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Philippe
Chapelet and Patrick Elouarghi have been working together for ten
years.
After opening the “Épicerie du Monde” in Paris, the first “world food
concept store”, they decided to head for the country.In the Loire
Valley, they restored the Château de la Tremblaye and within the first
year it became an affiliated member of “Châteaux & Hotels de France”.
In 2001 they embarked on a new challenge, inventing a hotel which would
create new standards, transcending the clichés and conventions typical
of luxury hotels. And they came up with the idea of HI. HI would be
urban, innovative, and daring design
hotel. They chose the city of Nice,
at the crossroads of international travel and with idyllic weather.
In 2011, they launched Hi matic design hotel Paris
Next came the search for a designer and it was not long before they were
drawn to the work of Matali Crasset. “She is different, off beat, and had come
up with ideas for non-decorative furniture, with the focus on functional
use and experimentation.” They discovered a person who was
“accessible”, who was attracted to their ambition of offering an
alternative to top-of-the-range hotel accommodation available today.
matali’s aspirations were in line with theirs. Patrick and Philippe
found the ideal spot: it was a 1930s building which had once been a
boarding house. The simple and pure lines of the façade provided an
ideal starting point for a totally contemporary project.
The plan was developed over a period of months: matali submitted
proposals; ideas bounced back and forth, stimulated and expanded in the
exchange, and developed into autonomous concepts.
Thus HI Hotel was invented |
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By
training, Matali Crasset 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 specific approach, and leaving her scope to work in fields 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 |
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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 flat
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.”
So... Hi is a design and urban hotel to live a contemporary
experience.
However, HI is also concerned about well being and with a strong
commitment to ecological values, in relation with today's engagement to
protect the planet.
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_mineral organic paint on the
hotel's façade
_organic restaurant, exclusive use of organic products for the
breakfast and the restaurant
_use of recycled paper in the administration
_graphic materials for external and internal use printed without
chlorinate chemicals with the label tcf
_packaging of the boxes and usable materials of the restaurant
made out of recycled materials
_vegetal shampoo and shower gel available in the rooms without
packaging
_refuse selection
_bicycles available in front of the hotel
_essential oils scent diffused in all communal spaces
_staff t-shirt made out in organic cotton
_partnership with fashion companies such as idéo or miséricordia
with products sold at the HI shop or used by our staff
_ecological cleaning products used in the rooms, corridors and
lift (non smoking)
_gardening products with no chemical fertilizers
_actions and communication with our clients for energy savings
purposes (linen, water etc.)
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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 floor
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. |
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HI
offers nine different concepts for 38 hotel 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 flow 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
influence. 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.
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 office. 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-fi system and television
with flat 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. |
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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
filters 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. |
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An adjoining
“laboratory” serves dishes to be combined, with an assortment of
tastes, following rules set and regularly changed by the chef of this organic restaurant.
HI Food is a self-service area, open 24 hours a day,
leaving total freedom for meals and snacks without any restrictions, all
organic food.
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 finest quality,
supremely white, fine, translucent and sturdy.
www.mpdm.com |
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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 floor, commanding a magnificent 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. |
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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 |
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Music: kompakt
www.kompakt.fm
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 |
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Every
month, HI programs a feature film.
The program can be viewed on the hotel’s in-house
channel
which includes videos, documentaries, fiction,
computergenerated
images and animated films.
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. |
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| ARTICLES PUBLISHED ON THE WEB |
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