Shane Davis and Francis Harris met in 2017 and quickly decided to establish Public Records, a place that goes beyond restoration and became part of the community
Reviving the heritage of Brooklyn with Public Records
Shane Davis and Francis Harris met five years ago, when the former was a graphic designer while the latter was a musician and producer that recently moved into hospitality. Together, they decided to launch a multi-facet place where music, art, and food could find a common field of expression. A location was found inside the ASPCA headquarters for their idea.
Despite being more than a hundred years old, the main office of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals still has two statues in front of it. The first is a standing sculpture of a horse and a bas-relief over the front door that shows an angel helping abused horses. In recent years the building has been occupied by two pipe organ businesses, while on the other side the Retrofret Vintage Guitars store. It was within the former that Public Records was born.
Gowans: Historically a hub for manufacturing and shipping
Gowans is a neighborhood in the northwestern part of Brooklyn, which is also home to the building. Historically, this was a hub for manufacturing and shipping because of the canal that ran through the district. With the passage of time and the expansion of the city of New York, the district has covered itself with townhouses and repurposed warehouses. Therefore, it rapidly became the place for hipsters and artists that founded restaurants and art galleries.
All these influences were received by the founders and gathered inside Public Records. As a result, Davis and Harris have created a place that’s dedicated to the guests they host. They have maintained a collaboration with Retrofret Vintage Guitars, the store that was already there, and the connection with the original society since they just offer a vegan kitchen.
A distinctive design inside Public Records
The two owners decided they wanted to preserve the original building as much as possible while emphasizing its dual purpose. As well as the bar, the magazine corner is there as well. Through those spaces, they have created a variety of sound rooms, where DJ residents host different music nights, sometimes simultaneously. To this day, Mr. Davis and Mr. Harris didn’t stop expanding Public Record with new rooms. Recently they added Upstairs a new, more intimate lounge room space filled with the design object selected by Mr. Davis while tasting some cocktails from the beverage menu curated by Mr. Harris.
Since their mission is to elevate the work of young artists, the spaces were handed over for interior design to a group of new york-based young designers: Metaforma Architects. Thanks to the synergy between them and the owners, the results reflect their philosophy and give the visitors a creative atmosphere.
Inside Public Records, people find a democratic space where individuals with different histories, backgrounds, and energy can come together and form a new community. With the same format, they have created their sound rooms connected by the architecture. Still, in each of them, people can find different types of music, helping them start the evening in a comfort zone and then expand their tastes even for the unexpected.
Public Records: the philosophy
When founding Public Records, Mr. Davis and Mr. Harris agreed that the place must reflect an environment-friendly philosophy. Since raw materials are consumed at an alarming rate in our world, Mr. Davis decided to research materials from local businesses, focusing on discarded materials. By doing that, Public Records interiors are realized without the need to buy new furniture.
Mr. Davis firmly believes that we don’t need to produce new things since our world is already filled with materials we don’t know how to dispose of. When Public Records opened its doors to the public, it decided to introduce measurements related to plastic-free restaurants and is always paying attention to extending that to new areas.
Public Records: the magazines section
This also applied to the magazines’ section. Being a place dedicated to people, a white canvas for artists, the corner is there to inspire them. Using the same philosophy, Mr. Wolf – a staff member at Public Records – selects the editorial teams that better suit this idea. All the issues present have topics to discuss, and them being printed have a raison d’être.
Overall on a daily basis, Public Records’ mission is to amplify the voices of people, especially the younger ones, with the aim to be purposeful for the world but, as creators, to reshape our way of life to be more in line with it. Mr. Davis and Mr. Harris have proven it even through the pandemic. At the time, their restaurant and bar were closed, but they decided to use their spaces to sell a new upcycled t-shirt line they had just created. Eventually, they decided to stop it since the fashion world is the most polluting industry in the world and they didn’t want to contribute further until they didn’t find a new and more ideal fabrication.
The events’ curatorial attention
In planning their future appointments, Public Records staff has developed an interesting event calendar based on a curatorial approach. Every musician they schedule is enhanced and selected for their work, allowing even emerging artists to participate in their vision. Over the years, many artists have used public records as a stepping-stone to launch their careers.
On the whole, Public Records are a white canvas, a place where people can read and operate based on their competencies and experiences. In the end, their goal is to reshape with their community the environment we live in and be able to transform it and make it closer to the world.
Public Records
Nestled in the Gowanus neighborhood at 233 Butler Street, Brooklyn, New York, Public Records is a fluid space where music, vegan cuisine, and art merge to create a new hospitality place for people and artists. Founded by Shane Davis and Francis Harris in 2017, the place has a vegan restaurant and a bar that also features a magazine corner. Each room is designed to host different events at the same time, allowing Public Records to deliver different experiences at the same time.
