Boutique Design - March/April 2010 - (Page 26)

D E S I G N O L O G Y Boutique Hotels as Galleries B Y K A T I E T A N D Y ountless boutique properties feature provocative pieces of art — serpentine sculptures, Rubinesque nudes or graphic photography — making the designer’s choices a defining element in any property, evoking a certain mood and a particular clientele. But some boutique properties go above and beyond the typical artistic endeavor — housing their own galleries and featuring art as the vital reason to visit. The 21C Museum Hotel is a contemporist’s dream with an entire atrium of 21st-century creations, while the Grand Bohemian offers myriad mediums, showcasing everything from jewelry to glass works. NYLO Hotels holds submission contests, favoring large-scale photographs for the brand’s industrial aesthetic which covers almost every surface from the reception desk to the elevators. The hotels’ art collections and designs not only reflect salient slivers of the broad human experience, but also the finite culture that surrounds the properties, celebrating and chronicling the local experience. Shhh, We’re Hunting Artists : The Grand Bohemian Asheville Art is often an adoration of the unconventional and the nonconformist, honoring a private vision of a public sphere. The eclectic and eccentric Grand Bohemian in Asheville, North Carolina epitomizes this left-of-center mentality as one of 13 Kessler Collection Hotels that is utterly art-inspired, complete with an in-house, 1,000-square-foot gallery featuring paintings, glasswork, sculpture and 26 • boutique DESIGN march/april 2010 jewelry. The monthly rotation showcases more than 100 works by 20 local, regional, and internationally recognized artists with the Blue Ridge Mountains serving as a rustic foil. Designed by Deborah Golding, the vice president of Kessler’s design team, the 104room property looks like a luxurious hunting lodge, reflecting the circa-1880 Biltmore Estate, a venerable mansion adjacent to the hotel. Golding wanted to simultaneously craft a gleaming new property with admirable amenities while instilling it with a definitive romanticism, emulating bygone days with sumptuous fabrics, princely furniture and iconic accoutrements. “We are right outside the gates of this mansion and we wanted to echo that estate,” said Golding. “Everybody thinks [the hotel] is very

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Boutique Design - March/April 2010

Boutique Design - March/April 2010
Table Of Contents
Hyatt Opens First Andaz Hotel On Wall Street In NYC
Brintons Announces Second Collection With Scottish Duo
AB Concept In Hong Kong Creates The French Window, Overlooking The Harbor
Washington D.C. Celebrates Revamped Design Center
Q&A With Kit Kemp, On How She Successfully Brought Firmdale Hotels To The U.S. With The Crosby Street
Adam Tihany Delivers Las Vegas’ First Mandarin Oriental After A Collective Deep Breath, CityCenter Opens And Adam Tihany Delivers Las Vegas’ First Mandarin Oriental
Designology
World By Design
Fathom Creative Turns A Dilapidated Brake Shop Into New Multi-Use Space For Art, Business, Life And Inspiration
German Theorist And Author, Boris Groys, Discusses His Book, Art Power And The Idea Of Tourists As Architects As Part Of This Month’s Inspiration
Designer Meetups Hosts Big Wigs In Design To Share Inspiration And Discuss Trends In Informal, Open Environments
Dreambook:
Brian Orter Weighs In On The Popular Debate In The Design Community About Hand Drawings Versus Realistic Computer Renderings
EnVogue: BD Brings You Snapshots
Bath And Spa:
Calender/Advertisers Index

Boutique Design - March/April 2010