Fashion designers don’t just make clothes anymore - from Bulgari and Armani hotels to Gucci cafés, design houses are extending their aesthetic reach. And the clever concept sees different artists and designers commissioned to fit out each room, or in the case of the Madrid hotel, entire floors. The idea is to give guests a completely different experience to the guest next door.
Iconic French designer Christian Lacroix is the latest couturier to lend his unique sense of aesthetics to the non-fashion realm. In this case, Lacroix was chosen by the French Railways to renovate the interiors of their high-speed trains. Over the next 5 years, all high-speed trains on the Atlantic route and the new route to Eastern France will be made over by Lacroix and his design team, promising to transform their drab interiors into ultra modern, stylish, boutique-hotel-like environments. It’s actually the second time Lacroix has delved into the world of interiors. He transformed the Hotel du Petit Moulin in Paris into a stunning art hotel, creating different themes for each room.
Also, Funky Italian denim label Miss Sixty is the latest to get in on the act with the recent opening of its first hotel in the northern Italian seaside town of Riccione. Much like the market for its clothes, the Miss Sixty Hotel is pitching itself to young, clubby scenesters. The hotel’s rooms were fitted out by 30 individual artists and the result feels like a trendy 70s inspired vintage boutique.
And some other artistic hotels;
The latest is Berlin’s Hotel Küenstlerheim Luise. Described as the kind of place where you can get “a good night’s rest inside a work of art”, the hotel features 50 rooms designed by well known local artists, who, it appears, have a reoccurring interest in fairy tales (think butterflies and oversized beds).
Berlin’s Propeller Island City Lodge is another offering in the art room hotel genre. Unlike many other art hotels, PICL is very reasonably priced whilst maintaining a very high room standard. The 30 rooms vary dramatically in their style. From the Forest room, where your mattress floats on a series of logs surrounded by red walls through to the Gruft room, where your two separate beds are white coffins. The variety within the hotel is what makes it so appealing. Where other hotels focus more on the work of individual artists by way of reproducing their two dimensional art, PICL’s direction is very much more based on art installations. The result is a wonderfully unique hotel, in a league of it’s own.
Taking the trend one step further is the Daddy longlegs (pictured below)art hotel in South Africa. A stay at the thirteen-room boutique hotel is like being in an interactive art exhibition. Each room has been designed by an artist, designer, musician, poet or photographer who has drawn inspiration from the local culture of Cape Town. The result is a collection of rooms that feel more like art installations than places to lay your head – though the spacious areas and comfy looking beds promise a restful stay.
Another example of contemporary art in Leipzig is Hotel Everland. When Swiss artists Sabina Lang and Daniel Baumann brain stormed to devise an art project that looked at the juxtapositioning of the public space and exclusivity they came up with this concept for design expo in 2002. Today, situated on the rooftop of the museum for contemporary art in Leipzig, this one room self contained mini hotel caters for its guests in all the usual fashion. In house cable, wi-fi, deluxe bathroom, lavish breakfasts and even a mini cooper on loan with parking. It’s portability means that when it leaves Liepzig it can land itself in Paris.
And lastly there’s an example for the children; Atomium aka Kids Sphere Hotel in Belgium. It’s the ultimate experience for kids – a night in an alternative universe at the Kids Sphere Hotel. The complex has been renovated and updated to include overnight accommodation for children – dubbed the Kid Sphere hotel - set amongst the fascinating sci-fi exhibitions and original spheres. Kids are entertained by a packed calendar of events including films and there’s a restaurant at the top of the structure boasting panoramic view of the city of Brussels.
posted by design addict
