My Summer Lair Chapter #99: What Makes A Hotel Relevant?
So if you’ve been to a Raptors game in the last couple of years, or really…just wandered the streets of Toronto, you’ve seen the We The North campaign.
We The North was designed by Sid Lee as “a multidisciplinary global creative agency of brand builders recognized for designing culture-driven communications and experiences.”
Basically they create cool stuff for clients like the Raptors, adidas, and in the case of my guest, dynamic and creative work for W Hotel, Fairmont, The Queen Elizabeth Hotel, and Four Seasons Hotel. My guest is architect Martin Leblanc, who helped build Sid Lee Architecture, which approaches projects from a multidisciplinary perspective.
Based in Montreal (hence my lousy French at the end of the interview) Martin was in Toronto to speak at the Interior Design Show on: Designing Spaces and Generating Lasting Experiences: How the Designer’s Role has Evolved.
An excerpt of the talk blurb: “In this seminar, Sid Lee Architecture will share the secrets of being an architecture firm affiliated with a multidisciplinary creative agency, allowing it to innovate in the way they think about, develop, and realize their projects. Discussions will also include ways in which participants can elevate their practice, particularly in developing key partnerships.”
Sadly I didn’t have time to talk about his adidas work: The Sanctuary in Boston (73 Newbury Street! On on of Boston’s most iconic streets.) but we get into all the fun working on hotels and what it means to be relevant.
