NY LOBBY ASSIGNMENT_28/11/12

New York lobbies

Mariott Marquis Hotel

 

 

The New York Marriott Marquis is a Marriott International hotel designed by architect John Portman in 1985. The hotel was born out of a controversy because five historic theaters, the Helen Hayes, the Morosco, the Astor, the Bijou, and the Gaiety were demolished to clear the site. The socalled "Great Theater Massacre of 1982" was a scandal, but went forward to make way for the hotel. By the time construction could begin, the original operators Western International Hotels (today Westin) had dropped out of the project and Marriott had stepped in.

The hotel was the first major project in the Times Square revitalization, and has been credited as the starting point for today’s development at Times Square. Now it is the eye and window of New York, an opening transitioning what has happened and what is to come. A lobby is a metaphorical window, a spatial opening, as it in itself is a space of transition. Entering the Mariott Marquis, the lobby shows itself as an opening for the hotel itself.

OPENING in relation to the physical connections – site/program/cirkulation

The New York Marriott Marquis hotel, located on Times Square, played a significant role in the revitalization of the theater district. The lower levels of the hotel offers facilities for conventions and other events, including the cities largest ballroom and its own Broadway legitimate theater.

It is a hall hotel or atrium hotel, which is characterized by being build as an enclosure around an open courtyard space. With the hotel lobby on the 8th floor, the present redevelopment of Times Square as an urban destination point has left the Marriott Marquis detached from the street. Portman has been criticized for creating a design that is turning its back to Times Square. However, at the time the hotel was built, the theater district was only beginning to turn around and Portman’s style of inwardly-oriented spaces made logical sense.

The whole building rising 45 stories to The View, New York’s only rooftop revolving restaurant and lounge, holds 36 guest room floors on the upper levels. The hotel atrium doesn’t only function as lobby, but contains also a bar, a restaurant and shops, it is a programmatic hybrid just like the rest of the building.

The Mariott Marquis is served by twelve scenic high-tech elevators, which face into the atrium that stretches the height of the hotel. The elevator cabs travel at 300 m per minute. In 2005 a modernization included reducing waiting times from originally more than 30 minutes, in the past, down to less than 5 minutes by introducing a computer technology, which allows people to key in their destination floor number on a keypad and get assigned an elevator to use afterward. As most important element of cirkulation the elevators are the key to the transitioning function of the lobby. The hotel is depending on the vertical movement to cirkulate arriving and leaving visitors.

OPENING in relation to the visual connections

Only a huge sign on the building indicates that the Mariott Marquis hotel is situated here, there are no other visible hints showing the lobby on the 8th floor. Entering the lobby through the glass cab elevators, visual connections are established once inside. The open space of the atrium wrapped with the insidely-oriented roomfloors, makes the hotel looking into itself, creating many visual connections between the lobby and other hotel floors. Only the sunlight indicates a connection to the world outside

OPENING in relation to the atmosphere

Occupying a full city block, being an enourmous canvas for commercials, the New York Marriott Marquis hotel externally reinforces the energy of Times Square, while the interior provides a retreat from the activity.

The lobby is open, airy and calm, however the interior atmosphere is detached from the life outside. The look inside is uniform and the interior materials are made to appear expensive like marmor ang granit. Having to take an elevator several stories to reach the lobby makes it feel like a very private, exclusive space only reserved for a chosen elite.