Strategies and Typologies in Hotel Design
In the 1960s and 70s, hotel culture seemed to have exhausted itself. The market was dominated by faceless apartment hotels and off-the-peg chain developments. The hotel as an institution had lost the public character that had once distinguished the palace-like structures of the belle époque. Since the mid-80s, however, this trend seems to have been stopped or at least relativized. In 1984, Ian Schrager opened the Morgans in Manhattan. Its distinguished furnishings and fittings by the Parisian designer Andrée Putman set new standards. The idea of the design hotel was born. From the small, exclusive boutique hotels of the early years, the way led to Starck's 824-bed Hudson (ill. 1), which opened its doors in 2000. Schrager and Starck recognized that the public areas played a decisive role in the success of a hotel if one wished to address an urbane clientele.
