ABSTRACT
The hotel lobby is a product of Western modernity. The anonymity of the hotel lobby – a space for circulation and display, for booking into a private bedroom, for hiding and being discreet, for lounging and waiting, for personal transformation – is a relatively recent type of architectural space that blurs boundaries between the public and the private. This is an interior form that is packed with potential – an anonymous place, the site of exclusion or inclusion, where public and private are divided, the life of the street and the exclusivity of the luxury hotel are clearly signalled by the hotel lobby (fig. 2.1). But it is a particular public space that is non-domestic and private at the same time. The client is a guest of the hotel and adopts the correct clothing and mannerisms, and is accepted into a private enclave of the foyer, which draws on representations of the home. This belies the historical roots of the hotel in the guest house, a home that was opened up for paying guests. The hotel is now open to anyone who has the financial resources to pay for a drink, a meal, a room or a suite. This gives a rich mix of strangers, but a mix that has been preselected by the revolving door and concierge at the entrance.
