Michigan Avenue - Niche Media - Michigan Avenue magazine is a luxury lifestyle magazine centered around Chicago’s finest people, events, fashion, health & beauty, fine dining & more!
Issue link: http://digital.greengale.com/i/861960
PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF THE RITZ-CARLTON, CHICAGO The reimagined lobby of The Ritz-Carlton, Chicago beckons with a central lounge space above which hangs the striking custom-made sculpture The Flying Wave, meant to evoke the waters of Lake Michigan. THE RITZ, REBORN ONE OF THE CITY'S MOST LEGENDARY HOTELS DEBUTS A DRAMATICALLY REDESIGNED LOBBY JUST IN TIME FOR FALL. BY J.P. ANDERSON Even icons need a makeover every so often, and The Ritz-Carlton, Chicago has just undergone a doozy: a two-phase, nine-month renovation more extensive than any since the luxe hotel opened on the Mag Mile in 1975. While the project touched all corners of the historic property—from revitalizing the spa to adding the Ritz-Carlton Club Lounge—its pièce de résistance is the hotel's just- unveiled new lobby, which has been transformed into what may be one of the most stylish public spaces in the city. "It's all about celebrating the vertical," notes lead designer Billy Quimby, principal at San Francisco design firm BAMO, of the reimagined space, which beckons with discrete bar and dining areas and a central lounge, above which floats the room's showstopper, by Prague-based Lasvit: The Flying Wave, a sculp- ture whose four types of hanging handmade glass pieces are designed to evoke the undulating waters of Lake Michigan. Soaring windows, mirrored columns, and a bustling rear café space complete the picture, culminating in a grand, sweeping room befitting the brand. Sums up hotel GM Peter Simoncelli, "The new lobby will bring people together in a way it has never been able to before." 160 E. Pearson St., 312-266-1000; ritzcarlton.com/chicago . MICHIGANAVEMAG.COM 131 SPACE REAL ESTATE & DESIGN