At a recent excellent panel discussion on Public Spaces hosted by Bohlin Cywinski Jackson as a part of their Gathering Series; Lisa Picard, CEO and President of EQ Office, a forward looking Seattle developer, said something like this: "More and more we ask our commercial and residential designers to learn from hospitality designers. We realize that our most important products are experiences rather than bricks and mortar."
Boy Howdy!
Some of you may remember hearing me rant about "monument to instrument" -How an architect's responsibility nowadays is much more about ensuring that built environments support human activities than documenting, celebrating, reflecting the best of our cultures (this task doesn't go away, and there is no reason that we cannot accomplish both).
Lisa Picard seems to have realized that the hospitality industry knows that if it's environments do support human activity, those environments are more likely to engender more business.
BUT WAIT A MINUTE! Don't we all want our designs to do the same thing! Not for the business, but because that's what we're all about!?
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Mike Mense FAIA
New York NY
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