There are days that end but leave you with a lot of food for thought.
In Milan, at the Melia Hotel on May 8, more professionals in design and Hôtellerie gathered to exchange ideas and perspectives on how design will affect an ever-expanding market by presenting different, innovative stay solutions for a tourism that is changing face.
The Hospitality Design Conference organized by Teamwork and its indefatigable Ceo, Mauro Santinato, was indeed a stimulating meeting that conveyed all the vitality of this sector, which is about to face a future of challenges and instances that are not easy to achieve but fascinating.
But what emerged during this debate between top national and international players?
The concept of luxury is going through a phase of transformation, which goes hand in hand with changing production processes and new, more conscious needs on the part of travelers.
People do not visit new places just for the pleasure of moving around and enriching their geographical baggage, but to have experiences, which transform and improve them in facilities matching this desire, more functional, authentic, satisfying an aesthetic taste but even more so to provide services up to the mark.
‘A discreet luxury,’ as Nicola Delvecchio, passionate consultant and Teamwork trainer, has called it. A change in our concept of ‘living’, more focused on essentiality and substance.
Luxury, as we know, has different forms: a more accessible luxury and an absolutely exclusive one. The latter undoubtedly requires privacy, excellence, originality and uniqueness with a formula, which will be increasingly appreciated, that of membership, elitist by nature.
But even this model is not immune to the new standards imposed by a stricter legislation, which can regulate the impact of a business operation, albeit a high-end one.
Design can thus become a ‘consistent and persistent’ driver to ‘re-design’ a new, more ethical, more conscious future.
Sustainability
Often during the Conference the word SUSTAINABILITY was uttered as an ideal to aspire to, as a synonym of virtue to strive for, and as a quality. Talking to some of the speakers, the difficulty of creating a completely ecological production chain emerged for several factors, which concern the total amount of raw materials to be used, the state of innovation, which, although in place, does not yet concern all the companies involved, and sometimes even blindness to the consequences of abuse on our territories.
However, something is changing, because the new generation is very interested in environmental ecology and also chooses according to the standards it imposes. In common with the older generations they have one strong desire: being able to express themselves to the fullest by realizing their uniqueness and for a long time during the course of their lives. It is no coincidence that there is an increasing demand for vacations to take care of one’s body and mind through a slower lifestyle, detox, sports, healthy eating – preferably plant based – and direct contact with nature and local culture, to cultivate a sense of community.
These needs were echoed several times during the Conference and are the essential cues on which designers, architects, engineers and creatives rely to create concepts able to make the Guest feel unique, at ease, giving a SENSE to his or her stay whether it is for leisure or work or both (lisness, the new trend based more on pleasure during a business trip).
Increasingly appreciated are flexible spaces, where people can find themselves less connected and more ‘in presence’.
Solutions
It is impossible to mention all the solutions shown, but as promoters of Sustainable Luxury Experiences, which we call The Luxury od Simplicity, I was struck by a few figures in particular.
Corinna Kretschmar-Joehnk, founder, with her husband and partner Peter Joehnk, of the interior architecture firm Hamburg-based JOI-Design, focused on building ‘living spaces’ in which the keywords are ‘mindfulness and health.’ Their intention is clear:
‘sustainable concepts are the key to success for future projects: this can be expressed by use of natural, authentic, and relevant materials with longer lasting lifespans – as well as through recycling and upcycling.”
A major part of JOI studio projects is precisely the design of highly innovative spaces suited to our times.
The presentation by Alessia Genova, the recent owner of studio Tihany – founded in 1978 by Adam D. Tihany – and creator of some of the most significant luxury hotels and starred restaurants around the world, imposing with innovative design even in the luxury cruise industry, was really impressive.
Tihany Design is a multidisciplinary atelier with a focus in luxury hospitality design.
Exceeding expectations and capturing attention through memorable experiences are the two relevant aspects for her young CEO, and this is possible if there is a strong idea and a content preceding the design and perceivable through the customized details (materials and colors).
Multidisciplinary expertise is the hallmark of SOM Skidmore, Owings & Merril, a zero-emissions international studio setting rigorous standards for architecture and construction in order to impact the least possible on the environment.
Of great interest the speech by Francesca Portesine, Associate – Global Hospitality Lead at SOM, who – in addition to outlining sustainability targets – illustrated through some concrete examples of how attention to the environment can also be ‘hedonistic’, playful and fun.
As in the case of two properties conceived by the BIG, Bjarke Ingels Group: the first, a luxury resort, El Cosmico, wanted by the visionary hotelier Liz Lambert and to be built in Marfa, Texas, entirely 3D printed thanks to the ICON company. The second, already existent, Biosphere – The Tree Hotel, a highly original construction created to facilitate the conservation of local birdlife and to experience a complete immersion in nature.
A further original construction, making nature the protagonist, and referred to as ‘the house on the horizon,’ is Pater Noster. Presented by Erik Nissen Johansen, founder and creative director of Gothenburg-based Stylt Trampoli AB, an award-winning, unconventional Swedish studio with a ‘wild’ inclination, where creativity and innovation come together.
Pater Noster stands on the remote Swedish island Hamneskär, once home to lighthouse keepers. A house transformed into a nine-room hotel for nature-loving travelers in search of unique sensations. A design, which engages, and is primarily based on in-depth knowledge of the history of the territory and its residents to bring them to the wide public by telling STORIES.
The motto is: find your story in one picture.
The picture that made this place famous.
I end this journey into the ‘design of the future’ with the Helsinki-based studio Puisto. I had the pleasure of meeting personally with Sam Erik Ruttmann, Puisto’s Director of Global Hospitality Development, to which we dedicated a space on our IG channel about their latest project, the Solea Valley Healing Resort. This paradise of wellness will be built on the island of Cyprus according to the principles of sustainability considering the entire life cycle of the Resort.
Local or recycled materials, advanced technologies, modular architecture, renewable energy, and correct positioning are the key conditions for the Finnish studio’s careful design, which aims to be efficient, flexible, and durable. Their lines are essential, comfortable and truly personal.
The time is ripe and moments of confrontation, such as the one experienced, are useful and stimulating to learn solutions and practices that can make us reflect on a responsive alternative for the ‘new travellers’ in a more respectful perspective of all the beauties of our planet, which have to be urgently ‘restored’ and preserved.
Design can have a surprising influence in this mission.
Anna Caccia – Founder Vegan Suite
