Double decker will be among the speakers of the upcoming 2nd Conference of Architecture and Tourism which will take place on the island of Rhodes on 21 and 22 October and they will speak about HOTEL CURATING | PURO Gdańsk Showcase.
How can curating create powerful narratives in a hotel’s art & design collection?
How can curating engage a city’s creative community?
How can curating tell stories that resonate with guests and the cities they’re in?
- Double Decker offers a diverse range of tailored services, including curating and design.
HOTEL CURATING, BRANDING AND CREATIVE DIRECTION
Double Decker’s curatorial expertise lends a conceptual edge to hotel spaces. More holistic and considered than that of a conventional art buyer, our service delivers unique art collections tailored to each hotel; with a narrative that deepens and reinforces a brand. Discovering local art scenes before they reach the mainstream, our team adds a fresh perspective to every hotel. We stay close to artists, designers, architects and the act of creation itself.
Awakening Gdańsk: Traces of the Past, Beauties of Tomorrow
Double Decker spent time in Gdańsk, absorbing its fabric and patterns of life, until the city’s cultural and commercial lines of force revealed themselves and could be spun into a narrative thread running through the works making up the hotel’s collection. The ways the city has been shaped and re-shaped by both the Baltic and the commerce it carries, as well as by the shifting tides of history and politics, were our paramount conceptual influences in this project, and inspired us to launch our first series of found-debris-constructed objects in collaboration with designer Marta Szostek.
The theme is continued through Kacper Kowalski’s astonishing in-flight photographs of dismantled dockyard cranes, installed so beautifully in the hotel’s meeting room, and large scale images documenting the shipyard’s history by Michal Szlaga. Picking up on the other, Baltic, theme, Olga Milczynska’s ceramic sculptures reference the sea and its commerce – the lifeblood of Gdańsk.
PURO Hotel Gdańsk has been nominated by Wallpaper Magazine for Best Urban Hotels 2015.
For every guest room, Double Decker screen-printed graphic compositions onto 18th century vintage maps, sourced from the Gdańsk Library of the Polish Academy of Sciences. Each referenced a moment in the city’s history, from industry to architecture, joining in the collection’s narrative. The hand-turned vases, harmonious in pattern and form, placed in public spaces were commissioned from award-winning Polish product designer Maria Jeglinska.
PURO Gdańsk, a collaboration with London based interior Design firm DeSallesFlint, opened in May 2015 and extended to his full capacity in 2017.
INSTALLATIONS AND SCULPTURE PIECES
Double Decker designs installations and sculpture pieces in house, working closely with a network of trusted artisans and collaborators to bring our concepts to life. These unique art pieces add another dimension to the spaces we curate.
OBJECTS & ARTWORK
Guided by the passion to discover and create, Double Decker’s in house design team is developing a wide range of custom design objects & artwork; ranging from bas reliefs and graphic art pieces, to decorative objects with rich narratives. We work closely with local artists and manufacturers all over the world to realize our vision, giving each project a bespoke character.
EXHIBITION AND PROGRAM CURATING
Double Decker curates applied arts exhibitions and programmes, collaborating with key institutions, artists and designers worldwide. Armed with a curious and provocative spirit, we explore the challenges at every stage of the curatorial process. Along with our audience and clients, our approach to concept, research, exhibition design, narrative, and interpretation is constantly evolving. Viewer engagement is our strength.
More than matching pictures and cushions, a powerful curatorial narrative speaks to a guest’s heart and imagination – this is the approach of Wilhelm Finger & Melita Skamnaki, the dynamic duo behind Double Decker.
Successfully balancing an outward and inward perspective; the cosmopolitan and local, the twosome creates moments of wonder once synonymous with travel and exploration. Engaging local creative community’s they create bespoke pieces that become curiosity piquing talking points, and more, are reflective of a city’s spirit. With notable projects including the art & design experience of the design hotel group PURO.
OUR STORY
When a Creative Director with a storyteller’s brain and a Fashion Art Director with a keen visual eye, meet on a renowned Masters Curatorial program, sparks fly and good things happen – like the birth of Double Decker, a buzzing studio in East London. For the past 7 years, Wilhelm Finger & Melita Skamnaki, the dynamic duo behind Double Decker, have been lightning rods for inspiration in the worlds of hospitality and culture.
From Athens to Rio, the duo have nurtured creative collaborators and masterfully woven powerful narratives in projects ranging from the development of a hotel’s art & design experience to the creation of signature design objects.
CLIENTS
Conran, Hyatt International, PURO Hotels, Battersea Power Station, Greenwich
Peninsula, Barbican Blake Tower, Design Museum, Onasis Cultural Centre, Oscar
Neimeyer Museum.
Διαβάστε περισσότερα για το 2ο Συνέδριο Αρχιτεκτονικής και Τουρισμού, που θα πραγματοποιηθεί στη Ρόδο στις 21 και 22 Οκτωβρίου, εδώ
και κατεβάστε το brief ή δηλώστε συμμετοχή σε αυτό το σύνδεσμο.
Δείτε το πρόγραμμα των εισηγήσεων και τους ομιλητές στο 2ο Συνέδριο Αρχιτεκτονικής και Τουρισμού εδώ!
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