Diana Fang | Hyatt Regency Hotel (John Portman)

Designer : John Portman
Location : San Francisco
Type : Hotel
Construction: 1973
Floor Area: 863,400 sq ft

Height: 253 ft

Fans of the atrium can thank architect John Portman and Hyatt Hotels for reintroducing this design element to US hotels with his large, open-expanse hotel lobbies. Glass elevators allow guests to view the enclosed open space while being lifted to the room floor. On top of the hotel sat a revolving restaurant, but it no longer revolves, and is no longer a restaurant open to the public. It's now a private club / concierge floor for hotel guests.

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The atrium holds the Guinness world record (as of 2012) for the largest hotel lobby.
The flowing water and hanging strands of light create an imaginative space. Portman has designed something ordered, but its monumentality invites a sense of futurism that breaks out of the box.
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The Eclipse sculpture by Charles Perry is a a gold-colored sphere, a pentagonal dodecahedron with the faces spiraling outward — composed of gold-colored, interlacing aluminum tubes.
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A criticism of the Portman hotel is that it is a self-contained neo-futuristic temple within an urban environment, inward-facing, with no regard to the street-level population. Its homogeneity does not lend itself to a dynamic experience for residents of the city. However, it is an incredibly powerful aesthetic for those who inhabit the hotel, despite the austerity of its concrete design.