Lobby living: the performance of lifestyle

This chapter considers the role of the hotel and in particular the lobby as a site of identity construction and a stage for the performance of lifestyle. The public spaces of the modern hotel and in particular the lobby, has since the inception of this building type in the nineteenth century, provided a place for the enactment of social relations and hierarchy. The lobby is analysed as a liminal space between inside and outside where people meet, wait and observe others. A space of possibility and indeterminacy, it has provided rich subject matter for artists, novelists and cultural commentators.

The above is one of a number of articles and conference papers that explore the significatory properties of hotel design and the language of institutional rhetoric. These ouputs consider the historical development of hotel architecture, the significance of art and artists for hotels and the growing importance of the lobby as an interstitial space - a site of spectacle and social ritual.

Related articles published since 2008 include:

Ryan, N. (2011) ‘Case Study 14: Gramercy Park Hotel’ in Massey, A. & Avermaete, T. (eds.) Hotel Lobbies and Lounges: The Architecture of Professional Hospitality, London: Routledge.

Ryan, N. (2008) ‘From Boutique to Boho: The Art of the Luxury Hotel’, in Jayne Caudwell, Steve Redhead, Alan Tomlinson (eds.) Relocating the Leisure Society: Media, consumption and spaces, LSA Publication No. 101, pp. 123-134.

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