Artek making sense!
Thesis: Elämyksellinen tila kaikille aisteille, Case Hotelli Kerta, Artek
The purpose of the thesis was to create a spatial concept for multisensory experiencing of a brand. We came up with a hotel concept that offers its public areas as a social hub for hotel guests and citizens of Helsinki to meet and exchange ideas.
We chose Artek as the brand for our case study, and the spatial concept was built around its brand image. The work consists of three parts. In the first part, we researched topics that are linked closely to our hotel: urban design, trends, service design, contemporary Finnish design, and multisensory brand construction.
The second part of the work was in-depth interviews with a panel consisting of sensory specialists, brand gurus, service experts and urbanists. In addition to associative questions about Artek, the panelists shared their best hotel- or space-related experiences. Based on the interviews, we were able to form three deductions for every sense, and these deductions are used as a frame for the aesthetic concept of our hotel. In the third part, we present our hotel concept which implements the aesthetic frame constructed from the analysis of associations.
The hotel building itself has different types and sizes of rooms to meet the varying needs of hotel guests. One particular room type was chosen to host two different interiors. Our aim was to illustrate the aesthetic theme by using only products by Artek or Finnish design. The intention was to demonstrate how a particular concept can produce two entirely different interior plans serving different users and purposes. In addition, we have defined a new role for the hotel’s public areas: to act as a social medium and a showroom for Finnish design.
The service concept of the hotel is structured to create a partnership between Helsinki and its citizens. Hotel Kerta is ready to be built, down to the last little detail!
