*인더스트리얼 인테리어, 베니스 제너레이터 호스텔 Generator Hostels’ Contemporary Cool Hits Venice

여기 베니스르 만나는 특별한 방법 하나. 지역적 문화, 역사를 경제적인 금액? 에서 즐길 수 있는 공간을 생성하는 것에는 어떠한 방법이 있을까? 이러한 의문점에서 시작한 제너레이터 호스텔은 과거의 시간들이 현재의 공간 속에 투영된 다면적인 공간을 연출한다. 시간과 장소의 스펙트럼이 함축된 공간은 호스텔의 입지적 조건과 공간적 특징을 통해서 구현되며, 여기에 감각적인 현대적 디자인이 접목되어 독특한 분위기를 갖는 숙박시설로 완성된다.

수변가에 위치, 다리 하나로 산 마르코 가까이에 위치한 입지적 특징과 17세기 곡물창고를 개조; 베니스의 산업문화의 흔적을 고스란히 담고 있는 내외장재를 현재 공간 속에 노출, 복원 함으로써 이곳 호스텔만의 캐릭터를 구현한다.

유럽의 각도시마다 시리즈로 연계되는 제너레이터 호스텔은 비교적 저렴한 가격으로 각 지방을 여행하는 여행객들에게 안전한 숙식을 제공할 뿐만 아니라 고유한 문화적 정취로 느낄 수 있는 장소로 각광받고 있다.

reviewed by SJ

Venice may be the city of romance par excellence but it’s also one of the most expensive cities to visit; it’s long been debated whether paying up for accommodation in Venice is in fact money well spent. Now, and at last, there might just be a light at the end of the tunnel - for design-savvy travellers - who have always dreamt of visiting the city but have refused to pay an extortionate amount for the privilege.

In the last five years, a new generation of hostels offering luxury at low(er) prices has emerged on the hotel scene. An offshoot of Patron Capital, Generator Hostels first put in an appearance in London way back in 1995 - when the concept of low-cost cool didn’t even have a definition. Then the pioneer in affordable luxury, even today, its incredible handpicked quirky interiors and close attention to art and design that emphasises the soul of each location, has proved to be the envy of many other design hostels and low-cost boutique hotels. With its winning recipe, the Generator team soon knew it was onto a good thing and went to open hostels in other major European cities including Copenhagen, Hamburg, Dublin (and now Venice). Openings are also planned for Paris and Rome next year.

Although the design message on the Generator website may seem a little skewed, what with flashing alerts of various hostel events and pictures of twenty-somethings having the time of their life, the hostels actually appeal to almost anyone with an eye for design laced with a healthy dose of fun for good measure. Whether you’re a hipster, fashionista, backpacker, OAP, yummy mummy, banker or flashpacker, the Generator appeal reaches across all social classes and society’s subsections.

---

Getting back to Generator Venice, the hostel is set inside a converted 17th century grain warehouse and just as it claims on its website, it’s ''…much, much more than a hostel.'' Set right on the water’s edge on the island of Giudecca just across the water from San Marco, the red brick exterior of the oddly shaped building exudes typical Venetian industrial charm. Inside, a large lit-up sign that reads ‘GENERATOR’ hangs above the reception desk. Alluding more to a more speakeasy than hostel, the sign welcomes its guests into the building’s past life where original wooden beamed cloister ceilings, stone pillars and retro tiled floors take centre stage. 

As is the case with all the Generators’ interiors, Anwar Mekhayech of Toronto-based The Design Agency, carefully handpicked everything in the hostel. Before going any further, his design had to be approved by the city’s Fine Arts Committee (FAC). And it was.

Well-placed spotlights, distressed Chesterfield sofas, reclaimed tables and über-contemporary artworks were added into the mix as well as a scattering of Philippe Starck chairs, antique canteen tables that look like Venetian monks once ate at them, and there you have it: the complete Generator experience with a strong Venetian edge. Whether you prefer to call it old-world or new-world, each detail has been designed to catch the attention of its guests in every single nook and cranny. And this of course is the genius that lies in the Generator Hostels, because what is seriously lacking in the realm of modern hotels, hostels, B&Bs or boutique hotels is the identity of the place. Because if truth be told, most of the above have forgotten that hotels are inherently all about travel and discovery - not merely providing a fun, cool, pretty but entirely generic environment to rest one’s head at the end of the day. And that is where Generator differs entirely.

from  yatzer