The Morpheus Hotel, dream packaging in China
After almost six years of work, the Morpheus Hotel, the 5th entity of the City of Dreams or City of Dreams (COD) of Macau, China, has opened its doors. Designed by Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA), the volume encompasses a series of luxury services.
Located in Asian Las Vegas, Macao Autonomous Region, the COD complex sets up a common platform, a three-story podium connecting five hotel towers. The latest addition to this agglomeration is the Morpheus, signed by the famous ZHA cabinet. Indeed, the foundations of the project were already in place before the arrival of the designers, because of an earlier design that did not progress. Thanks to this constraint, the hotel had its footprint on the ground and its predetermined mass, leading the architects to move towards sculptural work by way of shaping the existing. Inspired by the size of jade stones, the monolithic and rectangular block reveals its playful character in the fluid form of the three voids of its central atrium. This organic gesture generates a dialogue between the interior of the building and the city. In addition, it increases the size of the space, as well as the dramatic scenography of the place. The load-bearing exoskeleton, dense in patterns on the lower floors and more spaced in height, allows total release of internal structural elements. The building, 40 floors and 130 meters high, contains 770 rooms, play areas, multipurpose rooms and restaurants by starred chefs, including Alain Ducasse and Pierre Hermé.
