Opened in January 2003, the hotel features an architectural and services concept that is destined to create a new move ahead in the ceremony of hospitality. A spark of the Fifties - a time of folly that still means a lot to Italy - has been used, in a modern key, to define the hotel spaces. And as if this was not enough, the whole atmosphere proves to be a cure for the severely stressed. Time is suspended or confused by the collection of horologes different both in shapes and in time zones that subtly work together, not only to define an atemporal area, but also a design line. What seems to have become the rule fore contemporary designer hotels - luring guests not only with sophisticated or extravagant apartments, but also with ways of measuring pleasure in its most public hypostases - may also be found at the Continentale. A myriad of open spaces: the bar where the martini takes one's mind away from plain water; the candor of pistachio-hued lights; the purity of drapes; they are all tuned to the same wavelength - that of continuous search. The results of this search are the five types of rooms with queen-size beds (king-size beds are available upon request), huge mirrors or lamps able to adjust the light from dawn to dusk, in a balanced mix of high-tech and soft design trends.
Proiect: Michele Bonan
Text: Luiza Zamora
Foto: www.designhotels.com

Since he opened his office in 1995, Jean Nouvel has strived to create a highly individual stylistic language separate from that of modernism and post-modernism. With his mind cleared of any preconceived ideas, even though he may borrow from traditional forms, Nouvel has managed to create buildings that shock the eye and stretch beyond the traditional constraints of architecture. Although he places enormous importance on context to generate his designs, one may notice that a certain continuum occurs from one design to the next, having transparency, shadow, and light as its recurrent principles.

If we sought for a keyword to pinpoint Jean Nouvel among the world's “top 10” architects (although the French architect has not developed personal theoretical systems like Rem Koolhaas or Herzog & De Meuron), it would be “image”. The seductive magic of architectural images is recurrent in Nouvel's discourse. Even if he is thought to be an iconoclast, Nouvel is an architect who does not destroy any icons, but, quite contrarily, is a constant producer of images. But what better way to destroy the image than by leaving it empty of sense through infinite substitution?
Text: Viorica Buica
Foto: Roland Halbe, Philippe Ruault, Studio Jean Nouvel

You may wonder what does Oriental art have to do with this house, styled in a poignantly modernist language. Although apparently nothing, in reality the connection is profound. The owner, a passionate oriental art collector, wanted most of all to provide a harmonious home to all the items he had gathered along the years. Impressed by a rigorously restored neoclassic building, he contacted the two young architects and explained his very precise wish: a museum-like residence, with an orderly, cold, almost mathematical discourse that may create a background for the enigmatic oriental contents.

The result was a house with very precise volumes, opened outwards and reminding of the neatness of Scandinavian architecture. Inside, spaces communicate fluidly, with few and more or less virtual separations, as the owner's non-conventional coordinates imposed. The kitchen, for instance, is placed as far as possible from all the central areas of the home, including the living and the dining. As a result, the living area in particular is less a domestic space than a spectacular one, conceived as a museum repository.
Proiect: Cooperativa de Arhitectura, arh. Gabriela si Mihai Butucaru
Text: Viorica Buica
Foto: Serban Bonciocat