ARCHITECTURE / INTERIOR DESIGN
Ruy Ohtake
Joćo Armentano
Dark glass and a desert garden of mini, sandy-coloured cubes of rock, palms and agaves are the first impressions that the hotel offers. A kind of urban artwork, the sculptural modern architecture and overall originality designed by Ruy Ohtake and Joao Armentano certainly make the Unique one of a kind.
A prodigy of craftsmanship, the spacey, green weathered copper adorns the faēade that stretches across the unusual shape of the building created by a large inverted arch with circular windows. Located in the well-heeled residential area of Jardins in Sao Paulo, the dazzling building rises like a gracious ocean liner from a sea of dry-dock. The reception area and adjacent bar The Wall are both lit by a huge wall of transparent glass during the day and otherwise indirectly illuminated by walls of beige marble. Sharp geometric forms throughout give the spectacle an even grander sense of clarity. Dramatic 80-ft high hollows and corridors in the interior define the curved design that is continued inside the rooms, where there are no right angles at all.
A massive bed stitched from dozens of velvet tubes that shimmers in purple, dark blue and green placed right in the middle of the guestrooms ensures guests that the hotel stays true to its name in the private areas as well. A carefully choreographed spectrum of circles and squares, ellipses and sine curves flow in and out of each other, creating the design language of the Unique softened by wooden flooring, sleek white furnishings and transparent glass tables and fittings. Unusual accessories picked up from around the globe underline the concept even further. The rooms, a blend of hi-tech details and natural elements, are a study in ultra-cool modernism. The Unique definitely makes for a singular experience in Sao Paulo, indeed a unique city in its own right.