STEALING THE SCENE BY MARY SCOVIAK Nature-inspired design takes on a new dimension in the boldly scaled interiors of the Tierra Patagonia Hotel & Spa in Torres del Paine, Chile. COURTESY OF TIERRA PATAGONIA HOTEL & SPA, TORRES DEL PAINE, CHILE / / / By the time Chilean interior designers Alexandra Edwards and Carolina Delpiano received the commission for the five-star Tierra Patagonia Hotel & Spa, most of their creative legwork was done. Three of their homeland’s bestknown architects—Cazú Zegers, Rodrigo Ferrer and Roberto Benavente—had collaborated on a shell that looked like it rose directly from the surrounding pampas. Edwards and Delpiano knew they wanted to bring that same connection with this ruggedly beautiful environment inside, both to the 40-room hotel and its Uma Spa. The challenge was how to accomplish that in a way that was different from thousands of other resorts committed to the same goal. Their biggest hurdle became their muse. Like the hotel proper, the orientation of the spa was all about the views. The architects were committed to letting the vista of Lake Sarmiento and the entrance to Torres del Paine National Park and UNESCO Biosphere Reserve (a site recognized under UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere Programme to promote sustainable development based on local community efforts 36 HOSPITALITYSTYLE.COM / FALL 2012