Tag: Starck

Two great hotels that reflect two things I am a fan of

Anyone who knows me and my blog will know I have always been a fan of Philippe Starck. I am especially a fan of his hotels. So of course I was delighted to hear about this new place he is working on, the Maison Heler hotel (shown above) in Metz in the north of France. It’s fantastic and fantastical, as many of his hotels are / were.  It’s worthwhile to read this here and check out the lots more great photos.

While I am a fan of Starck, I aslo a fan of the city of Charleston. Which leads me to point out another great hotel, The Nickel, that has just opened up in that city.

Just as the Maison Heler is a reflection of Starck, the Nickel hotel is a reflection of Charleston. Other than that, they are both very different hotels. To see what I mean, check out this piece here. That piece too is filed with details on the hotel, not to mention great photos.

If you liked those two hotels, I recommend you head over to the website Design-Milk for many more great hotel stories.

P.S. For even more on hotels, specifically hotels next to railways, read this.

Three fantastic chairs

I love each of these chairs: one all metal, one all wood, and one a composite of both. All very stylish and elegant.

First up, is the PolarisGo Limited-Edition Chair:

Next up is this plywood chair from Nathan Martell Studio (same chair, but three different colours):

Finally, one from my favourite designer, Philippe Starck:

Each of them is as sculptural as it is practical.

For more on the chairs, go here, here, and here.

Philippe Starck reaches for a new design tool: A.I.


According to the site, Design-Milk, Philippe Starck is working with Kartell to use A.I. in the design of furniture:

Known as a progressive Italian brand that doesn’t shy away from experimentation and innovation, Kartell is becoming increasingly daring as their endeavors expand. At the moment, that means stepping into the world of artificial intelligence. In collaboration with Philippe Starck, they’ve released environmentally friendly furniture designs that merge human creativity with AI, bolstered by advancements in materials and manufacturing.

In case you are worried about them replacing designers, the site goes on to say:

Rather than replace the designer – a huge fear amongst creatives – artificial intelligence helps streamline the prototyping and planning phases, sticking to Starck’s vision and ensuring Kartell’s high quality and production standards are met. In this case, AI also contributes to calculating optimal material usage, a reduction in waste, and ultimately environmental sustainability.

Good to see! Speaking of good to see, you can see more of the furniture on the Design-Milk site, as well as the Kartell site.

Philippe Starck: industrial designer

While I do love Philippe Starck for his designs both personal and furniture,  I also admire his work with regards to industrial design. Take the Hydrogen refueling station he created above. Yanko Design has the details:

In the latest venture with HRS (leading European manufacturer of hydrogen stations), Starck has created one of the most striking hydrogen refueling stations you would come across. Dubbed HRS by Starck, the prototype of the refueling station is currently on show at the COP28 climate summit at Expo City Dubai. Being a part of the Green Zone hub (dedicated to decarbonization and energy transition) the creation leverages HRS’s high-capacity refueling prowess and Philippe’s innovation to make possible such a resourceful collaboration.

Amplifying the core idea of clean fuel transition, the fuelling station takes an almost invisible form, just like Hydrogen which is inherently a colorless, clean gas. The fuelling station is made out of polished reflective steel material, as Philippe envisioned it in his mind to have the essence of disappearance. From the very beginning, Starck was crystal clear about the form of the HRS by Starck hydrogen refueling station. This smart-looking device mimics the character of disappearance, dissolving from the viewers’ eyesight, only to reflect the surroundings.

Very cool. Now I underlined the word prototype because who knows if these will be rolled out. I’m hoping they will.

Here’s to better industrial design everywhere. Starting with these.

Starck + Perrier: two good things that go together well

Glad to see that Perrier has come out with a new and cool bottle done by my favorite designer, Philippe Starck. Vive la France!

Sadly this will not be in Canada. I need to find a way to get a bottle. Perrier, if you are listening… (Just kidding, this is 2023. Now if it was 2009…. :))

You can read more about it here at UnCrate and the Perrier site.

 

A quick peek on what Philippe Starck is up to

If you love the work of Philippe Starck as much as I, then I recommend you head over to Uncreate and search on his name (or click here). It turns out he’s still doing cool stuff. Not surprising.

For example, this is cool: B&B Italia x Philippe Starck Outdoor Sofa. It reminds me of the great furniture he did for hotels like the Royalton in the 80s:

And this LaCie Blade Runner Hard Drive reminded me of how at the names of his older furniture often were borrowed from Philip K. Dick novels:

Love it! I wish I could find one of those hard drives. They look awesome.

Speaking of awesome looking, check out this, the Aeklys by Starck Payment Ring:

Finally these Phillippe Starck Log Knives are very gift worthy:

Nice to see one of my favorite designers is still creative, and creative in many different ways.

The history of a great collaboration: Philippe Starck, Ian Schrager and the rise of the NYC designer hotel

It seems commonplace now, but the idea of hotels having the same cachet as a nightclub seem to me to come about in the 1980s with the rise of Ian Schrager as a hotelier. While he collaborated with others, the partnership he formed with Philippe Starck resulted in some really fantastic hotels, as can be seen in this post: The 21st Century Interior – Case studies – Philippe Starck/Ian Schrager: Designer Hotels – Blog – APID.

Nowadays many of these hotels have changed, but in the latter part of the 20th century they were opening with all the excitement of a new nightclub, which in some ways they resembled.  I remember hanging out in the lobby of The Royalton as it was just getting ready to open, talking to the staff in their Hugo Boss suits, marvelling over the designs of Starck, thinking of how the blue carpet made one feel as glamorous as anyone in the city. Later on I stayed at the Paramount and Morgan’s, each visit made Manhattan that much better.

Recently the hotels have been changing as they have been upgraded. Only The Hudson seems to have retained that earlier quality, it seems. Soon even that will transform into whatever brings in the guests. I haven’t been to The Hudson yet: I must get their before it is too late.

I am not sure if there is a history of great hotels, but if there ever is, I expect some of these places will find their place in it. Meanwhile, read the post on these hotels, and check out The Hudson in NYC while you can.

(Top photo of the Royalton, bedroom photo from the Paramount. Both linked to from the post, which has more great photos.)