David Rockwell on storytelling and the art of creating shared spaces at hotels

“One of the things is how design creates community and there’s a kind-of amazing mash up that happens in a hotel. It’s a combination of many different things, public space—which ties into our interest in how hotels can be very much a part of their community and looking at cities from the inside out.

When you visit a city now, travelers may not say “I’m visiting New York,” they may say, “I’m visiting the Greenwich” or “I’m visiting the Wythe.” I think hotels have taken on more of a destination, which I think is a reemergence of what hotels had been historically, social hubs….I think it’s a combination of storytelling that engages us and creating places that are a shared experience. It’s the same reason I’m interested in theater, I think hotels restaurants and theaters are all shared experiences.”