Hotel Puerta América, Eleventh Floor
The Hotel Silken Puerta América in Madrid is an innovative project that involved numerous architects and designers. Mariscal y Salas designed the interior of the eleventh floor.
"Simple solutions without formal showiness or major technical complications; contained, functional, long-lasting, attempting to create visual perspectives in a habitat viewed as multifunctional, not as a mere bedroom". That is how Javier Mariscal defines his work on the eleventh floor of the Hotel Silken Puerta América Madrid. Mariscal is already very familiar with this type of design, as he is the designer behind the Gran Hotel Domine in Bilbao, located opposite the Guggenheim Museum and also part of the Silken Hotels.
As soon as you leave the lift, Mariscal's Cactus sculpture appears in the lobby. It is made out of coloured Corian and stands on a double platform of stainless steel and iron. In this area the carpet is orange, contrasting with the green chosen for the hallway, whose walls are covered with striped Formica. Throughout the hallway there are illuminated glass cabinets resembling transparent light boxes and displaying different objects also designed by Mariscal. The aim is to make the way to the rooms more engaging.
Inside the rooms, Mariscal (Valencia, 1950) acknowledges that he has tried to convey "good vibrations, a sensation of being in a comfortable space". His inspiration: "the functionalism of the 1950s, but without this having had too much influence afterwards."
Guests are presented with an area where the bathroom reigns supreme. The only enclosed area is the toilet booth, isolated by means of an ash wood trellis, which also simultaneously serves as a large lamp as it is backlit. At its back, the mirror supports the plasma TV screen. The white Corian work surface has a dual function; while in the bathroom it is used as a sink and general surface, in the living room it becomes a piece of furniture, finished in striped Formica and holding the bar, fridge and audiovisual equipment.
Large-scale colourful flower prints predominate in the bedroom, covering the headboard and closets, hidden behind a panel. The bed is located against the window. In this way, natural light hits it from behind and permeates the whole room. One of the sides of the bedroom is finished with a backlit wooden trellis, giving guests the feeling of being outdoors.
Outstanding features of the living space, between the bedroom and the bathroom, are the Coconut armchairs by George Nelson for Vitra, as well as the Swiss table by È for Padova, the AJ lamp by Arne Jacobsen for Louis Poulsen and the Stone carpet by Diego Fortunato for Nani Marquina.
As the designer explains, the goal was to create a space that "can be used by a lot of people who might not have the same tastes or needs". Precisely for this reason, Mariscal says that he has not tried to "perform an exercise in style, nor futurism. Quite the opposite - I have tried to achieve an anonymous character, without imposing the author's signature too much so that it will age well". This thought is reflected the mix of classics, such as Nelson's chairs, with more modern pieces such as the Fortunato carpet.
Mariscal declares himself to be particularly proud "of the versatility of the space and the distribution achieved by merging different uses within the same area". "It's very different from other commissions because this is a space that guests will take over for a certain period of time; it's their temporary home and we have to try to create a space pleasing to everyone who stays there".
