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This
week's dose features four hotels in three continents that
illustrate some trends in that building type. Click on images
for larger views.
In many large cities hotels are not only places to stay,
but also places to eat, drink, and even be seen. Q!
in Berlin, Germany features a Hadid-esque design by Graft,
where floors, walls, and ceiling of the renovation flow seamlessly
into each other, a design not only eye-catching but obviously
in tune with larger trends in architecture and interior design.
This aesthetic starts in the lobby and extends even to the
sinuous furnishings, though
it's the rooms, and their
integration of surfaces, lightings, and furnishings, where
the skills of the architects are most apparent.
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Also in Europe is the Hotel
Omm, located in the equally hip metropolis of Barcelona.
Designed by Juli
Capella and located in the city center, this design takes
on a greater urban presence than Q!, with its clever facade
of solid panels "peeling away" to create windows
and balconies giving it a varied appearance based on the direction
of the viewer's gaze. Like Q! the hotel features places to
eat and drink in luxury, though
here a rooftop terrace provides
another means of interacting with the urban context. With
a pool, a bar, well-designed trellises, and ample seating,
the rooftop is a magnet for guests as well as architecture
buffs taking in the view of Gaudi's nearby Casa Mila. |
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While these next two hotels may
feel "half a world away" from the urban, European hotels
above, they all fall under the shared trait of using architecture
and design as a means to draw people to the hotel as much
as to the greater place. Amankora
in Bhutan by Kerry
Hill Architects is a great of an exotic locale that provides
an infinite number of reasons for a visit, but without the
proper arrangements, many with the money may not make the
trek. But rather than plopping down anonymous luxury, Kerry
Hill works the contemporary and the traditional together into
a pleasing fusion that captures the quiet essences of life
in Bhutan, without making guests "rough it" during
their stay. |
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Lastly, Wrotham
Park Lodge in Australia's Outback is the most remote, the
smallest, and the most exclusive of this small sampling. Designed
by Justin
Long Architects, the ten guest quarters and "homestead"
are outfitted with just about every modern amenity, but the
architecture could be best described as minimal vernacular,
with corrugated metal roofs overhead and sliding glass walls
that allow the large verandahs to become an extension of the
guest's quarters. In this case (and in all cases, to varying
degrees), the design is about the connection between the visitor
and the context, making the traveler feel welcome and in touch
with the place, if only briefly. |
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Click
on images below for larger views.
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