Follow this tag to curate your own personalized Activity Stream and email alerts.
WOHA unveiled the latest photos of their 103,495 square-foot extension for the Crowne Plaza Changi Airport (CPCA) hotel in Singapore. The extension was completed in a mere 26 days, according to the firm; quite the accomplishment considering the constrained site at one of the world's busiest... View full entry
Fifty-two stories, four visually distinct sections, and one playful, gaping hole constitute the major components of Gensler's proposed new 300+ unit residential building for downtown Los Angeles, which would rise from the ashes of a (soon-to-be) former auto dealership on 1600 South Figueroa... View full entry
Snøhetta's "7th Room" is an addition to the previously existing Treehotel in Northern Sweden. The tree-canopy-level, snow-blanketed room features a pretty cool assortment of sleek furnishings and views, whether you're standing on the ground looking up, or lounging on the fur-lined chairs looking... View full entry
Dubbed the Hotel Attraction (according to Matamala’s recollection), Gaudí proposed a parabolic skyscraper towering over the city at 360 meters. It would have been the tallest building in the world until the completion of the Empire State Building.
The exact location for the proposed tower is unknown, but a group of architects and historians argued that it was intended for the site of the first World Trade Center towers and put it forward for the Ground Zero memorial design competition in 2003.
— The Daily Beast
More on Archinect:"Sagrada: The Mystery of Creation" showcases the collaborative efforts to finish Gaudí's towering basilicaA 1-Minute Video Shows The Completion Of Gaudí's Sagrada Família View full entry
When Amazon donated an empty South Lake Union hotel for use as a homeless shelter, it was investing in a model that Mary’s Place, the service provider, has perfected: turning vacant or transitioning buildings into temporary shelter. — Crosscut.com
According to decades of research conducted on real-life case studies, providing housing for the homeless is actually cheaper than not doing so. Thriving real estate markets also make it easier to provide permanent shelter, as noted in the article:It’s perhaps counterintuitive, but Executive... View full entry
The more period commentary on these spaces you read...the more you see the hotel's owners are falling into the very trap the interiors were engineered to escape: banality, anywhere-ness, the flimsiness of changing fashion...Are the current going to rip out the mirror and replace it with barn wood and mason jars? Just wait. Stop the unpermitted demolition. Landmark this interior and, in doing so, remind people of its undated and undateable wonder. — ny.curbed.com
Alexandra Lange writes about the Ambassador Grill & Lounge and Hotel Lobby at the United Nations Plaza Hotel (now known as ONE UN New York), which is currently planned for reconstruction and where illegal exploratory demolition has reportedly begun. The remodeling plan has sparked outcry from... View full entry
Holidaymakers may soon be able to experience life under the sea by booking a stay at a futuristic hotel on the ocean floor.
The Planet Ocean Underwater Hotel has received USA Patent and Trademark approval as the world's first underwater hotel - with Egypt, Malaysia, Hawaii and the Bahamas revealed as some of the designers' preferred locations.
Guests would be treated to a one-of-a-kind panoramic view of sea life at a staggering 28ft (8.5 metres) below the surface.
— Daily Mail
Technically the hotel is a vessel, as the Daily Mail rightly points out, since it can navigate underwater and seek shelter if there's a hurricane. So basically, think of it as a cruise ship where you can't step out for a bit of fresh air."Rates will range between $3,000 to $6,000 for two... View full entry
The company promised to “faithfully reproduce” several beloved artifacts in the lobby, including wall tapestries, paper lanterns and sliding doors, the lacquered furnishings and map of time zones...But those plans have done little to assuage the concerns of preservationists, many of whom contend that Tokyo is destroying its greatest postwar architectural assets to accommodate the 2020 Olympics and a recent surge in tourism. — The New York Times
The New York Times profiles the historic Hotel Okura Tokyo, which began reconstruction last September, much to the dismay of preservationists worldwide. The Times covers its modernist legacy and the pressures of the real estate and tourist market that Tokyo can't avoid.Previous news about the... View full entry
Over the last few years, we’ve all finally admitted that hospitals are depressing, sometimes toxic places...[But] what if the solution is to redesign the building itself?...Since the late 1980’s, hotels—not hospitals—specifically designed for sick people have been popping up throughout Scandinavia. In [some countries,] a patient’s stay is free, covered by national insurance...Accommodations at patient hotels resemble most traditional 3-star hotel properties. — Quartz
More about health-related design on Archinect:Jason Danziger heals psychosis with designHow urban designers can better address mental health in their work, according to a new think tankPreventing disease and upholding public health through architectureConstruction kicks off for Steven... View full entry
Floating fragmented pieces of reclaimed timber energize the lobby space of the charmingly named Hotel Hotel, located in the blossoming precinct of NewActon in Canberra, Australia. Designed by Australian practice March Studio, the hotel was recently named World Interior of the Year at the INSIDE... View full entry
Architects don’t invent anything; they transform reality”, Álvaro Siza Vieira, the giant of Portuguese modern architecture, has often been quoted as saying. Could it be that a need to transform reality then, or even to escape it, is at the root of a new wave of architectural projects in the Portuguese hotel industry? — ft.com
Last week Alex Calderwood, cofounder and creative force behind the Ace Hotel, was found dead. He was 47. The first Ace Hotel opened in Seattle in 1999, under Calderwood's direction... When Calderwood and his team took the company east, to New York, Calderwood brought his friends, design duo Roman & Williams, on board to design the space. Here, Robin Standefer of Roman & Williams remembers Calderwood's design legacy. — fastcodesign.com
