International. The InterContinental Davos Hotel was inaugurated in 2013 but in the middle of the following year the company that managed it merged and a new management had to be found. Now, the swiss city's most unique building struggles to survive.
Among the most celebrated guests who passed through the InterContinental Davos Hotel are Bono and American actress Goldie Hawn, as well as Benjamin Netanyahu and Tony Blair, President of Israel and former Prime Minister of England, respectively. Its location on high ground on the outskirts of the center, added to its unique façade and its slightly oval shape (which is why it was baptized as the "Golden Egg") contributed to generate its status as the epitome of the exclusive, within a city that brings together once a year the cream of world economic power.
The hotel, which was designed by the German studio Oikios GmbH, quickly encountered heavy obstacles. The real estate company Stilli Park AG, in charge of managing the venture, filed for bankruptcy in June 2014, just six months after its inauguration. While a new administration was achieved, the feasibility of the project is still up for debate. It is that after the World Economic Forum, which was recently held in Davos, the city of 13 thousand people does not have major events or attractions that demand large numbers of luxury rooms.
According to Karl Wild, author of an annual study on the best establishments in Switzerland, "Davos dies in the spring and summer." "Hotels get between 20 and 30% of their annual revenue during the Forum," he explained in a note with the Bloomsberg site. In fact, it was because of the World Economic Forum's need for greater luxury facilities that it was decided to build the $175 million project in the first place. The fate of the InterContinental Davos Hotel will be, in some ways, the thermometer to determine if more buildings of this type will be made.
As for the design, the intention of the architects was to reflect in the work the serenity of the environment. The smooth and bright façade, composed of 791 curved steel panels built individually, is the most complete reflection of this idea and the most important authorial seal of the building.
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