Room Service
Alternative Design Checks In at the Chelsea Hotel
By CHRIS SCHMIDT
Strange and wonderful things happen at the Chelsea Hotel, which has long been a haunt of artists, bohemians, and fading Warhol superstars. But the scene at the famed hotel was a bit more commercial last Sunday, as three floors were taken over by "Downtown at the Chelsea Hotel," a furniture and product design show sponsored by Elle Dˇcor magazine, Voss water, and Luna nutrition bars, among others.
Drawing designers from as far away as Paris, the Downtown show was held at this unusual location because, "we wanted something more intimate and unique than the experience at the ICFF," said organizer Abe Gurko, referring to the much larger show happening simultaneously at the Javits Center. The Downtown show lasted three days, May 17 to 19, and brought in more than 40 designers, who displayed their wares in various empty rooms of the hotel.
Incense (among other odors) wafted through the hallways as a roving crowd of hipster artists, decorators, and soignˇ design-mavens scrutinized designs of every stripe and provenance. (One wellreceived collection called Egawazbryk had come from Kansas City, Mo.) Each room was a completely different environment: Some spaces were draped in fabrics and filled with hors dÕoeuvres, while others were spare and minimal.
Around 4 p.m.on Sunday,a "photo op" coalesced in a corner room on the third floor.The festival organizers had brought together three Downtown-ish, offbeat luminaries Ń movie star Alan Cumming, Barneys creative director Simon Doonan, and illustrator Leah Singer Ń to promote a new advance in wallpaper technology called "digital wall-coveringon-demand." Give Ed Mattingly of No Limits Design an image, and 10 minutes later, he will print out your new customized wallpaper, at $10 a square foot. (The process might take a bit longer if you donÕt live in LaGrange, Ill., where No Limits Design is based.)
Mr. Doonan explained that the whimsical,hand-drawn faces that made up his wallpaper pattern were the same images he had created for his new book, "Wacky Chicks." He had submitted the drawings after seeing the bookÕs original design, which he said was "too Emily Dickinson."
Photo session over, Mr. Doonan turned to Mr. Cumming. "Hey you, congratulations on your huge, mega-hit brilliance," he said, referring to Mr. CummingÕs movie, "X:2," which opened earlier in the month.
"Yeah, cheers, thanks." Mr. Cumming said, smiling.
Mr. CummingÕs wallpaper designs featured digitally enhanced photographs of stacked kindling, which the actor had taken at his house upstate."IÕm really into logs," he said.
I asked the actor which of his four wallpapers he preferred. "Well, I like that one because it looks real," he said. "But these are cool, too" he said,turning around to look at the print behind us, in which the logs were quartered and enlarged. "ItÕs butch! " he said, provoking laughs nearby. "But I told them that this one looks like sperm cells," he said, gesturing towards the two more stylized versions to our right. "And I donÕt know what that one looks like. Mushrooms or something."
On the whole, the vibe at the Chelsea Hotel was as homey and relaxed as youÕd expect. "Drink first; ask questions later," said textile designer Craig Seebach, as he proffered a cocktail called Hotel Chelsea. "Basically, itÕs a gin margarita," he explained.
But not every designer had his own room, not every prototype had found a manufacturer, and not everyone was completely happy.
"TheyÕve stuffed us in here, so people think weÕre all the same company," said Krista Kosonen, a Finnish designer, to another of her co-exhibitors. She designed a wine glass prototype in which the tulip-like glasses, sans base, rest in tall vases that could also double as decanters. When filled with wine, they bring to mind an elegant and futuristic perfume laboratory.
In another group room, the mood was more collegial. Sarah Song, 29, chatted with two other young designers near one of her own designs, a magazine rack employing what appeared to be large, blue rubber bands. I asked if her design was a prototype Ń it was Ń and whether it had been picked up yet.
"I havenÕt spoken to any manufacturers, per se," Ms. Song said, but noted that the reactions had been positive.
As I made my exit, an elderly woman on her way up the stairs asked about the festivities. "There are cocktails on the seventh floor," I told her.
"I know," she sighed. "I live here."