Boutique Design - December 2013 - 64

2013 gold key AwArds

judges' so cool

winner

Glass sculpture
Michael Weber

courtyard by Marriott Hong Kong
sha tin New territories
Designer Nikolas Weinstein Studios Inc.,
San Francisco
The brief Create an "enormous but elegant"
glass artwork that would unify the hotel's generous
public spaces, humanize the tall-box proportions
and erase any institutional feel in favor of a more
modern, immersive lobby.

The Takeaway Rethink the possibilities of how
materials are used. With this piece, glass acts like
fabric or origami. It's thought-provoking because it
confounds expectations of a brittle material. The
entire sculpture was collapsed or "folded-up" and
shipped flat. On site, a team of 10 unfurled and
sculpted the material over the course of a month.
The more than 58,700 individual glass tubes that
make up the sculpture were custom designed to
maximize the play of light. Their minute prismatic
lines catch and refract ambient light, creating an
opalescent surface with subtle and intermittent
spectrums of color.

boutiquedesign.com december 2013

cUsTOm harDware anD
machineD ParTs: Standard
Metal Products; fabricaTiOn
anD insTaLLaTiOn cabLe:

Carl Stahl Sava Industries

finAlist

Marquee
New York
Designer

Josh Held Design, New York
courteSy of Marquee NeW york

The magic Designed to integrate with the
architecture rather than just exist within it, the
sculpture wends its way across 200 ft. of the public
space. Arching overhead as guests enter the hotel,
the piece wraps around and weaves between the
columns. Engaging the guest on a more personal
scale, the sculpture almost walks alongside them,
guiding them up the spiral stair to the second floor
and the ballroom. The artist takes advantage of the
lobby-length balcony as an opportunity for guests
to "walk amongst the clouds," to be up and almost
inside the sculpture. This flowing river of glass also
addresses the challenge of a tall, narrow lobby by
creating an aesthetic focus that permeates the entire
room; it feels like one experience, whether upstairs
or down. It connects to the architecture by echoing
the elliptical patterns expressed throughout the
lobby. The arcs of the building's façade, curved stair,
and floors' stonework are amplified in the organic
loops of the sculpture, a contrast to the controlled
geometry of the building's design.

SourceS

why iT's a sTanDOUT This tripped-out warehouse
features chandeliers constructed from functioning
microphones. Upcycled leather belts adorn the walls.
Welded rebar layered with corrugated metal takes on
a new life as handrails that lead into the middle of the
6,000-sq.-ft. space. Music may be the draw, but visuals
are a big part of the appeal. The custom back bar installation repurposes 2,000 vintage books to look like
an equalizer. 3d hand-painted wallcoverings jazz up
the mezzanine-level Library. Another destination,
the 100-capacity Boombox, draws on the grittiness
of New York subcultures with its hand-dyed, burlapupholstered walls and mirrored graphic bar.

SourceS

The Takeaway Provocative is good. The design
team gives the colorful bathrooms an industrial riff
with welded metal vanities and mirrors. Something
even super-clubbing guests probably haven't experienced: the custom, New York-centric, scratch-and-sniff
wallpaper designed by Mike D of the Beastie Boys.

C&A Seneca Construction;
LighTing: Orion Lighting; SJ
Lighting; meTaL: All American
Steel; waLLcOVering:
Flavor Paper

aUDiO: Sound Investment;
eXTeriOr signage: The
Sign Guy; fabricaTiOn:
RND Studios; fLOOring: NJ
Tile; fUrniTUre: Dine Rite;
generaL cOnTracTOr:

http://www.boutiquedesign.com

Boutique Design - December 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Boutique Design - December 2013