058 PERSPECTIVE

INTERIORS Hotel Michael / Singapore

059PERSPECTIVE

Signature styleArchitect, artist, designer and Perspective Awards 2010 judgeMichael Graves gets right into every last detail in designingthe eponymous — and first ever — Hotel Michael

ituated on Singapore’s holiday island

Sentosa, Resorts World Sentosa (RWS)

has finally opened its doors, bringing

with it the new Hotel Michael, a 470-key

boutique hotel aptly named after

contemporary architect Michael Graves, founder

of Michael Graves & Associates, the firm

responsible for planning and designing RWS.

Graves’ influence extends past the hotel’s

name, though, as he personally developed the

whole interior design scheme, even designing an

original typeface. “I was very flattered when the

client decided that one of the hotels would be

named after me and that I would get to design

the entire guest experience, down to the

smallest detail,” he says. “Designing Hotel

Michael was a very special opportunity for me.”

Furnishings, houseware and artworks all

created by Graves fill Hotel Michael; his personal

style spans nine stories of guestrooms and two

stories of public spaces, including the lobby bar,

the Sky Bar night club, the Palio restaurant, and

the first ever Michael Graves Gallery.

Graves’ mark is most prominent in the

artworks that line the hotel walls, reflecting his

text : gabriella leephotography : courtesy of resorts world sentosa

Slong-held captivation with the origin of

architectural forms. Calling them ‘Archaic

Landscapes’, he says they represent archetypal

architectural elements, “like fragments of

buildings, located in an imaginary landscape”.

In each of the guest rooms, these unique

pieces are found hanging above and in niches

opposite the bed. In the bathrooms, an entire

wall is a micro-mosaic mural of a Graves

painting of vases of flowers.

As the guestrooms needed to be relatively

small, space was used efficiently. with the

rooms designed to include built-in millwork inset

with artwork, lighting, and other functions. By

installing the ‘Archaic Landscapes’ into the

millwork, the artworks act as “windows to the

outside, thus enlarging the sense of the space”,

according to Graves. Made of a honey-coloured

maple, the millwork and furniture also help to

add warmth to the rooms.

The same idea of built-in wooden panelling

and millwork is carried through to the ground

floor lobby, lobby bar and the Palio restaurant,

as well as the Michael Graves Gallery retail shop.

In the lobby, in addition to a long, mural-like

canvas above the reception desk, some of the

archetypal forms found in Graves’ paintings

have been created in 3D, giving the feeling, as

Graves notes, “as if one were occupying a

painting in three dimensions”.

In keeping with the tone of RWS, colours

found in nature — blue-grey, green and terracotta

— are used to decorate the guestrooms. Similar

tones can also be found in the Palio, but it was

there that Graves opted for a more festive and

fun atmosphere. “I also was inspired by the

brightly-coloured banners and crests, often of a

geometric composition, that are traditionally part

of an annual horse race called the Palio, which is

held in Siena, Italy every year,” says Graves. “I

studied architecture in Italy and spent a lot of

time there over my career, and have long been

fascinated by all things Italian.”

In blurring the distinction between art and

architecture, Graves has chosen not to limit

himself and it is at Hotel Michael that his full range

of capabilities is truly exhibited. As he points out,

“In the traditions of many early 20th century

architects and designers whom I admire, we have

the skills and the capacity to design it all.”

加坡聖淘沙島的聖淘沙名勝世界

正式開幕，請來M

ich

ae

lG

rav

es

&

As

so

cia

tes

建築事務所的創辦人、當代大師

Mich

ae

lG

rav

es

主理設計一家四百七十個客房

的新酒店，更打正旗號命名為H

ote

lM

icha

el

。

其實聖淘沙名勝世界的總體規劃及設計藍圖，亦

是出自這位大師的手筆。

Mich

aelG

raves

全權負責酒店的設計，從整

體室內裝潢概念甚至原型製作，全部由他親手包

辦。他說：﹁委託人決定以我的名字命名其中一

所酒店，並將酒店上下的設計工作交由我全權負

責，我覺得榮幸之至。﹂

踏入這所酒店，處處可見大師精心設計的裝

潢、傢具及藝術品，九層酒店空間及兩層公用空

間，包括大堂酒吧、S

kyB

ar

俱樂部、P

alio

餐廳

及只此一家的M

icha

el

Gra

ve

s

藝廊等，全都風

格一致。

酒店牆上掛滿的作品，展示了M

ich

ae

l

Graves

對建築形態起源的深厚認識。他形容這些

作品代表﹁盤古初開﹂，因為它們象徵遠古的建築

元素，像﹁散落在虛幻景觀上的零碎建築片段﹂。

每一間客房的天花或睡床對面的壁龕空間，

都有大師作品的蹤影。此外，浴室中間還見一整

幅馬賽克瓷磚牆，拼出來的畫面是大師一幅鮮花

插在花瓶的油畫。

由於客房面積小巧，設計師必須充份利用每

一吋空間。每個房間都裝有木組合架，不但陳列

各種藝術品，還附設燈光及其他功能。木架的設

計靈感同樣啟發自﹁遠古的景觀﹂，大師表示，

這樣使藝術品看起來像﹁面向街道的窗，大大增

強空間感﹂。楓木架及傢具一律是蜂蜜金色，為

空間添上一抹暖意。

木隔板及組合架也可見於地下大堂、大堂酒

吧、P

alio

餐廳及M

icha

el

Gra

ves

藝廊商店。大

堂內，長長的帆布畫懸吊在接待櫃檯的上方，大

師的畫風帶有強烈的古代氣息，更特意加入立體

效果，觀感彷如置身立體畫內的空間。

為配合聖淘沙名勝世界的主色調，酒店套房

的設計也沿用土地色彩如藍灰、綠及赤褐色。

Pa

lio

酒店也用上相似顏色，然而設計師希望進

一步為餐廳加添愉快的氣氛。他說：﹁我是從色

彩繽紛的橫額及馬鞍得到啟發，它們的設計圖案

多是幾何圖形組合，取材自一年一度在意大利

Sie

na

舉行的傳統P

alio

賽馬盛會。我在意大利

修讀建築，並長時間在那兒發展我的事業，因此

深深著迷於所有與意大利有關的事物。﹂

大師渴望融合藝術及建築的界線，因此從不

限制自己，而設計這間酒店時，他的創意及才

華得以表露無遺。他說：﹁多位我仰慕的二十

世紀早期建築師及設計師都有一個信念：我們

擁有的設計技巧及能力，足以讓我們的創意跨

越所有界限。﹂

060 PERSPECTIVE

INTERIORS Hotel Michael / Singapore

今年︽透視設計大賞︾評審之一M

ichael

Graves

身兼建築師、藝術家及設計師，最近更首次推

出大小裡外一手包辦的同名酒店H

otel

Mich

ael

鼎鼎大名

新撰文：g

abriella

lee

攝影：由聖淘沙名勝世界提供