Words Vidula KotianDate 29 June 2023
The short-lived design movement took the world by storm, with its playful abstract and angular furniture and bold graphic patterns, when the collection was presented at Milan’s Arc’74 gallery in September 1981. The Memphis designs by iconic designers, such as Michele De Lucchi, Michael Graves, Nathalie Du Pasquier, and Shiro Kuramata, seemed straight out of the pages of a comic book and gave rise to a completely new look in which pop culture, advertising’s visual style, and post-modernism merged in a crazy medley.
We particularly heart the pastel and punchy colors and couldn’t agree more with Vogue editor Anna Wintour who said that furniture “wasn’t a whole lot of fun until 1981, when the Memphis design group, based in Milan, brought out its first collection—a cheerful synthesis of historical allusion and rock ‘n’ roll.” Take a tour of seven of our hotels that are bringing this joyful movement back to interiors.
SALT of Palmar The adults-only retreat comes alive in sunset pink and cobalt blue
Camille Walala The artist infused the interiors with the work of local artisans
A Moroccan-inspired structure Transformed to let in light and provide endless views of sea
A powerful visual energy Bold colors, playful shapes and geometric patterns
Palmar Belle Mare, Mauritius
A new adults-only retreat, SALT of Palmar is located on Mauritius’ secluded east coast where soft sands and coconut trees border a lagoon. Artist Camille Walala’s happy interiors for the hotel mix eye-popping stripes and colors such as cobalt blue, sunset pink, and lilac with tribal and other global prints. Walala was drawn to Memphis designs thanks to her father, also a designer, who had books on the movement at their house in the South of France. “I found it to be more playful and less serious,” she says. “I think that’s what I’ve been trying to reproduce, that idea of design. I love it when people smile and know that my work inspired them.”
Hotel June Abstract art and textiles play with warm shades in the room
The lobby Cream terrazzo and wood provide the stage for the clay Oo lamp by Eny Lee Parker
Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.
Guestrooms and corridors play with color-blocking geometries at Hotel June West L.A. Studio Collective’s bold concept of easy-going luxury is presented through a combination of warm wood tones, pale blues, black-and-white stripes, playful pieces of design, and pops of color in pink and green. Artwork and murals by local and national artists set an inspired tone, as does custom-made furniture from Jay Edwards and lights from Ashley Lighting. The hotel interiors have “a sense of the new and dynamic through coastal influences and a true California spirit,” adds the studio.
Barbara Radice, Italian design critic, author, and Memphis member
Downtown L.A. Proper Hotel
Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.
Celebrated designer Kelly Wearstler adheres to the Memphis credo in her rejection of tradition. At Downtown L.A. Proper Hotel, she manifests a festive energy into an historic California Renaissance Revival building. As Wearstler notes, the hotel’s interiors take cues from L.A.’s creative scene as well as the colors and forms of Mexican, Moroccan, Spanish, and Portuguese design. “My point of reference for the Proper Hotels is always the location, so Downtown L.A. Proper really called for bold and eclectic choices,” she said.
San Francisco Proper Hotel Colorful abstract art above Luigi Saccardo's postmodern Innovation Bench
La Bande Wearstler's modern interpretation of a European café pays homage to the Secession movement and French conceptual artist Daniel Buren
Ground floor salon Intimate sitting areas are formed from pods of sofas, tables, and chairs to create series of living room vignettes
Villon restaurant Designed with reference to French cubist painter Jacques Villon
On the ground floor An elaborate layering of geometric shapes alongside more organic forms
California, U.S.A.
Another Kelly Wearstler masterpiece, San Francisco Proper Hotel is a rich pastiche of colors, textures, and design styles. A variety of influences flow together in this historic building—from French and European premodernism to Cubism and beyond. San Francisco Proper is a wildly colorful feast for the senses. Take the hotel’s Villon restaurant, which is cast in a blue and black motif and accented by wood, stone, metals, and glass at a delicate scale. Blue ribbed wood paneling is fragmented with geometric shards of antique mirror that open-up the room with surprising vistas and reflections.
The cōmodo The irregular shape of the bar conceals structural pillars
In the rooms The curves reference a 1960s aesthetic in a subtle way
Bad Gastein, Austria
Perched high in the sleepy village of Bad Gastein, the cōmodo is housed in what was once a hotel in the 1960s and later a sanatorium for the employees of the city of Vienna. The hotel’s interiors interpret the Memphis aesthetic in subtler ways, as with its use of curves and bold hues. For example, the bar is supported by round columns of red travertine and features fluting in the cōmodo red—a color seen throughout the hotel. The design is rounded out by a natural stone bar top, raw brass elements, and typical Austrian landhaus dielen flooring, which retain the timber’s natural knots.
Avalon Hotel Beverly Hills A statuary white and ming green marble vanity area
A bold yet classic style A mix of patterns and materials create an interesting visual play
Lobby A late 1960s fiberglass “safari” sofa, Italian gilt ceramic columns, and a striped mural overhead
Emilio Ambasz, architect
Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.
Originally built in 1949, Avalon Hotel Beverly Hills has been re-imagined by Kelly Wearstler, who has deftly blended the hotel’s old Hollywood roots with a distinct midcentury vibe. For the lobby space, Wearstler brings drama by putting together a late 1960s fiberglass “safari” sofa, Italian gilt ceramic columns, and a striped mural overhead with alternating tones of light blue and white. The bold yet classic guestrooms continue the light blue and green color scheme from the public areas and are enlivened by graphic elements, such as the patterned marble tiles in the bathrooms.
Casa Habita The P22 armchair by Luigi Caccia Dominioni adds drama to the room
Dimorestudio Combine classical European design with the colorful aesthetics of Mexico
Guadalajara, Mexico
Set in Guadalajara’s trending Lafayette district, Casa Habita’s interior was conceived by the renowned Milanese firm Dimorestudio who combine classical European design with the colorful aesthetics of Mexico, punctuated by intense shades of burgundy, salmon, and artichoke. The studio carefully chose the furnishings and fixtures throughout, with most of the pieces being supplied by the Milanese’s firm own collection. The rest of the furniture is bespoke or sourced from designers such as Pierre Frey and Thonet.
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