Hospitality
For its autumn issue, L’Architecture d’Aujourd’hui takes a look at one of the architectural programmes that has seen the most significant changes over the last ten years: the hotel industry. From motels and guest houses to eco-tourism gîtes, boutique hotels and resorts, there is a plethora to choose from. Leaving aside the liner ships of the hotel industry, AA has taken a look at projects – most of them refurbishments – that have turned this programme into an opportunity: working four-handed with artists and craftsmen, revitalising a local building technique, enhancing a forgotten heritage… Or how architecture, through a favourable commission, reconnects with its primary purpose: to provide accommodation.
In Greek, hospitality is called philoxenia (φιλοξενία), a combination of the words ‘friend’ (φίλος) and ‘stranger’ (ξένος). Hospitality, by definition, is addressed to a stranger whom one welcomes as a friend. When architects participate in the design of hospitality structures, whoever the guests may be, they take on the difficult task of rethinking the notion of hospitality and the very function of the city. The same goes for the less urgent task of designing tourist venues, by removing them from their purely commercial dimension. Thus welcoming a friend.
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In this issue:
NEWS
In the eye of Ron Mueck; recent completions by Vincent Parreira (AAVP), NP2F, Atelier Martel and Lina Ghotmeh; book recommendations from Associati Books; the Essential Homes prototype by Norman Foster; the Sydney Opera House arches celebrate their 50th anniversary; a look back at the history of the Montparnasse tower; materials rental under study in the ‘Reuse Notebook’…
VIEWPOINTS
ARTS AND CRAFTS — Hosts, & Crafts, Marie Godfrain
PHOTOGRAPHY – Bois Basalte, seen by Luc Boegly
CINEMA —Hitchcock’s Psycho and the American Motel, Christophe Le Gac
PORTRAIT
Xu Tiantian, Rural Architect, by Dr. Eduard Kögel
“Xu Tiantian. Don’t forget her name, as she is one of the winners of the 2023 edition of the Global Award for Sustainable Architecture, one of the most talent-spotting awards of all. Twenty years ago, Xu Tiantian became the first woman in China without a male partner to establish her own practice, Design and Architecture (DnA), in Beijing. But her merit lies elsewhere: having helped to revitalise rural infrastructures in Songyang County (Zhejiang Province) thanks to meticulous interventions based on historical craftsmanship, and having transformed abandoned quarries in the neighbouring county of Jinyun, it is now in the region of Fujian that she and her team are renovating Tulou buildings, these earthen community residences dating back to the 15th century.”
REPORT
INTRODUCTION – About Hospitality, Eric de Thoisy
SURVEY – Greening the Hotel Industry, Amélie Pouzaint
POINT OF VIEW – Part-Time Hospitaliy? Catherine Sabbah
HERITAGE – Olympic Hosting, Jean-Philippe Hugron
REALISATIONS
Atelier du Pont, Son Blanc Hôtel, Menorca, Balearic Islands
K-Studio, Dexamenes Seaside Hotel, Kourouta, Greece
Orma Architettura, A Cheda Hotel, Bonifacio, Corsica
Sou Fujimoto Architects, Shiroiya Hotel, Maebashi, Japan
TRENDS
In the news — Asko
Projects and products — AA’s selection
Innovation — Amore, by Lusso
by Lisa Agostini
