Famous French architect Jean Nouvel continues to argue against generalist architecture. Nouvel has presented in October 2009 one of his latest works, the Pavilion B at Genoa’s Salone Nautico. With an impressive lesson on aesthetics, Nouvel, who holds the Pritzker Prize 2008, has accounted for the basics of his accomplishment: he aimed to insert the edifice within the urban and social backdrop of the city of Genoa.

Certainly, from the vantage point of the sea, the edifice is in harmony with the water and the boats that are moored. An analogous idea can be felt by looking at other of Nouvel’s achievements such as the Muse Quai Branly in Paris, the Akbar Tower in Barcelona and the improvement of Colle Val d’Elsa in Tuscany. Nouvel affirms to be against the so-called “carbon copy cities” in an interview appeared in La Repubblica, Italy, led by Renata Fontanelli on October 12th 2009, and of which are some lines roughly rendered in English here:

“These days one cannot tell the difference from San Paolo in Brazil from Dubai or Shanghai from Milan because it is as if the designers do not take into consideration the distinctiveness of each urban agglomeration . Architects do not seem to look at the light, the wind, the water, the history and the culture that make every city, be it small or large, inimitable. [...] Today,” wraps up Nouvel, “modern architecture lies in the relation with its context.”

This vision is in conformity with the contemporary traveler’s increasing attention to boutique hotels. To be sure, in the past 20 years the market of boutique hotels has experienced an extraordinary development and this is conceivably due to the fact that people are looking to a greater extent for a hotel that may provide them with a touch of the city’s essence, rather than picking a “carbon copy hotel”, a “big box” the likes of which you could find in any other city.

Just like a “boutique” in French describes a small upscale shop to distinguish it from a big department store, likewise a boutique hotel is different from a large Hotel Chain, which has typically standardized features and looks. Boutique hotels are likely to render the flavor of the location where it is set and it is a one-of-a-kind experience.

In a world that is becoming more and more standardized, where merchandise, shops, restaurants, indeed society broadly speaking is developing into a homogenized body, boutique hotels are a guiding light for variety and originality.

David Maranzana has founded Epoque Hotels and Avantgarde Hotels, a showcase of boutique hotels in the major destinations worldwide.