Who says future, says ultra-connected bubble, hologram butler, suspended cabin… We immediately imagine the most unusual ideas, accompanied by a surge of technology and artificial intelligence. Automated vacation spots for increasingly nomadic travelers. Where are we really today with the futuristic design that was already in place in the 1960s and 70s? How will hospitality – which continues to invent new personalized services – continue to evolve? What will be the new codes of avant-garde hospitality? These thoughts constantly concern professionals in the very competitive sector.
Prospecting work with students
Thus, the EquipHotel exhibition – which brings together international leaders in the hotel industry each year in Paris – submitted prospecting work to students from ENSCI – Les Ateliers, one of the best French design schools (only 300 students registered for a five-year course), located in the 11th arrondissement of the capital. Around twenty students worked for a semester on the theme “Design and hospitality: dare the audacity of youth!” ".
“We wanted to listen to young people
,” explains Béatrice Gravier, director of the EquipHotel Paris 2024 show,
“to understand their ways of understanding hospitality. We were looking for a new lease of life. We found it with the students of ENSCI – Les Ateliers
.” Between health and economic crises, sustainable development and declining employee attractiveness, the business is in a period of change. At the same time, the taste for uniqueness and the demands of customers are ever greater. Beyond comfort and robotics, what are travelers looking for during their stay in a hotel room? Unanimous response: “an experience!” »
The mantras: aesthetics, personalization, well-being and being part of a community
Around twenty years ago, Philippe Starck, as a visionary, uninhibited the hotel industry by designing establishments where comfort, fantasy and a playful spirit were combined with “democratic” prices. Thus was born the popularity of the Mama Shelter et al concept, with its long sharing tables, all-terrain vending machines (from soda to condoms), and the reconfiguration of the space: open-plan bathroom, connected headboard, etc. All for a reasonable budget. Subsequently, the wave of boutique hotels swept through France and elsewhere. Then everything connected was associated with the warm, flowery, plant-inspired decoration, summarizing a “neobourgeois trend with nature friendly” style, which Laura Gonzalez or Dorothée Meilichzon cultivate in the most beautiful hotels.
For the generation born in the 2000s, the question of recycling and eco-responsibility is no longer a subject. It is induced in their work. Just as the social environment and personalized welcome seem to be of greater concern to budding designers who have shown inventiveness.
“Our students had a lot of carte blanche. They responded to the plurality of parameters of the place's vocation, its layout, ancillary services and sharing,
explains Stéphane Villard, designer and project director at ENSCI-Les Ateliers.
Here is our selection of 5 projects (out of 20) proposed by ENSCI – Les Ateliers students. The most original are not necessarily the most unrealistic.