1967
No limits
Look up — and up , and up — at Dubai ’ s dramatic skyline , and much of the credit goes to hotels . Look 50 years back and 7,500 miles away for a possible inspiration : Atlanta architect John Portman . His Hyatt Regency Atlanta , with its soaring , 22-story atrium , broke through the ceiling of hotel design and was imitated repeatedly after its 1967 debut . “ When I set out to design the Hyatt Regency Atlanta , I was not focused on designing a hotel , I was determined to orchestrate an extraordinary guest experience ,” says Portman , still working in his 90s . “ The human response to the space — that is what drove the design .”
Michael Portman / The Portman Archives
September 2016 hotelsmag . com 45