Philippe Starck designs bizarre hotel
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It's a surrealist mash-up of ancient and modern: a contemporary tower with a charming 18th-century-style chateau perched on top. And you could stay there. (When it's been built, that is.)
This is the Maison Heler, a proposed hotel straight from the fertile brain of architect Philippe Starck.
It will be located in the French city of Metz, in the north-east of the country.
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Photo: Philippe Starck
The tower will house the bedrooms, while the fairytale chateau will act as a clubhouse, with a garden, terrace, restaurant and bar.
Starck has long been known for his innovative designs, but this one might be the biggest, boldest - and battiest - yet.
The idea, says Starck, is to create a "phantasmagoric architecture" that both respects the long history of Metz, and looks to the future.
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Photo: Philippe Starck
Metz is the capital of the province of Lorraine, which is on the borders of Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg.
Its history of battle with Germany means the area is full of fortified country houses, or chateaux, whose architectural traditions have inspired the new hotel.
The hotel will form part of the Hilton chain's Curio Collection, a portfolio of luxury hotels with their own unique characteristics.
They include everything from a desert hideaway in Arizona and a medieval Tuscan estate outside Siena, Italy, to a beautiful beach resort in Belize.
This one, though, is definitely the weirdest.
