Blog Posts By Author: Chris Singer

I'm at the Global Spa Summit in Bali supporting our two Cornell Hotel Management students Sarah Widjaja and Saurabh Sud in the 'Profitable Spa Student Challenge' Four teams of students from Asian hotel schools are paired with design firms to submit entries. This year the theme was centred on profitability after previous years of 'fantasy' designs. Sarah and Suarab made a great presentation of their 'Theaven' spa concept, aimed at a younger market in the shopping malls of China's emerging cities. They created quite a buzz amongst the Spa professionals attending the summit.

Investigating the locale for a potential project, I visited the Maruekatayawan Palace, constructed in 1923 by His Majesty King Rama VI, in Hua Hin, Thailand.

A stunning building ... more than a building … a guided perambulation through a tropical garden, a careful selection of vistas, a cool sea breeze on a heavy afternoon.

Envisaged by a King as a place to 'fully relax, in great comfort', realised by a travelling Italian architect, constructed by local craftsmen – the parallels with our current design process struck me.

Recyclable, minimal, prefabricated materials … a refined and modern response to a climate and an ideal.

There is so much to inspire our contemporary design of 'places to relax' through continuity with times passed.