Hospitality Design - September 2017 - 118

outside

influences

installation

> Hive

Washington, DC

Photo by TIMOTHY SCHENCK

Why we like it: For Hive, Studio Gang thought there was a
better use for the humble wound paper tubes commonly
used as building material, turning them-2,700 to be
exact-into a temporary structure in the National Building
Museum, part of its Summer Block Party series. The
Chicago and New York-based firm transformed the
recyclable, lightweight, and renewable material into three
domed chambers made of stacked and interlocked vertical
tubes that range from several inches in height to 10 feet
and whose reflective silver exterior juxtaposes the vivid
magenta interior, a stark contrast to the 19th-century
Corinthian columns in the museum's Great Hall.
As a nod to the idea of the hive mind, each chamber-
the tallest structure stands at 60 feet-is shaped for
sound (some is reflected back while other sounds travel
through the tubes) and is suited for intimate conversations
and gatherings, as well as performances and acoustic
experimentation. The soaring work of art recalls
Saarinen's Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Brunelleschi's
Dome at the Florence Cathedral in Italy, Musgum mud
huts in Cameroon, and the wispy curves of a spider's web,
while the everyday material works to explore and engage
the senses in the simplest and purest of forms and create
an intimate space in the vast room.

>

Null Stern, The Only Star is You
Appenzellerland, Switzerland

Photo courtesy of NULL STERN

Why we like it: Guests get to literally sleep under the stars in
this hotel "room" without walls or a roof on the Göbsi Summit,
some 4,000 feet above sea level. The latest installation from
Swiss conceptual artists Frank and Patrik Riklin and hospitality
veteran Daniel Charbonnier (it has traveled throughout
Switzerland from a nuclear bunker to Teufen and most recently,
Safien Valley), the idea is a response to the shifting travelers'
desire for the intangible instead of the tangible, says Charbonnier,
and the wish to bring guests to the forefront of the creative
process while pushing the boundaries of the hospitality industry.
"The hotel is no longer the star, but the guest is. Switzerland
becomes the hotel-we provide a unique setting offering an
endless playground," while also promoting tourism in the area,
and rethinking the real estate model, he says. Guests sleep in a
double bed flanked by nightstands and lamps, while a butler-
this year a farmer and owner of the land where the suite is
located-tends to their every need, even delivering the day's
news and weather through the frame of an old TV. (There is no
running water, and bathrooms are a short walk away.) Along with
securing financing and installation logistics, the main challenge
for the trio is managing the 2,000 reservation requests-only 80
are available for the 2017 season.

118

September 2017 hospitalitydesign.com
http://www.hospitalitydesign.com
Hospitality Design - September 2017

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