Morgans

The creation of the ‘boutique’ hotel concept, is often credited to Ian Schrager’s early collaborations with Philippe Starck at The Royalton and The Paramount in New York. In fact, the blueprint for the boutique hotel was set down in an earlier Schrager collaboration with a different French designer, on another New York hotel. When Andrée Putman designed her dynamic black and white contemporary interior for the opening of Ian Schrager’s Morgans Hotel on Madison Avenue and 37th Street in 1983, the seeds were sown for a revolution within the hotel industry.
Now, a full quarter of a century later, Andrée Putman has returned to Morgans, some thirteen years since her last 1996 refurbishment of the property, to once again update its interiors for new owners The Morgans Hotel Group.

“To have interiors crafted by the indisputable talent of Andrée Putman not once, not twice but three times makes Morgans one of the most covetable and remarkable of hotels currently operating in the marketplace,“ says Fred Kleisner, CEO of Morgans Hotel Group. “Morgans represents for us the first and the most audacious hotel in our portfolio – this is the property that so famously and successfully introduced the concept of the ‘boutique hotel’ to the world of hospitality.
“Who in the world would have guessed that I knew there was something missing, a warmth, a spirit that had to be revised?” says Putman. “There are a few beautiful details I want to add to the piece, so it’s being done, but as if it had always been there.”

Putman’s original monochromatic black and white design has been reinterpreted with rich gradations of white, gray and black tones. These tones are repeated in the details of each guestroom, from grey slip-covered headboards to original black and white Robert Mapplethorpe photographs by famous photographers.
Signature Morgans’ design elements such as guestroom alcoves overlooking city views have been retained. New additions include an art installation, commissioned by Ms. Putman, created by the French design collective Trafik, and installed on the lobby ceiling behind a stretched white barisol canvas. The aesthetic of this installation emulates the classic grid-like pattern of the original Escher-style carpet, but guests can programme it with different motifs and colours at the touch of a button.

Armchairs and foldable lacquered tables by the 1930’s designer Jean-Michel Frank feature in the lobby, while the soft lighting of the elevators and corridors are described by Putman as being “like the streetlights in a Scorsese movie.”

Rooms remain the same architecturally but have new titanium, grey and aluminium colour schemes, and furnishings including grey-tone carpets, twirling ribbon-like sofas and La Notte bedside lamps. Armchairs are upholstered in wool and detailed with stitches like a bespoke suit. Corian tables are inlaid with metal. Putman has also created a new lacquered aluminum chair, produced by Emeco, described as ‘the soul mate’ of the Mallet-Stevens chair she specified for the original Morgans. Putman also designed the ‘Pillow Fight’ sofa used in the penthouse alongside small pieces by Bourroulec and Marcel Wanders. Lighting includes a suspended piece by Serge Mouille and a Putman-designed Compas dans l’Oeil lamp. Finally, the table, ‘Tribute to Jean-Pierre Raynaud’, echoes the iconic black and white tiling of the  bathrooms.

 MORGANS
237 Madison Ave New York,
New York 10016
Tel. 212 686 0300
www.morganshotel.com

113 rooms & suites
Food: Asia de Cuba
Drinks: Living Room
Facilities: Meeting & Event Spaces