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To suggest that its quarter-of-a-century presence in the rapidly expanding Pyongyang skyline merits the international mockery it has received—fatalistically nicknamed the “hotel of doom” by Western journalists, labeled an architectural sin, and deemed the biggest mystery in Pyongyang—would consign Ryugyong to the realm of compulsive political affect ranging from imaginative resentment to the very policies governing U.S.-North Korean relations since American involvement in the Korean War. — Failed Architecture
Jake Valente's piece for Failed Architecture takes a closer look at the small number of Pyongyang tourist hotels that visitors to North Korea's capital are constricted to. "When traveling to Pyongyang, one chooses between the Yanggakdo, Koryo, Sosan, Pothonggang, Haebangsan, Pyongyang... View full entry
After a seemingly perfect start to the season, with temperatures well below the freezing point, Quebec City's ice hotel was hit by one of its fiercest opponents: fire.
A small blaze broke out in one of the hotel's 45 guest rooms early Tuesday morning, forcing the evacuation of the structure, made completely out of ice, at the Village Vacances Valcartier winter park.
"When I received the phone call they had to repeat twice that there was a fire in the ice hotel," said manager Jacques Desbois.
— CBC News
The fire was quickly extinguished and nobody was injured, however hotel operations had to be halted for a few days to remove smoke damage throughout the structure and buff up the snow and ice walls. CBC News reports that this was the first fire incident in the 17-season history of the Quebec City... View full entry
The first images of MUJI Hotel Shenzhen have been released, and they show that it has been built to reflect the ethos of the brand that is best-known for its minimalist homeware products. [...]
The company says the hotels have been designed to reflect “an anti-gorgeous, anti-cheap” concept. Its goal is to offer great sleep at the right price, provide a space supporting both body and mind while away from home, and connect travellers to local people and places.
— Lonely Planet
Bedroom inside the MUJI HOTEL in Shenzhen.After experimenting with houses for (strictly) dogs and (mostly) humans, Japanese lifestyle design retailer MUJI is now also entering the hospitality sector with two new branded hotels to open in Shenzhen on January 18 and in Beijing on March... View full entry
That didn’t take long: Just about a year after celebrating the groundbreaking of the TWA Hotel, the developer behind the project, MCR, has announced that it’s topped out. The hotel will complement—and connect to—Eero Saarinen’s iconic 1962 TWA Flight Center. The whole shebang is on track to open in early 2019 as the TWA Hotel. — Curbed NY
The overall project is a bit like Alain de Botton’s Living Architecture programme of architect-designed holiday homes, except that Solo’s are all in the same 100-hectare location. It also resembles the Serpentine Galleries’ annual architecture pavilion, with the difference that these houses are permanent and habitable. — The Guardian
Just over the border from Catalonia, amid the mountainous landscape of eastern Spain, a new one-of-a-kind development is underway. Including a total of 15 houses and a hotel, each designed by a different architect, Solo Houses was initiated by a Paris-based couple, Christian Bourdais and Eva... View full entry
For nearly 30 years, the 105-story tower has been a mystery. Located in Pyongyang, North Korea, the Ryugyong Hotel was billed to be the world's tallest hotel but has yet to host a guest, making it instead, the world's largest unoccupied building. But, on Friday, the country took down some walls... View full entry
Chosen from over 65 entries, this year's finalists represent the latest in hotel design and offer a glimpse at the future of travel.The jury looks for projects that are innovative but within the realm of possibility. — CNN Style
The finalists of the hospitality design competition's 11th round are Arno Matis Architecture, EoA Group, and the already existing Play Design Hotel in Taipei, Taiwan. Honorable mentions include student winner, Brandan Siebrecht, from University of Nevada, Las Vegas and student honorable mention... View full entry
Miller Kendrick Architects, a small practice founded by Michael Kendrick and Paul Miller in 2015, have completed their build of a ‘pop-up-hotel’; a cabin that was one of eight winning designs of ‘Epic Retreats’. Named ‘Arthur’s Cave’, this small structure will be featured on Channel... View full entry
water would bubble again in Isamu Noguchi’s green marble fountain in the Ambassador Lounge, softly masking the tik-a-tik-a-tik-a-tik-a-tik chatter of a Solari di Udine split-flap display board announcing flight departures and arrivals [...]
The architects of the hotel project are Beyer Blinder Belle and Lubrano Ciavarra Architects. Beyer Blinder Belle was responsible for the sumptuous restoration of Grand Central Terminal in Midtown Manhattan.
— nytimes.com
The $265 million TWA Hotel project, slated to open in late 2018, would be connected to Saarinen's Trans World Flight Center and Terminal 5 through tubes that used to guide passengers from TWF to their aircraft. As reported by the Times, the Hotel plan has been hailed by... View full entry
Los Angeles-based developer CIM Group has agreed to buy Tribune Tower for up to $240 million, marking the end of media ownership for the historic North Michigan Avenue building and the beginning of a new chapter, likely as part of a mixed-use redevelopment. [...]
Tribune Media unveiled conceptual plans last year to redevelop the parcel, adding several buildings to maximize the space with residential, retail and hotel components.
— chicagotribune.com
The Tribune Tower sale previously in the Archinect news: Chicago Tribune Tower inches closer to hotel & residential redevelopment View full entry
A group of developers on the short list to buy Tribune Tower want to convert the Gothic Michigan Avenue landmark into condominiums, apartments and even a hotel [...]
The property also comes with something all developers love: land for new buildings. A buyer could build one or two more towers on the parking lot next door and on space created by demolishing some of the existing Tribune building that is not landmarked. [...]
— Crain's Chicago Business
In other recent Chi-Town news on Archinect:Embattled Lucas Museum may move to S.F.'s Treasure IslandAerial cable cars proposed for ChicagoChicago Spire's gaping hole to be hidden behind piles of dirt View full entry
Nationwide, Airbnb lists about 173,000 units, equal to about 3.5% of the more than 5 million rooms rented out by traditional hotels — not enough to pose a serious threat to the hospitality industry, according to a study by CBRE's hotel research arm. [...]
The study goes on to say that Airbnb properties have started to pressure hotels to keep rates low in a handful of cities where home-sharing units are plentiful, including Los Angeles, San Francisco and [New York].
— latimes.com
More from the short-term rental market:Airbnb intentionally misconstrued data to "garner good press", according to new reportAirbnb draws ire with passive-aggressive adsIkea and Airbnb: a match made in globalized heaven?Airbnb to collect taxes in ParisAirbnb rentals cut deep into San Francisco... View full entry
Deborah Berke’s appointment last year as the first female dean of the Yale School of Architecture might have brought her into the limelight, but the architect and interior designer had already been getting attention for her work on 21c Museum Hotels, a small chain of boutique properties doubling as art galleries. [...]
In old buildings, you’re taking what you find and complementing that with the architecture and design of today.
— nytimes.com
More Deborah Berke stories in the Archinect news:Deborah Berke named Dean of Yale School of Architecture, will succeed Robert A.M. Stern in 2016Deborah Berke's design for new Cummins distribution HQ is unveiledIt's Deborah Berke for downtown Naptown!New York Architect Deborah Berke Selected for... View full entry
Dubai’s iconic sail-shaped hotel, the Burj Al Arab Jumeirah, is about to undergo a dramatic expansion of its footprint with the addition of a huge deck extending out over the waters of the Gulf.
In what’s being called a “world first” in marine design and engineering, the so-called North Deck has been manufactured at a shipyard in Finland and is now undergoing an 8,000-nautical-mile journey by ship, in six sections.
— globalconstructionreview.com
Related news stories on Archinect:Archinect speaks to designer of controversial Dubai Frame projectAfter massive Dubai skyscraper blaze, experts concerned about towers built before 2012 with 'highly flammable exterior cladding'Unchecked climate change will make the Gulf uninhabitable, claims new... View full entry
For those former guests and architectural buffs who lamented the demolition of the iconic Hotel Okura Tokyo, they can soon preserve a piece of it in their homes.
Hotel officials plan to sell on the Internet some of the furniture and fixtures used in the guest rooms and restaurants during the main building's 53-year history, with the proceeds going to charity. [...]
The 11-story main building, which opened in May 1962 [...], was called “a masterpiece of Japan’s modernism architecture.”
— ajw.asahi.com
Previously:It's lights out at the old Okura: reconstruction of the iconic Tokyo hotel starts next weekAs the Okura says sayonara, Tokyo doesn't seem to care muchFarewell to the Old Okura View full entry
