Hospitality Design - January/February 2012 - 79

San

Francisco-based

design

ﬁrm Puccini Group has also been busy in the capital, working on two restaurants at the Dusit Devarana hotel, as well as the ballroom space. Robert Polacek, Puccini Group’s chief creative ofﬁcer, says that the threemeal restaurant, with its metal canopy trees, hammered bronze, and backlit amethyst is deﬁned by “high-polished metals, woods, and lots of beautiful stonework. The artisans there are unbelievable.” The Thai restaurant meanwhile is an interpretation of the ﬁve senses. “Imagine a tent-like structure,” Polacek points out. “We separated it into ﬁve spaces; the Thai silk breaks down the taste levels into colors [and] the screened areas create intimate spaces.” Beyond the Dusit Devarana is also projects, on Delhi Puccini Lodhi Group Colony, set working

Opposite page,: At the Grand Hyatt Goa, airy rooms overlook the Zuari River. This page, from above: The recently opened Hilton Chennai blends Tamil and European influences through highlights such as a stone inlay floor; the 7,500-square-foot Tata Suite at the Taj Palace Hotel New Delhi features Hadji revival carpets and a 16-seat boardroom.

downtown

restaurant

in a residential neighborhood that looks to the West for inspiration. To incorporate Goan and Mediterranean ﬂair, with sleek sophistication top of mind, Polacek turned to traditional Goan homes—“it’s usually two to three stories, with the top ﬂoor a roof with a semi-enclosed space that allows you to enjoy a breeze”—and furniture, using, for example, a woven teak wall and handpainted tiles to create space and texture instead of artwork. Throughout the space, slate ﬂoors and tree lanterns mingle with ceramic stools and backlit white Corian. Nunzio DeSantis, executive vice president and director of Dallas-based HKS Hill Glazier Studio, is in the midst of working on a project outside of Goa, nestled above the shoreline with private bungalows, low walls comprised of natural stone from cliffs, and guestrooms facing gardens. “We’re using beautiful patterned tiles, pottery, and basket weaving, and interpreting them in a very interesting manner. It’s

culture to create a timeless design that blends modern and bespoke concepts with Indian art, craftsmanship, and design, using local artisans and material sources.” The star of Taj Palace New Delhi’s recent renovation is the swank 7,500-square-foot Tata Suite, designed by David Edwards in the Singapore ofﬁce of James Park Associates, complete with a 16-seat boardroom and Jiva spa room. Here, zebrawood and Hadji revival carpets meld with oversized tufted leather headboards and Murano glass chandeliers.

all out there—it’s how you see it and undress it and get to the essence of the graphic,” he says. As for working in India, “It’s like you have Asia, Southeast Asia, and then India; it’s one of a kind,” says DeSantis. “They are really growing their country quickly and almost overnight it’s changed. You’ll see an oxcart with chickens stuffed in the back and then you’ll see a ﬁne new building that is just so posh and elegant and ﬁnely attired. It’s such a signiﬁcant contradiction to a country that has arrived but hasn’t.”

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