'Luxury is now for everyone': Ian Schrager launches Public hotel in New York

– Ian Schrager
The hotly-anticipated new hotel by Ian Schrager has opened in New York’s Bowery neighbourhood, in a building designed by Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron.
According to the pioneering hotelier, the 367-room Public will be “the people’s hotel,” providing unique memories for guests looking for more than just a place to sleep.
“I truly believe that everyone deserves a one-of-a-kind experience that lifts their spirits and makes their heart beat faster, one that elicits an emotional response,” he said.
“Luxury is no longer about things or how much something costs. It’s not a business classification, a price point or based on scarcity. Luxury is now about experiences and how something makes you feel. Luxury is being democratised and is now for everyone.”
He has described the interiors, by the Ian Schrager Company, as “personal, provocative and flamboyant”, while paradoxically simple and modest; a style designed to resonate with all generations and make them feel like they’re “at home, but better.”.
“It’s not shabby chic, retro, industrial, reclaimed or the ubiquitous Brooklyn look,” he explained. “It’s simplicity as the ultimate sophistication. There’s no pretence. It’s invisible design done with honesty, conviction, love and passion.”
The rooms are designed “like cabins in a yacht, where you have everything you need and want, and nothing extraneous.” The hotel’s public spaces have been created to “connect work, leisure, fun and culture.”
Public also has private apartments with interiors designed by John Pawson.
The hotel’s amenities include French chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s Public Kitchen; a cafe; three bars; landscaped gardens; multiple communal workspaces; private event rooms, and a number of observation points with 360-degree views of New York.
Public Arts – a “progressive, avant-garde multimedia performance space” – will host film screenings, theatrical and dance productions, art exhibitions, lectures, readings and comedy nights.
Earlier this year Schrager won the 2017 Pioneer Award from the International Society of Hospitality Consultants for his work in the hotel industry and his longstanding support for design-led properties.
A statement announcing the opening of Public read: “There’s not been a new idea in the lifestyle hotel space since Ian Schrager’s Morgans, Royalton and Paramount hotels over 25 years ago. Every hotel since then has been derivative of those.”
Expanding on this, Schrager said: “I’m always looking for a new and better way of doing things to upset the status quo and shake things up.”
Ian Schrager Herzog and de Meuron Public New York hotel design



Ian Schrager wins prestigious Pioneer Award for his role in boutique hotel boom
Ian Schrager opens first Chinese hotel with its own man-made 'private ocean'
Marriott and Ian Schrager to take Edition brand to Iceland with design by Mannvit and T.ark architects
Hotelier Ian Schrager: “I’m a social scientist”


Seventh International Museum Construction Congress to be held in Norway this year

The 'world's most anticipated museum' to finally open this year

Nike's Serena Williams Building, designed by Skylab, follows the concept of flow

Saudi Arabia's Neom mega-development to include 100-mile long 'horizontal skyscraper city'

David Adjaye and Ralph Appelbaum selected for £57m International Slavery Museum and Maritime Museum project

Virgin Active opens at Milan’s sleek new Bocconi University by SANAA

Swedish architects Wingårdhs create year-round resort with waterpark and hotel for Liseberg

Juneteenth Museum by Bjarke Ingels Group has been designed to inspire spiritual uplift

BIG and HOK's timber concept wins Zurich Airport competition

Christoph Ingenhoven reveals Lanserhof Sylt, featuring the largest thatched roof in Europe

BIG's designs Prague concert hall to be vibrant centre of life

Mather & Co-designed Gretna Green Experience opens to the public

Project to save last major bellfoundry which cast bells for St Paul's and Washington National Cathedral

Perkins & Will reveals designs for net-zero sports and cultural centre in Toronto

World’s first living waterslides announced for Therme Manchester

Heatherwick reveals Volcano-inspired opera house designs for Hainan

Natural history museum planned for Abu Dhabi

Controversial London music venue, MSG Sphere, gets full planning permission

Clifford's Tower opens to the public after £5m redevelopment

Clifford's Tower opens to the public after £5m redevelopment

Glasgow's iconic Burrell Collection reopens after five-year, £68.5m revamp

SB Architects delivers Ritz-Carlton Reserve in Costa Rica with tree-house spa and private residences

Ole Scheeren designs vertical jungle resort complex in China

Designer Brian d’Souza launches Swell to create evocative soundscapes for physical environments

Basalt Architects create geothermal Forest Lagoon in the wilds of Iceland

Hot Pickle design £73m Guinness visitor attraction for Diageo in London

Amsterdam's new digital art centre Fabrique des Lumières will use tech to bring art alive

Pharrell Williams to launch tropical Bahamian beach resort

Banyan Tree curating solar-powered wellness retreat on private Mozambican island

Dubai Expo hits 10 million visits
From parks designed to mitigate the effects of flooding to warming huts for one of the world’s coldest cities, these projects have been designed for increasingly extreme climates