Morphosis Architects’ highly anticipated plans for a new luxury hotel in Vals has been unveiled. The proposal, selected by 7132 Ltd (and denounced by the jury) following an international competition, was lauded by the client for its “minimalist approach” that will “help the hotel blend with the mountain landscape at the existing resort campus.”
The ultra-thin, 381-meter-tall tower will be one of three Pritzker laureate-designed projects at the 7132 resort, joining Peter Zumthor’s Therme Vals Spa and Tadao Ando’s Valser Path, which is slated for completion in 2017.
More images and a response from Tadao Ando, after the break.
“The transparent and slim ‘7132 Tower’ will create a completely new world of hospitality in Vals,” says Ando. “I believe it will harmonize in the beautiful landscape and will attract and impress various guests and visitors from all over the world.”
“Specificity is really the central driver in our practice,” says Thom Mayne, Design Director at Morphosis. “Each design starts from unique conditions in site, program, performance... The architectural solution generated is correspondingly unique to each project. For the 7132 hotel and arrival, the incredible setting demands reducing materiality and presence in the design so that, as in all our work, the connection to site becomes paramount. As much as possible, the hotel is a minimalist act that reiterates the site and offers to the viewer a mirrored, refracted perspective of the landscape.”
The new 107-suite hotel will be defined by three forms, says Morphosis: “a podium linking the building with neighboring structures; a cantilever containing a restaurant, café, spa, and bar – public amenities shared with the town; and a tower holding a sky bar, restaurant, and 107 guest rooms with panoramic views.” The building's slender profile and reflective skin intends to “camouflage” itself with the surrounding landscape while offering unprecedented views of the Alps.
This will be Morphosis’ first Swiss project, upon its completion in 2019.
News via Morphosis Architects, 7132 Ltd, Designboom
