Night Fever 6 Chronicles the Global Evolution of Hospitality Design

In the 1980’s, Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager transformed the hospitality landscape with hotels that were not just smaller in scale, but revolutionary in their design. While today, those same hotels might seem campy and even vulgar, they broke the rules and helped establish a new language in materials, color, and the use of space.

Night Fever 6, part of an ongoing series of books from Frame publishers, is a thoroughly compelling edit of some of the world’s most remarkable projects in hospitality design.

Since 1997, Frame has sought to showcase the very best in spatial design and architecture with a global view of how bold and thoughtful design can transform our experience with the places where we eat, shop, and work.

We spoke to the book’s authors about how they chose the projects for the lavishly illustrated volume, and why these built environments are so transformational.

BERTRAND PELLEGRIN: What was the process for determining who would be in this edition of Night Fever?

ANA MARTINS: When selecting projects for our series books we always look for creative approaches to design briefs and original problem solving. Our goal was to select 100 projects that together would provide an up-to-date and global overview of the hospitality design scene. We strove to collect as wide a variety of projects as possible while looking for novel use of materials, colors, light and space.

The book features interviews with designers, such as this one with Guto Requena, about the role of light as a “stimulator of happiness.”

When the “boutique hotel” trend began, interior design for hotels was seen more as theatrics and window dressing rather than serious design. Why did this change?

MARTINS: As the positive effects of good interior design become more and more recognized, the discipline continues to acquire the reputation it deserves as a critical element of spatial design. This is not to say that good interior design cannot be ornamental. It will always depend on the project at hand.

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” Modern hospitality design today captures the customers’ imagination and their desire for meaningful experiences. “

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What is it that defines modern hospitality design today? How does a project’s design, whether a hotel or restaurant, stay relevant even several years later?

ANGEL TRINIDAD: Modern hospitality design today captures the customers’ imagination and their desire for meaningful experiences. Sustainability is also a key factor. I also think it’s also very important to be authentic – to offer honest experiences with a meaningful story behind the design. While trends, come and go, we must reflect on what makes them good and significant, and makes them timeless.

At top, Bala Perdida, a restaurant in Madrid, Spain designed by El Equipo Creativo. Below, Nous, a concept combining a restaurant and flower shop in Guangdong, China.

In this book, we see projects which reinterpret and revitalize older buildings, transforming their sense of place and purpose.

LAUREN TEAGUE: Adapting existing spaces for new use brings many benefits, both economically and environmentally, offering the opportunity to draw on a historical narrative that defines a project’s conceptual design. This is particularly evident in projects such as Paramount House Hotel by Breathe Architecture, where they revitalized a former film studio using materiality as a story-telling device. Or Bala Perdida by El Equipo Creativo where two subterranean vaults were refurbished. In both of these cases, materiality and narrative are used as key elements to create a sense of place and reinterpret the historical contribution from the existing building – whether in terms of pre-existing materials or its former purpose.

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A beautiful palette of color, materials and texture bring tactility and soul to a project.

 

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Two spreads from the newly published Night Fever 6, published by Frame.

More and more, projects are driven by materials and thoughtful space design rather than high-concept contrivances. Instead, design firms develop bespoke furnishings and artistic installations rather than relying on off-the-shelf modern design. How is this changing the narrative of hospitality design intent?

JEANNE TAN: A beautiful palette of color, materials and texture bring tactility and soul to a project. In this sense, it is less about the theatrics of being seen and more about human warmth, which I think reflects the shifting focus of hospitality design from being about status and style to being about creating a space that genuinely cares about the guest and their needs.

At top, Itafe, a tea shop in Tiwu, China designed by Daylab. Below, Black Drop, a coffee shop in Kavala Greece designed by ark4lab.

In many cases, new hospitality design concepts have the potential to bring energy to a neighborhood that might lack character. What are some projects that accomplished that?

MARTINS: The first project that comes to mind is Gallery, a café in Dusseldorf, Germany, by Corneille Uedingslohmann Architekten. It’s not so much that the neighborhood where it is located lacks character, but the space is a breath of fresh air, very well-conceived and perfectly integrated into its location. Two other projects are Black Drop in Kavala, Greece, by ark4lab, and Itafe in Yiwu, China, by Daylab. Something these three very different designs have in common is that they blur the lines between the interior and exterior, so that these spaces become a continuation of the street and its culture, and vice-versa.

Night Fever 6 (2019, Frame Publishing). Written by Jeanne Tan, Lauren Teague, Angel Trinidad and Ana Martins. $61.98.

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