Dome

Interior, lobby entrance, curved wood lathe wall and Mid-Century Modern style furniture by John Pawson; Part of the Hoteles Silken hotel chain. While the facade (and 12th floor) is the work of the French architect Jean Nouvel, each of the hotel's 12 floors from the elevator lobbies down to the blankets and bathrobes has been conceived by powerhouse architects and design studios, among them Arata Isozaki, Norman Foster, Marc Newson, Ron Arad, Richard Gluckman, Javier Mariscal, Victorio & Lucchino and Zaha Hadid. With public spaces like the Black Tears restaurant designed by Christian Liaigre and the underground garage by Teresa Sapey, the Puerta América can bill itself as "12 floors with 19 stars." The facade is covered with a rainbow of vinyl panels acting as brise-soleils (sun shades). When unfurled, the screens reveal phrases from Paul Éluard's poem "Freedom." Source: New York Times [online archive]; http://www.nytimes.com/ref/membercenter/nytarchive.html (accessed 5/7/2013)