Entertaining Domesticity Chimerically

Location
New York, NY
Client
-
Status
Preliminary Design, 1998

Critic: William MacDonald | Mercer Street Hotel, 44th Street Hotel

Yannis Kaklamanis, Architect

Three objects that can be found in a hotel were chosen as the base for developing hybrid organizations from which the two hotels would be informed. A wineglass, a bathtub, and a violin were used to generate a field of organizations, which were then used for the hotel configuration and the room aggregate. Thick/viscous regions were mapped on each object and a first generation of transformations was achieved. A second generation of organizations was produce by hybridizing objects cross–categorically. These final organizations became important in terms of their thick and thin regions. Thick regions were used for aggregating rooms while thin regions accommodated the private components of the program (back–of–house). Public areas were defined loosely in the transitions between thick and thin regions. Two hotels were developed simultaneously, one on Mercer and one on West 44th street. Both hotels were based on the same system of organization but they differed in terms of density which related to the site conditions. On the Mercer site the hotel became compacted and aggregated in narrow spaces between buildings while on the 44th site the building rose high as it splitted to create more surface area to accommodate rooms with views.

No available drawings