Built Environment As Theater In A Mundane World... Starckitecture
Philippe Starck doesn't claim to satisfy deep needs through design. He creates a playground for adults to escape the harsh realities of modern life. He creates vehicles of escapism, through environments designed for us to leave stressful lives behind and escape into a world that is much like a "real fantasy." His critics fail to appreciate this transformative artistry and apply standards of the ordinary "interior decorator" who is more interested in "complimentary colors" and matching fabrics and making rooms that I say aloud are as if "the decorator vomited up all their generic school training into a room."
What the critics miss is that Starck is a "Designer" of environments, while most of the industry is composed of creativity-feigning "Decorators" of interiors. The former is artistic; the latter imitates art generically.
Philippe Starck designs his built environments in the same manner a director crafts a film or play. The audience is both observer and participant in the theater as Starck develops scenarios lifting people out of the everyday and into an imaginative and dramatic — if also often surreal — world. His hotels have become timeless icons and have added a new dimension to global cityscapes. Starck's reputation in the culinary+social interior design world blossomed with his pioneering styling of Café Costes, re-imagining the Parisian café that was definitive of its era. Philippe Starck design elevates many exclusive restaurants in the world's most enchanting cities, including the Paris openings of the Mori Venice Bar and the Paradis du Fruit. His interpretation of Hollywood chic to hip sushi hangout Katsuya has established it as a favored restaurant for the star circuit. Starck's lavishness at his Beijing restaurant, Lan, inaugurated his growth into the newest and most rapidly expanding market. From Starck's relationship with former "Studio 54" nightclub owner Ian Schrager, the Royalton Hotel in New York was born, and the boutique hotel concept they created propelled the industry in a radical and lucrative direction focused on "environments" instead of simply "interiors." Through dozens of fantastical hotel environments, Starck’s humorous and dramatic design vision enhances the most important cities on the global design map. |
Starck moved on to ply his craft within the elite five star hotel sector, proclaimed by a collaboration with hospitality mogul Sam Nazarian and luxury hotel brand, SLS. Opened in 2008, the first of several Starck-SLS projects greeted the world in Beverly Hills and promptly established itself as one of the prime hotels on the West Coast. Not simply a hotel with a lounge, the SLS includes the "Bazaar," an indoor piazza in which guests experience an extraordinary collection of dining, lounge, and artistic venues, with cuisine provided by renowned chef José Andrés.
Starck's vision also greeted the reopening of Paris icon Le Royal Monceau, one of the most important luxury hotels of the Twentieth Century. Hotels showcasing interiors by Philippe Starck are often priced at a premium: the incomparable and historic Hotel Le Meurice, once favored by the artist Dali, and the romantic Palazzina G in Venice. In "starck" contrast, Mama Shelter is Starck at his most democratic, monochrome, minimalist, chic-industrial — and least expensive, even cheap. Starck has created the Mama Shelter brand as young and artistic. The Mama concept is simple and flexible: one shared hotel living area that mutates throughout the day from coffee shop to diner, to bar, to restaurant, concert venue and even club. Of course, the guest rooms are where Starck exports guests to another dimension. MOB Hotels is an extension of this democratization while more communal.
Recognized commercially... artistically... and even politically — having been Artistic Director for the French Presidency of the European Union in 2008 and Ambassador for Creativity and Innovation in 2009. Starck's work is rarely just about the work but somehow about everything — just read his quotes.
Starck's vision also greeted the reopening of Paris icon Le Royal Monceau, one of the most important luxury hotels of the Twentieth Century. Hotels showcasing interiors by Philippe Starck are often priced at a premium: the incomparable and historic Hotel Le Meurice, once favored by the artist Dali, and the romantic Palazzina G in Venice. In "starck" contrast, Mama Shelter is Starck at his most democratic, monochrome, minimalist, chic-industrial — and least expensive, even cheap. Starck has created the Mama Shelter brand as young and artistic. The Mama concept is simple and flexible: one shared hotel living area that mutates throughout the day from coffee shop to diner, to bar, to restaurant, concert venue and even club. Of course, the guest rooms are where Starck exports guests to another dimension. MOB Hotels is an extension of this democratization while more communal.
Recognized commercially... artistically... and even politically — having been Artistic Director for the French Presidency of the European Union in 2008 and Ambassador for Creativity and Innovation in 2009. Starck's work is rarely just about the work but somehow about everything — just read his quotes.