Brian MacKay-Lyons - almost here

It's just over a week until the international member of our Home of the Year jury, Canadian architect Brian MacKay-Lyons, arrives in New Zealand to give talks about his remarkable work in Auckland (on February 8) and Wellington (on February 9). Tickets are on sale at Ticketek at the link here.

Brian is a leading proponent of regionalist architecture (the project shown above is in Nova Scotia and was photographed by Greg Richardson), as well as being a sheep farmer and sea kayaker, so his talks promise to be fascinating. Architects get 10 CPD points for attending. Thanks to our Home of the Year partner Altherm Window Systems for making Brian's visit possible. We look forward to seeing you at these special events.

The Future of Hospitality Design

Sometime in the 90's I remember reading about the home that Bill Gates was having built in Washington.  The article was several pages long but the only thing I remember was how it described the guest experience.  The article said that a visitor to the home would be given a pin that tracked them as they moved throughout the house.  As they would enter a room, the house would sense their arrival and change all of the art on the walls to their favorite art and all of the music in the air to their favorite music.  Their preferences would have been provided weeks in advance on a questionnaire that they would have filled out.  They would be served their favorite foods and anything pertaining to their hobbies or interests would also be available.  I remember thinking at the time that this was sort of creepy in an Orwellian way.  Little did I realize that Gates had figured out the very essence of Hospitality, even if he was going about it in a strange kind of way.

Hospitality is defined as the relationship between guest and host; the art of being hospitable.  It is about welcoming your guests and ensuring that they are well provided for.  In recent weeks I had asked a group of close friends and colleagues "What was the best hospitality experience you ever had?"  I said that it didn't necessarily have to be a 'hotel' and that it could be a B and B, a friend's house, a relative's place, or whatever.  Surprisingly most people chose an experience that they had over the place itself.  For example, one friend said that the most enjoyable vacation they'd had was renting a little shore bungalow with some friends.  Another cited an Inn that was part of a special trip but they couldn't even remember the name of the place.  And my own wife picked a bed and breakfast that served afternoon tea with fresh baked scones. 

What this experiment confirmed to me is that people remember how they feel at a place more than they remember the place itself.  You always remember an experience that is out of the ordinary or when someone goes out of their way to make your stay more pleasurable.  Having worked in the Hospitality Design industry for a number of years you get accustomed to hearing phrases like 'brand standards' or 'signature elements.'  Some hotels even have proprietary 'scents' that are pumped in through the duct work.  Unfortunately, this uniformity tends to counteract the idea of being hospitable.  It takes the personal element out of the equation, which is essential to a good Hospitality experience.

Fortunately, a new group of young companies are out to change all that.  These companies are out to create geographically specific and lifestyle oriented destinations that don't try to please everyone.  I remember staying at the ACE hotel in Portland, Oregon and finding a record player with a crate of vinyl in my room.  I will never forget how cool that felt.  The desk looked like it came from an old army barrack and the bedspread and pillows looked like something from a camping trip.  When I went down to the restaurant, there were more locals there than hotel guests.  This was truly a unique kind of place and the food was fresh and delicious.  Definitely not hotel food.  Companies like ACE along with others such as King and Grove have tapped into a timeless element that has long been forgotten in the Hospitality industry.  They are making destinations that are all about experiencing the place and sharing it with their guests instead of drugging them with rewards points or an all you can eat breakfast buffet.  And while the new face of hospitality may be smaller more niche oriented properties, this kind of development will create more variety in the market and more choice for the consumer. 

So the next time you are looking for a cool place to stay, get off hotels.com and check out the feedback on trip advisor.  You just might find something unique that makes you feel like a human again.

Travel: Ice Cube at The Eames house

While we're on the subject of the Eames house (as in our previous post), the Eames Foundation has a short web clip of the house, with commentary from Ice Cube. It's worth a look:

Travel: The Eames House, Los Angeles

One of LA's many modernist marvels, the Eames house is remarkable not only for its architectural pedigree (the original scheme for the house was designed by Charles Eames and Eero Saarinen, but significantly adapted before construction by Charles and Ray Eames), but because it is redolent of the rich, creative and generous lives of its occupants. The Eames's moved into the house in 1949; they lived there until their deaths (Charles in 1978, Ray exactly 10 years later). Their daughter, Lucia, set in motion the process of making the house a National Historic Landmark.

These days, reservations are required for a visit, but the process is relatively easy (you can opt for a self-guided exterior tour, or pay more for a guided tour of the interior). 

We were staying in Santa Monica, which meant we could walk to the house in about half an hour - a rare luxury in LA, especially as the walk was mostly along Santa Monica beach. The house is set in a grove of eucalyptus trees in Pacific Palisades, although rather than being located in the centre of the property, the Eames pushed it to the edge of the grove to maximise their enjoyment of the open space. There are views of the ocean from the edge of the property. This image shows the entrance to the house, with its Mondrian-inspired colour panels.

Although we had opted for the exterior tour, the glassiness of the house means it is still easy to see inside. At the moment, the contents of the Eames's living room have been temporarily relocated to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art as part of the LA-side Pacifc Standard Time exhibition. The living room of the house is now set up just as it was when the Eames moved in around Christmas 1949, with colourfully decorated tools suspended from the ceiling by string. An exhibition of photographs in the grove shows the development of the living room's eclectic decor. This photo shows a view back to the house from the lawn.

Outside the living room is a beautiful, Japanese-inspired courtyard.

Belowis another view of the entrance. These are my images, but you can find a greater variety of superior shots, as well as information on how to visit, at the Eames Foundation's site at the link here. It's well worth visiting if you're going to LA, and much easier to do so than you'd expect. While you're there, it's also worth checking out other parts of the Pacific Standard Time exhibition, which involves cultural institutions all over the city. We saw a terrific show downtown at the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA which I'll write more about in a later post.  

Travel: Chichu Art Museum, Naoshima, Japan

Over the break we enjoyed a fleeting visit to the Benesse art site on Naoshima Island in Japan. Having stayed in Takamatsu, we caught a 50 minute ferry to Naoshima, and on arrival rented bikes for getting around the island. Naoshima is home to a number of museums, galleries and outdoor artworks, though the Chichu art museum designed by architect Tadao Ando was a personal highlight. Constructed in 2004, the reinforced concrete museum permanently houses works by Claude Monet, James Turrell and Walter de Maria. Submerged in the hillside, it does not compete with the natural landscape, lying flush with geometric sky-lights visible from an aerial view, as shown below.



Each gallery space is individually crafted around the experience of the art piece, and lit solely with natural light. Here is the gallery housing works by Claude Monet.

The image below shows a gallery featuring the work of Walter de Maria.

In Chichu, Ando has created a work of art in itself that honours the pieces within it. Accentuated by the absence of crowds and peaceful setting, our visit left us with a deep sense of calm.