Comparing
Hotel Marriott Marquis by John Portman & Associates with Seagram the
differences are obvious. Here we meet a building that is an extension to the
surrounding city in so many ways that it tend to become a city of its own. Instead
of removing or erasing the noise from the context as in Seagram the architect
has reinforced it. The play with different elements, structures, patterns, lightening
and hierarchy supplements and speaks the same language as the atmosphere of
Time Square on the other side of the walls. The space of the lobby is massive, overwhelming.
Hectic in every aspect, visually and physically. Elevators going up and down in
an almost cyberspace-like system, multiple flat screens showing different
TV-shows, fountains, shifting light bulbs, sculptures, perforated walls.
Out of all places in New York City Times Square seems to be the space of most conflicting elements. A broad collage of signs, buildings, and people creating a dynamic atmosphere. A picture so unconnected that it starts connecting, unifying. The pull and extending in different directions, the distraction, becomes the factors that assembles the experience. In the chaotic build an underlying structure is sensed.
The lobby of Hotel Marriot Marquis works in the same way. The atmosphere is built upon the atmospheres surrounding it. A space so large that the atmosphere manages to assemble the different distractions and conflicting elements. The underlying structure is sensed as the rhythm of floors grows measured upwards. The repetition in the differences creates a chaotic but convincing expression in which the building becomes a part of the city, the build of atmospheres.
Out of all places in New York City Times Square seems to be the space of most conflicting elements. A broad collage of signs, buildings, and people creating a dynamic atmosphere. A picture so unconnected that it starts connecting, unifying. The pull and extending in different directions, the distraction, becomes the factors that assembles the experience. In the chaotic build an underlying structure is sensed.
The lobby of Hotel Marriot Marquis works in the same way. The atmosphere is built upon the atmospheres surrounding it. A space so large that the atmosphere manages to assemble the different distractions and conflicting elements. The underlying structure is sensed as the rhythm of floors grows measured upwards. The repetition in the differences creates a chaotic but convincing expression in which the building becomes a part of the city, the build of atmospheres.