FANTASY LAND

Inside the world of design genius PHILIPPE STARCK, whose whimsical surprising creations continue to delight after more than 40 years

- STORY BY MARK C. O'FLAHERTY PORTRAIT BY JAMES BORT

IF THE SKY WAS THE LIMIT, what would Philippe Starck's fantasy hotel look like? The visionary creator, who has designed more than 10,000 distinct products, 220 architectural projects and, as of this summer, 43 hotels, knows precisely. It nearly happened. “It was going to be in a remote part of Iceland, in front of the sea,” says Starck from his James Bond-like “cave” office, high on a mountain in Portugal. “The location appealed to me first. It had a wow factor beyond the usual parameters. It couldn't be reached by car, only with a STOL, the tiny plane that can take off with 100 feet of runway. On one side of the hotel there was going to be a plane warehouse where you could enjoy a cocktail with the pilots; on the other side, a shipyard where small wooden boats were built and tested. There were going to be fireplaces everywhere for people to gather. The concept was to really take you elsewhere.” Disappointingly, the project hit a wall: “The guy I was working with turned out to be a little cuckoo.”

Starck's fully realized projects more than compensate for any missed opportunities. When he designed the Royalton in New York for hotelier Ian Schrager in 1988, he changed what a hotel could be. Sleep was just one of the experiences now on offer. “Boutique” was coined as a recurrent prefix. One of Schrager's closest friends, fashion designer Norma Kamali, remembers the first Starck-designed concepts: “You could be sure you'd always see something completely new,” she says. “Starck had a twinkle in his eye. Ian and Philippe changed the way people used hotels. It became an entertainment, and an experience worth copying by many.”