrial site before its cultural transformation, not MAMCO at its opening.
Then nightlife
arrived.
2000
The factory finds a new rhythmLa SIP.
At the turn of the 2000s, rue des Vieux-Grenadiers became a nightlife destination too.
In the former industrial complex, La SIP broke with the traditional nightclub model. Le Temps described it as an “anti-nightclub”.
Anti-
nightclub.
800–1’000
people per opening night, after around a year of operation, according to Le Temps.
The event
People didn’t come
just for a night out.
They came to see
who was there.
Geneva.
But not only.
An adult, urban and international crowd. People who work, travel, dine in the city and still want to dance.
In its 2010 investigation into expats’ nightlife habits, Le Temps noted SIP’s role in international Geneva and the demand for welcoming venues among people aged 30 and over.
Locals and internationals, in one place. Simply Geneva.
2000 → 2013 · A generation grew up here.
Before it was even
a concept,
it was already the crowd.
“People my age will no longer have anywhere to dance without feeling old.”
A 38-year-old regular, quoted by Tribune de Genève when La SIP closed in March 2013.
30 March 2013
30.03.
2013
Last dance.
After thirteen years, La SIP switched off the sound for good. Regulars came to dance one last time in the former premises of the Société genevoise d’instruments de physique.
The club closes.
The name stays.
We grew up.
So did SIP.
03 / SIP today
Today,
SIP is no longer an address.
It’s a rendezvous.
+30Among us.
Not a recreation of the 2000s club. A night that captures its spirit and brings it into a new era.
At 30, 35, 40 or 45, Friday is still Friday. Music, new connections, friends, cocktails. Dancing.
Not a student night. Not a stuffy night.
A grown-up night without playing it safe.
Geneva, always.
A factory.
A club.
A generation.
A story
that goes on.
30+. Among us.
View the next SIP nightMilestones & provenance
Sources & archives
01 République et Canton de Genève
Office du patrimoine et des sites · Industrial heritage inventory · Former Société genevoise d’instruments de physique site, Plainpalais. Origins, jig-boring machine, architecture and workforce in 1958.
02 MAMCO Genève
“From industrial wasteland to the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art”. Site transformation, building D and the 1994 opening.
03 Le Temps · Geneva nightlife
« Ronde noctambule à Genève » ↗ : the “anti-nightclub” and attendance after around a year of operation.
« Comment les expatriés trompent leur ennui dans la Cité de Calvin » ↗, 3 December 2010: international audiences and meeting places for people aged 30 and over.
04 Tribune de Genève · March 2013
“The party is over for one of the city’s leading nightclubs”, 26 February 2013. “La SIP switched off the sound for good on Saturday night”, 31 March 2013. The 30 March closure, thirteen years of operation and a regular’s testimony.
05 Photographs & credits
The four photographs on this page were supplied by the SIP team. Captions reflect the available information. Exact dates, photographers, sources and reproduction rights remain to be documented; no image is presented as copyright-free.
No current photograph is used to illustrate the 2000–2013 club. Photo archives from that period may be added when available with their credits.
06 SIP · Today’s rendezvous
Official SIP website ↗ · Today’s concept: the rendezvous for people aged 30 and over in Geneva.