Boutique Design - March/April 2011 - 30

The hotel’s New York touches include this “living wall” of green plants representing Central Park in its lobby.

Artist Chris Rubino

uests routinely play a game of “name that neighborhood” while riding the elevators at the Distrikt Hotel in New York. That’s because every time the door opens on one of the 31 guest floors, the view changes—thanks to original photo collages by artist Chris Rubino. The 8-by-4-ft. murals honor several Manhattan neighborhoods, an idea hatched by OTTE Architecture as one way to make the Midtown property stand out from a cluster of nearby competitors. The New York theme is both “engaging and experiential” for guests, says Michael Lisowski, OTTE’s co-owner. That approach began with the unusual spelling of hotel’s name—Distrikt is the Dutch word for “districts,” a nod to Manhattan’s early colonial settlers—along with wood carvings and other visual references to the althea flower, which once blossomed throughout the hotel’s neighborhood. The new-build, 155key hotel is a member of Choice Hotels International’s Ascend Collection. OTTE also installed New York touches in the hotel’s lobby, including a 14-ft.tall “living wall” of green plants arranged in the rectangular shape of Central Park and a hand-carved wooden wall installation behind the reception desk that bears patterns reflecting the city’s street grid.

G

Imogen Brown and Paul Austin (hotel images); Courtesy of OTTE Architecture (Michael Lisowski); Anna Wolf (Chris Rubino)

A wall graphic in the Distrikt’s restaurant features verticalstrip excerpts from the photo collages in the hotel’s elevator lobbies.

But it’s the photo collages that serve as the centerpiece of the hotel’s home-grown visual theme. “When we met with Chris about this project, he recognized that we wanted to capture the essence of the districts while avoiding the cliché and pastiche,” says Lisowski, who also credits his firm’s

David Lisowski, Michael Smith and Glen Fernandez for making major contributions to the project. “He spoke passionately about the city and how we could represent it in a unique manner, and we were instantly sold.” After getting the gig, Rubino went through roughly 10,000 photos that OTTE

Boutique Design | March+April 2011

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Boutique Design - March/April 2011

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Boutique Design - March/April 2011

Boutique Design - March/April 2011
From the Editor
Contents
Boutique Buzz
Off the Wall
Shanghai Surprises
Q+A: Luisa Flynn
Big Apple Slices
Betting on a Boutique
DreamBook: Creative Genius
Call for Nominations: The Boutique 18
Showroom: Bath & Spa
Showroom: Surfacing
The Last Detail: Rolling Stone Restaurant, Los Angeles
Boutique Design - March/April 2011 - Boutique Design - March/April 2011
Boutique Design - March/April 2011 - Cover2
Boutique Design - March/April 2011 - From the Editor
Boutique Design - March/April 2011 - 3
Boutique Design - March/April 2011 - Contents
Boutique Design - March/April 2011 - 5
Boutique Design - March/April 2011 - Boutique Buzz
Boutique Design - March/April 2011 - 7
Boutique Design - March/April 2011 - 8
Boutique Design - March/April 2011 - 9
Boutique Design - March/April 2011 - 10
Boutique Design - March/April 2011 - 11
Boutique Design - March/April 2011 - Off the Wall
Boutique Design - March/April 2011 - 13
Boutique Design - March/April 2011 - 14
Boutique Design - March/April 2011 - 15
Boutique Design - March/April 2011 - 16
Boutique Design - March/April 2011 - 17
Boutique Design - March/April 2011 - 18
Boutique Design - March/April 2011 - 19
Boutique Design - March/April 2011 - Shanghai Surprises
Boutique Design - March/April 2011 - 21
Boutique Design - March/April 2011 - 22
Boutique Design - March/April 2011 - 23
Boutique Design - March/April 2011 - Q+A: Luisa Flynn
Boutique Design - March/April 2011 - 25
Boutique Design - March/April 2011 - 26
Boutique Design - March/April 2011 - 27
Boutique Design - March/April 2011 - Big Apple Slices
Boutique Design - March/April 2011 - 29
Boutique Design - March/April 2011 - 30
Boutique Design - March/April 2011 - 31
Boutique Design - March/April 2011 - Betting on a Boutique
Boutique Design - March/April 2011 - 33
Boutique Design - March/April 2011 - 34
Boutique Design - March/April 2011 - 35
Boutique Design - March/April 2011 - 36
Boutique Design - March/April 2011 - 37
Boutique Design - March/April 2011 - DreamBook: Creative Genius
Boutique Design - March/April 2011 - 39
Boutique Design - March/April 2011 - 40
Boutique Design - March/April 2011 - 41
Boutique Design - March/April 2011 - Call for Nominations: The Boutique 18
Boutique Design - March/April 2011 - 43
Boutique Design - March/April 2011 - Showroom: Bath & Spa
Boutique Design - March/April 2011 - 45
Boutique Design - March/April 2011 - 46
Boutique Design - March/April 2011 - 47
Boutique Design - March/April 2011 - 48
Boutique Design - March/April 2011 - 49
Boutique Design - March/April 2011 - Showroom: Surfacing
Boutique Design - March/April 2011 - 51
Boutique Design - March/April 2011 - 52
Boutique Design - March/April 2011 - 53
Boutique Design - March/April 2011 - 54
Boutique Design - March/April 2011 - 55
Boutique Design - March/April 2011 - The Last Detail: Rolling Stone Restaurant, Los Angeles
Boutique Design - March/April 2011 - 57
Boutique Design - March/April 2011 - Cover3
Boutique Design - March/April 2011 - Cover4
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