Seeing this picture come to life

Sep 18, 2019 | PERSPECTIVE

I will not be able to adequately express the emotion I had seeing this picture come to life. While a muted morning sun slanted through tall windows, I was sitting in the lobby corner wiling my time away waiting for my son with a hot cup of java at the ready. I had already been in the hotel for four days, but had not seen this angle from my comings and goings. As soon as I saw it on my screen I knew what it reminded me of: the Temples of Karnak and Luxor which I had the privilege of visiting as a young child. The column capitals are reminiscent of a papyrus, an aquatic plant from the banks of the Nile River that could grow up to 15 feet tall and was the ancient forefather of our very own paper. The fan sconces were a non too subliminal push to understanding this, but where Kelly Wearstler’s genius socked me in my guts was in her application of the flooring. The papyrus plant is very much reminiscent of a sunbrella, and here the parquet has been laid as if we look down to the sand and see the skeleton of the umbrella shading and saving us from a sun beating. To find, interpret and instill timelessness in design takes an immensely thorough mind, a world class time traveller, a road worthy warrior and an uncanny knack for translation and adaptation. Dammit Kelly, as a design creative, it’s a bit of an ego knock seeing, feeling, witnessing and staying in any one of your sandboxes.