Hotel Puerta América, Tenth Floor
The Hotel Silken Puerta América in Madrid is an innovative project that involved numerous architects and designers. Arata Isozaki designed the interior of the tenth floor.
In this space, Arata Isozaki seems to blend reality and fiction with a meticulously chosen combination of colours and materials, providing guests with a sensation of tranquillity and well-being in an area that stands out for its formal levity. Isozaki has brought the customs of his culture to the tenth floor of the Hotel Siklen Puerta América Madrid using premium materials. Guests discover a space full of oriental references, all gradually revealed as they undertake different activities within their room, such as taking a bath, opening a panel or watching TV.
The key idea for these two areas is contrast. The lobby is a decagon painted with a special white scraped paint and tiled in marble, in stark contrast with the dark grey paint used along the hallways, which is also rough to the touch, as well as the black chosen for the wool carpeting. The effect is as if something hidden is awaiting the guests after the white lobby, although the aim of both highly minimalist spaces is to provide a feeling of tranquillity and mental calm.
The Japanese tradition in the home, featuring minimalism, tranquillity and well-being, seem to be the ideas governing the interior design of the rooms. Dark colours predominate, although the area is nonetheless spacious and well-lit. Each detail transports the client to a typical Japanese room. Wooden panelling at the large window looking out onto the façade, known as shoji, crafted of stained oak and covered with a white gossamer fabric, is clearly reminiscent of the screens used in traditional Japanese houses. Opposite a small window, with a copper sheet inserted between two glass panels, visually separates the bathroom from the bedroom. The flat screen television is mounted on steel panelling, harking back to the altars in Japanese homes. Isozaki has also covered the mirrors in the entrance hall with panelling made out of the same wood as the rest of the room. The bed's headboard is made out of black-stained oak. A fluorescent tube located behind the headboard gently illuminates the special paint on the walls, also in grey as in the hallway.
The cool materials and colours contrast with the brightness and warmth of the bathroom, which is in marked contrast with the bedroom by means of the materials and colours employed. Isozaki has proposed a bathroom and shower made of hinoki wood, known for its light tones. This is a clear reference to the Japanese custom of having a shower before a bath. The floor is finished in white marble.
As a curious note, it is worth noting that in each of the two junior suites there will be two kimonos on display, but are not for use by guests. They have been especially designed for the hotel by a Japanese firm.
