Philippe Starck: Luxury Hotels, Creative Freedom and Sustainability

An internationally acclaimed French creator, designer and architect, Philippe Starck creates unconventional places and objects whose purpose is to be “good” before being beautiful. Most of his designs have become cult objects and his hotels are timeless icons that have added a new dimension to the global cityscape. An advocate of sustainability, Philippe Starck is one of the most sensational interiors designers we know of.

With over 30 years of career in design, Philippe Starck has been collecting several restaurant and hotel projects to his credit around the world, such as the Royalton in New York (1988), the Delano in Miami designed in 1995, the Mondrian in Los Angeles, the St Martin’s Lane in London from 1999, the Sanderson, also in London, designed in 2000, and the complete 2001 renovation of the historic Clift in San Francisco with its updated art-deco bar, the Redwood Room.

In South America, Philippe Starck designed the inside and outside of the Hotel Fasano in Rio de Janeiro in 2007 using materials such as wood, glass and marble. He then turned his attention to luxury hotels: in 2008, Hôtel Meurice and the Royal Monceau in 2010. Bon (2000), Mori Venice Bar (2006) and Le Paradis du Fruit (2009) in France and notable Katsuya in Los Angeles (2006) are just some examples of his stunning restaurant projects.

Starck’s style could be described as Contemporary. He is interested in bright colors, quirky shapes and the use of unusual materials. He wants his designs to be mass-produced and relatively affordable but on the other hand, he wants them to last. Many of his designs can be identified by his repeated use of particular shapes and forms. His designs tend to look curvaceous and are smoothly textured.