Introduction - Hotel lobbies: anonymous domesticity and public discretion

Introduction to the book 'Hotel Lobbies and Lounges: The Architecture of Professional Hospitality' which was co-edited by Tom Avermaete and Anne Massey.

This series investigates the historical, theoretical and practical aspects of interiors. The volumes in the Interior Architecture series can be used as handbooks for the practitioner and as a critical introduction to the history of material culture and architecture.

Hotels occupy a particular place in popular imagination. As a place of exclusive sociability and bohemian misery, a site of crime and murder and as a hiding place for illicit liaison, the hotel has embodied the dynamism of the metropolis since the eighteenth century.

This book explores the architectural significance of hotels throughout history and how their material construction has reflected and facilitated the social and cultural practices for which they are renowned. Contemporary developments in the planning and design of hotels are addressed through a series of interviews and case studies.

Illustrated throughout, this book is an innovative and important contribution to architectural and interior design theory literature.