Urbanity Concept - Interaction of Hotels and Urban Environment
Abstract: The question of the significance of hotels as physical and functional elements of the structure of the city is rising nowadays when we are witnessing a high mobility in tourism, business, science and research. This boom brings the cities the pluses and cons. In the paper we focus mainly on the interaction of the hotel’s position with the function and form, in the sense of optimizing aspects supporting the hotel’s urbanity in the central city zone of Bratislava. The boundary of hotel intimacy and public accessibility, which is crucial for the city’s life, will be explored. The analysis of hotels in the context of the urban environment will take place in two forms, in which the architectural and social aspects of individual hotels will be evaluated in relation to the public space. The aim is to monitor and analyze urban and architectural elements of city hotels, on the basis of which it is possible to confirm, respectively to refute the urban, city-openness of hotels, as the hotel as a phenomenon is composed of private rooms, but also semi-public and public spheres. Research factors to be investigated will be: urban integration of the hotel in the context of the city, relation of the hotel to the corresponding public spaces (Nolli maps), activity and permeability of the parterre (hotel lobby), hotel versatility, horizontal or vertical zoning of the hotel. The comparison of the results of the research methods used will serve as a basis for the evaluation of aspects affecting the quality of the hotel in relation to the public space. Is the hotel turning its back to the city? Or the other way? What is the hotel’s urbanity?
