Unusual Materials

Unusual Materials

Hotels are an important of today’s society. Much of the time, when people travel, they cannot make the entire trip in one day. In this case, a person would have to stay in a hotel. Hotels have a lot of traffic coming through them every day and with that kind of traffic, the building must be large and able to withstand a lot of different situations. Hotels do not have to be ugly though. They can be made very interesting.

An interesting hotel is the Urbn Hotel. It is different because it uses common materials in unusual ways. The Urbn hotel is located in Shanghai, China. This hotel in China is also a unique hotel in that 100% of its materials are recycled. Ever since this hotel was opened in 2007, it has been a wonderful example of solar design and energy efficient design. Having an entire hotel that is so eco-friendly, is definitely not something that you see all the time.

 When it is said that the entire hotel is eco-friendly, it is not an understatement. One of the best uses of a recycled material in the hotel is located at the front desk. Behind the front desk is a very unique wall covering, suitcases. Yes, you read it correctly, suitcases. Whoever designed this wall has taken sides and tops of old suitcases and arranged them on the wall to create an interesting wall covering. It is very smart because a suitcase is something that almost everyone brings into a hotel. It looks very unique and is very clever to associate suitcases with a wall covering. The original handles and belts are still intact on the suitcases, creating a wall that is so enticing that a person could just grab onto it.  

Suitcases made into a wall covering are a very unusual use of material but it is one that is unlike anything that you would be expecting when you walk into a hotel. Unusual materials really make the Urbn Hotel stand out from other hotels. This hotel makes the point that a hotel can be upscale, modern, and classy as well as being eco-friendly.

Works Cited

Bridgette Meinhold (12/08/10). Inhabit. Retrieved from http://inhabit.com/old-suitcaes-used-to-decorate-shanghai-urbn-hotel/