New Year Holiday and the lockdown period are both about to end, and writing is also a way to kickstart work for the new year. When I started working in the design field in 2006 (prior to that, I had worked for nearly 5 years as an independent Loss Adjuster for insurance companies), I focused on researching the Hotel & Resort design sector. Firstly, I always liked to travel here and there, and the time I worked at Cunningham Lindsey helped me to visit many hotels - resorts of all kinds, so I noticed many strengths and weaknesses in the design of those places. Furthermore, I realized that when designing hotels, I needed to have enough knowledge about spatial design, public service space, entertainment space, and landscape. Therefore, if I delved deeper into the research, there would certainly be many interesting things. The hotel I am writing about today is very special, PUERTA AMERICA Madrid, a project that those in the design profession know a little bit about. In fact, there is a lot of information about this hotel on the internet, but since I have personally experienced it, I want to talk about it based on my own feelings, and I also try to keep it concise because writing it all out would be very long, I hope it still provides enough useful information. Located not in the central commercial financial district of Madrid, the architectural shape of Puerta America is not particularly outstanding, although the facade design is done by a master in the design industry, but it is one of the places I definitely had to go to (also thanks to the encouragement and generosity of my partner - who said that if you haven't stayed in good hotels, you cannot design good hotels 👌). The reason I wanted to visit this hotel is that the Owner was able to invite 19 Architects and Interior designers, fashion designers, and famous graphic designers from all over the world to participate in this project, 04 of whom are owners of the prestigious Pritzker Prize (equivalent to the Nobel Prize in Architecture design): Norman Foster (my favourite Architect), Zaha Hadid, Jean Nouvel, and Arata Isozaki (who was just awarded in 2019). That's when you realize that the Owner of this hotel is so daring (because the design fee alone would make you faint) and also saw that it was extremely difficult to persuade each of these famous designers to participate together because each designer has a very strong ego, working together and then hearing the world praise one while criticizing the other is not a pleasant experience.
Starting with the basement level executed by Teresa Sapey, an Italian architect, who often combines many bright colours in her designs. The entire basement has become prominent, no longer a dull support space with red and orange-painted walls, ceilings, and parking signs, but rather a combination of Éluard's black poetry lines and directional signs. The basement space is thus very vibrant, contrasting with its inherent boredom.
I really like the entrance with two sliding doors that create the feeling of entering a narrow tunnel before opening up into a wide and bright reception hall. The reception area and meeting rooms on Level G, designed by architect John Pawson from the UK, have a light tone (natural light-coloured walls, ceilings, and wood panelling) and are simple with open spaces. Combining wood panels to surround the reception desk and creating a curved path into the meeting room makes this area feel like an endless extension, like part of a contemporary art museum.
This 5-star reception and meeting space is not as luxurious as other high-end hotel lobbies and is more suitable for design enthusiasts than those who enjoy glamorous check-ins. The Black Tears restaurant is managed by French fashion and interior designer Christian Liaigre, inspired by the combination of Spanish culture with wood and leather materials.
Level 1 of the hotel features Spaceship rooms, reflecting the futuristic design of spaceships, with Zaha Hadid Architects' free and open design. Spaceship rooms have two colour schemes, white and black, with steel and composite materials. I did not choose to stay in these rooms because, although the design is impressive, it lacks the cosy feeling of a living space.
Foster + Partners completed the Deluxe rooms on Level 2 with hi-tech materials such as glass and metal, as seen in their architectural designs. The use of curved glass walls with overhead and floor lighting in the hallway creates a sense of movement. By adding leather materials to wall surfaces, doors, closets, headboards, and translucent onyx for sink shelves, the designer has created a delicate and luxurious space without losing the friendly, cosy feeling for guests. As someone who loves Norman Foster, I decided to choose one of the rooms on this floor and did not regret it 😃. The only point is that if it were me, I might use a slightly darker floor colour to make the wooden furniture stand out more (to be continued...)
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