Elite Traveler November-December 2016

INFLUENCE DESIGN COLUMN

elite traveler NOV/DEC 2016 70

AdamD. Tihany on hospitality design One of the first to collaborate with celebrity chefs, international hospitality designer AdamD. Tihany has created signature restaurants for the likes of Thomas Keller, Daniel Boulud andHeston Blumenthal. He shares with Elite Traveler how he creates his luxurious and innovative interiors

“It speaks to a new, self-assured generation; one that prefers a sense of luxury that whispers rather than shouts” in the city, but its impact can already be felt in the design community in Dubai. Good design has true and original character; great design has the power to instigate change. No doubt our profession will continue to be swayed by the trends of the time, but the real reward is the power to influence the human experience. Adam D. Tihany’s work in the hospitality field can be experienced at many luxury hotels and iconic properties around the globe. He was appointed art director of the Culinary Institute of America in 2011 and currently sits on the advisory board of the Holon Design Museum. tihanydesign.com

Hospitality design is changing from the inside out . What once was a pencil and a sketchbook is now a swipe of a finger across an iPhone. We’ve become an Instagram industry, relying on inspiration to come to us from navigating the internet rather than visiting a museum or an evening at the opera. Technology – specifically the Google search tool – provides a shortcut, but also a crutch in the creative process. Not all of this change is negative. The design industry has been flipped and turned around many times since I was a student in Milan in the late 1960s. As a community, we are still in the process of bridging the gap between craft – the scale, proportions, straightedge rulers, compasses, pencils and paper – and technological advances. And despite years of transformation, the core objectives of hospitality design remain constant. Hospitality is about creating an experience. From the moment a guest walks through the front door to the moment they leave, their perception of the space will only be as good as

was important to create a seamless transition through each space while also allowing for an element of discovery. If a guest finds a nook or corner that feels special, it becomes a piece of their own story. At the end of a trip, when the design story is the travel story, we’ve succeeded in our mission. Hospitality design is a portrait of the underlying ethos of a place, but it can also represent a larger perspective of design as a whole. Take Dubai, for example. For years the city was built in pursuit of a ‘biggest and best’ philosophy, and the architecture and design reflected that message. Very recently we’ve seen the rise of a new, more refined way of thinking in Dubai. We designed the 110-room Four Seasons Hotel DIFC in the city’s financial center as an intimately scaled, bespoke oasis with a very personal, hand-crafted quality. It speaks to a new, self-assured generation; one that prefers a sense of luxury that whispers rather than shouts. The hotel is like nothing else

the reception and care they experience. Part of that care is in creating a particular interior atmosphere. Design becomes the first impression, the personality of the space and a direct extension of both the client and the location. In a restaurant, the design is also an extension of the chef and his food. I love when chefs have trouble communicating exactly what they are looking for in a restaurant. In those cases, I ask them to cook for me. I approach the design of a space in the same way as a portrait artist or a custom tailor, looking to capture a certain brand of hospitality. It is all about finding the story. In the Seabourn Encore project, for example, an ultra-luxury 300-cabin cruise ship, our design story began with crafting the ultimate private luxury yacht experience. Everything is curving and elegant, with bespoke details using materials such as mahogany and brass. For guests who stay on board for a week, two weeks, even months, it

Photo: Michael Donnelly, Seabourn