Famous French architect Jean Nouvel continues to argue against generalist architecture. Nouvel has presented in October 2009 one of his latest works, the Pavilion B at Genoa's Salone Nautico. With an impressive lesson on aesthetics, Nouvel, who holds the Pritzker Prize 2008, has accounted for the basics of his accomplishment: he aimed to insert the edifice within the urban and social backdrop of the city of Genoa.
To be sure, from the vantage point of the water, the edifice is in harmony with the sea and the boats that are moored. A comparable thought can be felt by contemplating other of Nouvel's works like the Muse Quai Branly in Paris, the Akbar Tower in Barcelona and the development of Colle Val d'Elsa in Tuscany. Nouvel declares himself resistant to the "carbon copy cities" in an interview by Renata Fontanelli published in La Repubblica, Italy, on October 12th 2009, and of which are some scraps roughly translated from Italian:
"Nowadays you cannot tell the difference from San Paolo in Brazil from Dubai or Shanghai from Milan because it is as if the project designers do not seem to take into account the uniqueness of each urban agglomeration . Architects do not seem to look at the light, the wind, the water, the history and the culture that make every city, be it small or large, unique. [...] Today," concludes Nouvel, "modern architecture lies in the relation with its context."
This vision is in accord to the modern traveler's growing attention to boutique hotels. Indeed, in the past 20 years the market of boutique hotels has experienced a remarkable boom and this is arguably due to the fact that people are looking more and more for a hotel that can give them a pinch of the city's essence, rather than choosing a "carbon copy hotel", a "big box" like you could find in any other city.
Just like a "boutique" in French defines a small upscale shop to differentiate it from a big department store, similarly a boutique hotel distinguishes itself from a large Hotel Chain, which is identifiable with standardized features and looks. Boutique hotels tend to render the character of the location where it is set and remains a one-of-a-kind experience.
In a world that is becoming more and more standardized, where merchandise, shops, restaurants, indeed society broadly speaking is developing into a homogenized body, boutique hotels are a guiding light for variety and originality.
Author Resource:
David Maranzana has founded Epoque Hotels and Avantgarde Hotels , a showcase of boutique hotels in the major destinations worldwide.
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