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| STORY |
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| MATALI CRASSET |
| By training, matali is an industrial designer; she graduated
from the Ateliers-Ensci in 1991 and worked with Denis Santachiara
and later Philippe Starck. In 1998 she set up her
own business. In the 1990s matali made her name in the profession, turning her back on strictly formal design, challenging our basic habitat, extending it to produce an area for movement and experimentation. She has pondered and developed ideas on domestic rites and the role of technology. All of matali’s projects are distinctive, expressing a specic approach, and leaving her scope to work in elds as diverse as stage design, industrial design, furniture, interior decoration, graphic design, mounting exhibitions and artistic direction. HI is a total design project where matali has embraced the entire site, putting her name to everything from the graphic effects and small articles to architecture and programming. matali crasset’s work has now received international acclaim, as can be seen with her exhibition at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, after the mu.dac in Lausanne and before the Grand Hornu in Belgium. http://www.matalicrasset.com |
| CONCEPT |
| The most eloquent exponents of the concept are the people who devised it. Philippe Chapelet & Patrick Elouarghi: “HI is a city hotel; it is innovative and friendly. The approach is quite different, far removed from the style of leading metropolitan hotels. Gone are the strict rules and rigid conventions of traditional luxury hotels.” matali crasset: “There are some grand hotels which attempt to give the impression that guests are at home, while others opt for the atmosphere of the guest invited into someone else’s home. HI offers an experience – an experience of contemporary living. A hotel is the perfect place for seeing and giving different views on any and every form of contemporary culture. And it is obvious that a short-term stay away from home is a great moment for experimenting. HI takes guests on a voyage of discovery, leaving each individual free to embrace the different universes presented. It is a place for action.” Philippe & Patrick: “We reconsidered the basic idea of service. Reception, accommodation and the comfort of the facilities cannot be restricted to a one-dimensional criterion of service, but involve the individual’s sense of autonomy and freedom to explore.” matali: “Yes, everyone is a player. The concept is diametrically opposed to the idea of areas dominated by interior decoration, where each article has its place, serving a single purpose; the areas and objects in the HI environment are rational, making smart contributions, offering us services, hints and assistance, which means we are free to act, and this is a whole new ball game.” Philippe & Patrick: “You really have to be completely at ease for total enjoyment and relaxation, to feel that you are really doing yourself some good. HI is there to help induce a new frame of mind.” concept matali: “If we are not prisoners of the decor, trapped in the status associated with it, we do not have to play the usual role we play in a luxury hotel. HI is an infrastructure offering a whole host of stimuli, a range of life experiences. And what has that produced? There are, for example, nine concepts for the rooms, designed not as variations on an aesthetic theme, but based on hypotheses for different forms of spatial organization: nine ways of living in a given area.” Philippe & Patrick: “The intention was not to impose a universe, but to extend an invitation. Our ambition was to take a contemporary home and create the friendly atmosphere of a guest house, while also including the latest hightech facilities. One example in the rooms is the at screen, leaving more space, and the centralized controls on a “totem pole”. matali: “It is a place people can identify with, based on activities and modules. The site is not ruled by an introverted, centrifugal force, keeping guests inside, but has been designed to stimulate curiosity, which can be bi-directional, focusing outwards and inwards. Basically, the hotel is a platform. Indoors, the design is variable, changing as the day moves on, while also gleaning inspiration from outside forces, with partners sharing their different worlds, worlds such as music, visual arts and literature.” Philippe + Patrick: “HI is targeting international guests, both tourists and business travelers, but remains a platform interacting with the city and the contemporary forces of the living and developing cultural environment.” |
| A TOUR OF HI |
All the areas of HI, together with the furniture and nearly all the articles and accessories, and even the graphic style, have been designed by matali crasset. But matali did invite other like-minded designers and artists to make their contribution. Ron Orb, for example, designed the bathrobe, while Jérôme Olivet produced an original cake of soap. the entrance, lobby and e-shop A visitor arriving at the hotel has the impression of being carried along by a natural breathing movement, a breath of air felt between two concrete walls masquerading as loudspeakers. Moving through a “virtual” revolving door, set to rotate adagio ma non troppo, the pace naturally slows down. The receptionist is simply behind a small table-type desk, free to move around, going back and forth, extending a spontaneous and simple welcome to guests. Next to the reception area, the lobby has been arranged around “interface” armchairs, offering any number of combinations and permutations: face-to-face, side-by-side, for two, three or more. The area can be arranged and rearranged according to the situations. Certain armchairs are designed for lap-top computers. And a bookshelf/display case presents a selection of works by friends in the HI circle. The oor in the reception area and lobby is made with cement tiles, giving the impression the outside world has edged its way inside. The same tiles are used as stands for the trays presenting a range of articles, books and CDs in the e-shop. |
| ROOMS... |
| HI offers nine different concepts for 38 rooms. Each concept has its own special relationship to the space designed for both living and experimentation. The focus is not on decorative themes, but offers a broad scope with alternative approaches to the standard and strict rules usually applying to such settings. The individual room has become a basic structure, designed as a venue for mini-events and related to the concept of the setting. Comfort goes beyond simple physical comfort or visual enjoyment. Comfort here is expressed in acts, arises from the generosity and simplicity of the basic structures, presented almost as if they were a user’s guidebook, urging visitors to make the most of the present. The different areas are based on an open approach embracing spacious expanses, deliberately avoiding any specialized structures. The impression created is smooth, as movements ow from one activity to another, as experiences merge and are shared. Monospace The private room is open in style, designed in three stages where each has a color and purpose: comfort, relaxation and natural breathing. Up & Down Shelves made from interwoven chestnut tower on high, surrounding the area and forming a border between two zones: the upper zone is for services and the lower zone for relaxation. The bath zone is behind a chestnut screen, like a trellis leading to a garden. Indoor terrace All the furniture is arranged in the central area, with the furnishings forming a “stage” or indoor terrace, with all the facilities needed, for sleeping, sitting and so on. At the far end of the terrace, a plant screen provides theprivacy needed for the shower, while the toilet is in the style of a garden shed, presenting a lantern-like appearance once the lights are on. Happy Day The room focuses on the shift from day to night – a process of metamorphosis. Daytime has a sitting room with a lounge in harmonious white and sherbet green wood; by night two doors are opened, leading to a pink alcove and revealing the other half of the bed. And the reverse side of the door is equipped for total night-time comfort, with, for example, water jug and slippers. Strates Here is a room to be experienced moving from one stratum to the next, starting from the bottom and moving to the top, storing, resting, watering, livening, relaxing and dreaming. The different functions are arranged in the space, but do not follow horizontal lines, preferring a vertical approach to offer a different angle on everyday life. Digital Here is a graphic room with a clear cyber-culture inuence. The walls feature giant pixels and the furniture is computer screens, one with a light box presenting both still and moving pictures, offering many new invitations and discoveries. Technocorner The room is devoted to sound and pictures, almost a private auditorium. The large screen can be seen from either bed or bathtub and turns into a dressing screen set between the bedroom and the bathroom. Then there’s the sofablaster – a sofa with built-in speakers and head-sets, plus the armrests containing a record collection from the “F Communications” label. White & White The room is an area of immaculate white, where traditional furnishing practices and styles have been swept aside. The table turns into a bed. The four-poster bed becomes a bathtub (an exclusive design for HI, made by Aquamass) clad in white vinyl and topped with a fuchsia-colored Plexiglas “bath sky-dome”. White & White is devoted to a sense of well-being, providing fresh – white – products. Some split-level rooms have a private outdoor terrace with private spa. Rendez-vous This versatile area can be modulated and changed from bathing lounge to ofce. The guest enters to discover a spacious bathroom, complete with lava rock bathtub, opening onto a private terrace, offering a living area with a shower and adjustable seating. Fittings Each room has interfaces centrally positioned at two points: the bed-head has controls for all the lighting and for the rolling shutters. and the “totem pole”, with all the key functions: - remote controls for the hi- system and television with at LCD screen and satellite channels - air conditioning - DECT cordless phone on a direct line to the room - analog or broadband Internet access. HI has automatic bars on the different landings, for those thirsty moments when guests need spa water, champagne, fruit juice or wine. |
| HAPPY BAR |
The bar is the focal point of the hotel, built around a suspended hot air balloon-style basket, both striking and ethereal, hovering aloft, suggesting a modern alcove, and imposing order on the space as it lters the light from both the street and the atrium garden. By night, the atmosphere is festive with lighting effects. The interior of the basket is used for evenings with DJs and for video screenings included in the HI.mages programs. |
| FOOD - CANTINE BIO BY ALAIN ALEXANIAN |
| An adjoining “laboratory” serves dishes to be combined, with
an assortment of tastes, following rules set and regularly
changed by the chef. HI Food is a self-service area, open 24 hours a day, leaving total freedom for meals and snacks without any restrictions. matali crasset designed “Link”– the white porcelain dinner service made by the “Manufacture de Porcelaine de Monaco” – for HI Food. Link has discarded conventional dinner table etiquette and invented new rituals. The dinner service has four containers, with the bowl being used as a cup, the teacup as a soup bowl, and so on. Here is a dinner service which will revolutionize our eating habits and prove that whether we are eating or having a coffee, the main idea is to be together. The “Manufacture de Monaco” was founded in 1972 by Erich Rozewicz, supported by their Most Serene Highnesses Princess Grace and the Prince of Monaco. The porcelain produced is of the nest quality, supremely white, ne, translucent and sturdy. www.mpdm.com |
| A SENSE OF WELL-BEING |
The different HI relaxation areas all focus on a sense of well-being. Hammam The contemporary style bath made entirely from resin is a genuine hammam with two hot zones and two adjoining rooms, one for relaxing to music, and the other for massage. Well-being also means enjoying the quite outstanding weather in Nice, with the warmth in the atrium garden, on the private terraces and spa terraces, and up on the hotel roof solarium. Bathing on the roof The highlight – or high point – for HI is the open-air terrace on the 8th oor, commanding a magnicent view of Nice, the Mediterranean and the Alps. The swimming pool reaches up vertically, like a huge terra cotta pot set on top of the building. And here is another room to enjoy, with its own built-in furniture (e.g. bar and chairs). Different options are available for communing with the sun: on the terrace, in conversation around the tables, lounging on a deck chair or reclining on giant waterbeds providing the “beach front” setting. And the mini mobile parasols by day take on a different nocturnal identity, glowing with light. |
| RON ORB FOR HI |
To accompany us through these spaces, matali asked Ron Orb to design a bathrobe. Ron Orb, Ronald Pineau, is probably a designer before being a fashion stylist; in 1996 he launched his own collection of prêt-à-porter fashion and accessories with each garment constructed for optimal ergonomics, and as a perfect match for physical movements. The lines of the white bathrobe trimmed with purple topstitching are inspired by the style of boxing robes, clinging closely to the body. Clothing designed for the staff - trousers, shirts and teeshirts – are also an elegant combination of contemporary style and practical use. http://www.ronorb.com |
| STIMULI |
| Music: F Communications F Communications, the French label in electronic music, is the name behind the musical atmosphere at HI. The label was set up in 1986 by Eric Morand and Laurent Garnier who are behind the discovery of such artists as Llorca, Saint Germain, Frédéric Galliano, Avril, Mr Oizo, ou Alexkid. More than 120 maxi-CDs and 30 albums have been produced in ve years. Every month Fcom offers a discovery experience at HI featuring one of their artists. The rst presented is the recent Classic & Rare compilation, mixed by Jori Hulkkonen and Laurent Garnier, telling the background history of the label. Fcom also organizes sets at the Happy Bar and programs the music for both the Happy Bar and HI.radio which is broadcast on the in-house television facilities. A detailed record catalog is available in the Technocorner rooms. www.fcom.fr Microactions HI is a hotel with the focus turned towards embracing what is happening outside its own walls. It will be presenting contemporary works of art, with Francis Fichot running the initiative, featuring, for example, the idea for a screen-saver dubbed “Hairstyles” by Sonia Marquès and Robin Fercocq, Oscar Diaz’s candles, Emmanuel Bourrousse and Tim Parsons, from the “fab.” project with the Gandy Gallery in Prague, and Jérôme Olivet’s “Demonsoap”, 9/9 Review in the Digital rooms, and “HI.mages” programs. Other initiatives, conducted with students at ECAL in Lausanne and the Villa Arson in Nice, will be seen over the months to come |
| .MAGES |
| Every month, HI programs a feature lm. The program can be viewed on the hotel’s in-house channel which includes videos, documentaries, ction, computergenerated images and animated lms. Hi.Books HI.books is an original, self-service library with novels, essays, books on art, architecture and design, and magazines in French, English, German, Italian and other languages. |
| ARTICLES PUBLISHED ON THE WEB |
Zeit_Allemagne_2006 marie claire maison_france_2003 new york times_etats_unis_2005 conde nast traveller_etats unis_2003 France magazine_etats unis_2005 interior design_etats unis_2003 |