The unusual title of this book comes from a fundamental AvroKO design principle, "best ugly," which originated from a trip to China, where the term signifies something that is beautiful and charming in ...
If you’re designing in the language of luxury, speak softly.
By Mary Scoviak
Bank of America (BofA) is being pilloried for its investment in the 147-room, $65 million Ritz-Carlton hotel scheduled to open across from its headquarters in Charlotte, N.C., this October. Aggrieved taxpayers don't really care that plans for the hotel go back to 1992, when BofA's corporate offices were being built and the bank was looking for an elite space to accommodate a good number of the 70,000 room nights booked by employees and those doing business with the bank each year. Nor are they comforted with the knowledge that the choice of a five-star brand was made in 2006, long before anyone was listening to the voices in the banking wilderness heralding implosion. All the recession-weary public sees is a bank that received $25 billion in bailout funds is using its money for a posh pied-à-terre for well-heeled executives. And that has people seeing red.
There are lessons here for designers as well as bankers. The world still needs luxe hotels, though it may need fewer. What it doesn't need is in-your-face luxury. As luxury design legend Pierre-Yves Rochon says, designers have to look at luxury in a new way: mixing in and salvaging the best of vintage pieces; seeking out the finest arts and crafts from emerging cultures and young artists and considering both provenance and sustainability in each line on the spec sheet.
Or, borrow some cross-over inspiration from retail. Guess's Wish List program focuses on utilizing existing perimeter and floor fixtures, lighting and flooring to reinvent its store environments. Rather than replacing the maple fixtures in its Michigan Avenue store in Chicago, the retailer's design team used an environmentally friendly finish in super white to update the shop's image. The renovation, completed in four days, used 95 percent of the store's existing perimeter and floor fixtures and cost one-third of the typical remodeling/renovation budget.
Designing in some social responsibility won't hurt either. Both designers and hotel companies are fighting to keep foundations and charitable support from foundering in this economy. Graphics, collateral materials and even art can remind successful business people that there are a lot of opportunities to give back.