Bo ok Pr ev i ew
HOTEL
Hotel Rooms + Travel Sketches (67 Rooms sketched on location by measuring)
Mike Yoshiaki Daikubara
Copyright Š 2012 Mike Yoshiaki Daikubara Designed, printed and bound in the United States of America. All rights reserved. No part of this book (except small portions for review purposes) may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electric or mechanical, including photocopying and recording or by any information storage, or retrieval system, without permission from the author. For information please contact: mike@daikubara.com I’d like to give a special thanks to my friend Judy Nagle for proof reading my 1st draft. Also a special thanks to my wife Kana for giving me many suggestions for the book and on top of that having the patience to wait for me while I sketched all these rooms!
I’m also an Urban Sketcher! www.urbansketchers.org
Forward
There’s a scene from one of my favorite movies by Jim Jarmusch called “Mystery Train” (1989) where a young Japanese couple checks into a Memphis hotel and the guy starts taking pictures of the room: Girl: Why do you only take pictures of the rooms we stay in and never what we see outside while we travel? Guy: Those other things are in my memory. The hotel rooms and the airports are the things I’ll forget. For some reason I really loved this scene and thought it was so true. I’ve already been sketch-
ing at airports for years and it’s been an excellent way to remember. This movie wasn’t the only influence but I also started to sketch hotel rooms too. I began sketching the rooms by first observing, then I started to carry around measuring devices to capture it more accurately. Whether the trip was personal or business related and no matter how tired I was from working all day or how early I had to wake up in the morning, I measured and sketched the rooms. This almost became “mandatory” as something I had to do and I’m glad I did. 6 years and over 60 hotel rooms later, I can vividly remember all the details about each trip. Since I’m “addicted”, I’ll definitely continue to capture the hotel rooms I stay in the future. I hope you enjoy my sketches and stories as I have traveled the world.
Mike D May 9th, 2012
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Table of Contents TOC
4
64 Hotel Rooms, 2 Apartments & 1 Sketch Process
Date
Hotel Name
Web
Country
Location
01
2006 December 9th
Hyatt Arlington
Http://arlington.hyatt.com/
USA
Washington DC
02
2006 December 25th
Hotel Metro
Http://www.hotelmetronyc.com/
USA
New York City
03
2007 March 25th
Grand Hotel Isoya
Http://www.grandhotel-isoya.co.jp/
Japan
Choshi, Chiba
04
2007 April 4th
Kotohira Sankaku
Http://www.kotosankaku.jp/
Japan
Kagawa-ken
05
2007 May 5th
Double Tree Hotel
Http://doubletree1.hilton.com/
USA
Philadelphia, PA
06
2007 May 13th
W Chicago Center
Http://www.starwoodhotels.com/
USA
Chicago, IL
07
2007 June 11th
University Hotel/ Radisson
Http://universityhotelminneapolis.com/
USA
Minneapolis, MN
08
2007 June 21st
Embassy Suites
Http://embassysuites1.hilton.com/
USA
Schaumburg, IL
09
2007 July 31st
Penha Longa
Http://www.penhalonga.com/
Portugal
Sintra
10
2007 September 29th
Hampton Inn
Http://hamptoninn1.hilton.com/
USA
NYC/ JFK
11
2007 November 3rd
H么tel Ch芒teau Bellevue
Http://www.hotelchateaubellevue.com
Canada
Quebec City
12
2007 November 13th
Hotel Park Plaza
Http://www.bostonparkplaza.com/
USA
Boston, MA
13
2007 November 28th
Hampton Inn
Http://hamptoninn1.hilton.com/
USA
Joliet, IL
14
2007 December 9th
Double Tree Hotel
Http://doubletree1.hilton.com/
USA
Dana Point, CA
15
2008 January 7th
Hilton Tokyo
Http://www.hilton.co.jp/
Japan
Tokyo
16
2008 January 9th
Tokyo Dome Hotel
Http://www.tokyodome-hotels.co.jp/e/
Japan
Tokyo
17
2008 January 20th
Hilton Cologne
Http://www1.hilton.com/
Germany
Cologne
18
2008 January 21st
Sheraton Frankfurt
Http://www.starwoodhotels.com/sheraton
Germany
Frankfurt
19
2008 January 22nd
Best Western
Http://www.bestwestern.com/
Germany
Marburg
20
2008 January 23rd
City Class Hotel Savoy
Http://www.cityclass.de/
Germany
Haan
21
2008 January 24th
Quality Hotel
Http://www.quality-hotel-berlin-tegel.de/
Germany
Berlin
22
2008 January 31st
Marriott
Http://www.marriott.com/
USA
Cincinnati, OH
23
2008 March 20th
Hampton Inn
Http://hamptoninn1.hilton.com/
USA
Secaucus, NJ
24
2008 March 30th
Crown Plaza Hotel
Http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/crowneplaza/
USA
Niagara Falls, NY
25
2008 April 5th
Embassy Suites
Http://embassysuites1.hilton.com/
USA
Washington DC
26
2008 April 24th
Westin
Http://www.starwoodhotels.com/westin/
USA
Cincinnati, OH
27
2008 April 29th
Holiday Inn Dedham
Http://www.holidayinn.com/
USA
Dedham, MA
28
2008 April 30th
Holiday Inn Express
Http://www.hiexpress.com/
USA
Braintree, MA
2006 - 2012
29
2008 May 1st
Hampton Inn
Http://hamptoninn1.hilton.com/
USA
Braintree, MA
30
2008 May 7th
The Time
Http://www.thetimeny.com/
USA
New York City
31
2008 May 15th
Guggisberg Swiss Inn
Http://www.guggisbergswissinn.com/
USA
Holmes County, OH
32
2008 November 16th
Lodge at Chichen Itza
Http://www.mayaland.com/
Mexico
Yukatan
33
2008 November 17th
Hilton Cancun
Http://www.hilton.com/
Mexico
Cancun
34
2009 March 23rd
Mohegan Sun
Http//www.mohegansun.com/
USA
Uncasville, Connecticut
35
2009 April 10th
Orchards Hotel
Http://orchardshotel.com/
USA
Williamstown, MA
36
2009 May 24th
Delta Hotel
Http://www.deltahotels.com/
Canada
New Brunswick
37
2009 June 27th
Hilton Garden Inn
Http://hiltongardeninn.hilton.com/
USA
Portsmouth, NH
38
2009 July 12th
Double Tree Hotel
Http://doubletree1.hilton.com/
USA
Schaumburg, IL
39
2009 July 13th
Wingate Inn
Http://www.wingatehotels.com/
USA
Arlington Heights, IL
40
2009 September 12th
Grand Hyatt
Http://www.grandwashington.hyatt.com/
USA
Washington DC
41
2009 November 18th
Opus
Http://www.opushotel.com/
Canada
MontrĂŠal, Canada
42
2009 November 20th
Crowne Point
Http://www.crownepointe.com/
USA
Provincetown, MA
43
2009 December 6th
The Eton Hotel
Http://www.etonhotelshanghai.cn/
China
Shanghai
44
2009 December 8th
Landison Plaza Hotel
Http://www.landisonplazahotel.com.cn/
China
Hangzhou
45
2009 December 12th
Intercontinental Hotel
Http://www.hongkong.intercontinental.com
China
Hong Kong
46
2009 December 15th
Parkview Hotel
Http://www.parkviewhotel.com.cn/
China
Dongguang
47
2010 March 11th
Hotel Sunshine Tokushima
Http://www.hotel-sunshine.co.jp/
Japan
Tokushima
48
2010 July 30th
The Mark Spencer Hotel
Http://www.markspencer.com/
USA
Portland, OR
49
2010 August 8th
Intercontinental Hotel
Http://www.hongkong.intercontinental.com/
China
Hong Kong
50
2010 August 10th
Four Points
Http://www.starwoodhotels.com/fourpoints/
China
Shenzhen
51
2010 August 12th
Parkview Hotel
Http://www.parkviewhotel.com.cn/
China
Dongguang
52
2010 August 13th
The Mira
Http://www.themirahotel.com/
China
Hong Kong
53
2010 August 18th
Four Points
Http://www.starwoodhotels.com/fourpoints
China
Shenzhen
54
2010 August 20th
Harbour Plaza Metropolis
Http://www.harbour-plaza.com
China
Hong Kong
55
2010 September 24th
Residence Inn Marriott
Http://www.marriott.com/
USA
North Conway, NH
56
2010 November 25th
Monte Carlo
Http://www.montecarlo.com/
USA
Las Vegas, NV
57
2010 December 24th
MGM foxwoods
Http://www.foxwoods.com/
USA
Connecticut
58
2011 February 1st
Pelham Court
Http://pelhamcourthotel.com/
USA
Newport, RI
59
2011 February 3rd
Holiday Inn
Http://www.holidayinn.com/
USA
South Kingstown, RI
60
2011 April 16th
Novotel Hotel
Http://www.novotel.com/
Belgium
Brussels
61
2011 April 19th
Hotel Arena
Http://www.hotelarena.nl/
Holland
Amsterdam
62
2011 April 20th
Hotel V
Http://www.hotelv.nl/
Holland
Amsterdam
63
2011 April 23rd
Royal Windsor Hotel
Http://www.royalwindsorbrussels.com/
Belgium
Brussels
64
2012 January 6th
Menlo Park Inn
Http://www.menloparkinn.com/
USA
Menlo Park, CA
A
2005 - 2008
Carson Street Commons
Http://www.carsonstreetcommons.com/
USA
Pittsburgh, PA
B
2008 - 2011
Cliffwalk Apartments
Http://www.equityapartments.com
USA
Quincy, MA
C
2012 January 29th
Residence Inn Marriott
HTTP://www.marriott.com/residence-inn
USA
Portland, ME
2006 - 2012
5
Table of Contents
USA | CANADA MEXICO
06
22
08
26
31
24
A
05
41
37
11
42
55
36
13 38 39
CANADA
USA
MEXICO
64
6
48
14
56
07
32
33
35
34
58
12
57
59
27
01
02
25
10
40
23
28
30
29 B
C
Table of Contents
PORTUGAL | BELGIUM HOLLAND | GERMANY
HOLLAND GERMANY
BELGIUM
PORTUGAL
09
60
61
63
62
17
20
18
19
21
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Table of Contents
HONG KONG | CHINA JAPAN
JAPAN
CHINA
HONG KONG
46
50
45
51
53
49 52 54
8
44
43
04
47
15 16
03
Sketching Process Flow Chart START HERE How much time and concentration do I have? How interesting is the room? (Pick 1 approach) 1) Very little 2) Moderate 3) Lots
Check Into hotel
1
Is there a hotel stationary paper in the room?
2
3
Plan view
3/4 Perspective
1 Pt Perspective
Typical required time:
Typical required time:
Typical required time:
1 ~ 2 Hours
2 ~ 3 Hours
3 Hours ~
Yes
No
Call reception. Do they have one?
Yes. Pick up
No
Look for alternative paper. • Memo pad • Fax paper • Envelope Is it good enough?
Pick a scale that best fits the paper: • 1/8” = 1’ (1:96) • 3/16”= 1’ (1:64) • 1/4” = 1’ (1:48) * *This is the most commonly used scale
Yes
Start Sketching
No
Use plain paper brought from home?
Yes
No
Give up?
*Measure
Pencil
Erase
Ink
Color
*Details on section No
C
Stamp on Page 132
Complete!
9
Kotosankaku
04 2007
Mysterious Hidden Room? Kagawa-Ken, Japan Http://www.kotosankaku.jp/
My wife and I took a trip with my in-laws (Parents, Sister/ Brother in-law) to this place my father had been before that he really liked. During this trip I learned about ‘Ohenro’ (Which I later experienced in 47 ) and also learned to make Sanuki Style Udon by hand. The room was a spacious 12.5 Jyo (tatami) room with nice calligraphy, lamps and flowers as decoration. I began measuring the room to sketch and for some reason the measurements would not add up especially in the bathroom area. After careful observation it turned out that there was a small hidden area between the toilet and the bath tub especially made to conceal plumbing. I would have never found this out if I had not measured!
‘Udatsu’ in Wakimachi. The Japanese expression “Udatsu ga agaranai” originated from here.
Sketch done a few days earlier in Osaka “Statue of Taiyo” by Taro Okamoto
16
April 4th, 2007
17
Double Tree Hotel
05 2007
Diagonal Room and Lots of Art Philadelphia, PA Http://www.doubletree1.hilton .com
A small weekend trip to Philadelphia. This room had an unusual layout with lots of paintings of fruits and flowers. There also was a same painting displayed twice in the room. Philadelphia sight seeing information magazines were scattered on the coffee table. It was a nice room but had no hot water and we had to call the maintenance people twice.
Inside the Liberty bell center. A woman demonstrating an old yarn spinning machine.
18
May 5th, 2007
19
W - Chicago Center
06 2007
Everything in the Room for Sale? Chicago, IL Http://www.starwoodhotels.com
A multi disciplinary design conference that I attended called “Gravity Free” took place at this hotel so I ended up staying here as well - great conference! I’ve stayed in a few W hotels in the past, also known as a designer hotel with chic furniture and modern layouts. Lots of Black and White photos covered the walls and lots of items in the room were on sale too. They included: • Oreos • Snickers • Gummy Bears • Cocoa Bon • Twizzlers • M&M • Pringles • Chocolate Mint • Cabernet wine • Cork screw • Voss (water) • CD • T-shirt • Baseball Cap • Bear Doll • Umbrella • and lots of drinks in the mini bar It almost felt like everything in the room was for sale!
W Lobby
The ‘Bean’ Sculpture
20
May 13th, 2007
21
University Hotel / Radisson
07
Bed Firmer or Softer?
2007
Minneapolis, MN Http://www.universityhotelminneapolis.com
This hotel located near the University of Minnesota had a nice view of the school campus from the room window. The most unusual item found in the room was a TV remote control sized device wired to the bed - Instructions were also on the bed and explained that the bed firmness/ softness can be adjusted changing the number on the controller display. I played around with it slightly but honestly could not feel the difference - but then once again, I’m not a finicky sleeper and can sleep in most situations. On the lower left side of my drawing on the next page calls out a “plumbing from next door room” but having looked at this drawing again, I believe it’s the next door closet space.
Frank Gehry designed museum It was closed on this day - Bummer...
Store in the Minneapolis airport
22
June 11th, 2007
23
The Mark Spencer Hotel
48 2010
1st International Urban Sketchers Symposium Portland, OR Http://www.markspencer.com/
One day on the internet I accidentally found a website dedicated to “Urban Sketchers” people that sketch on location in urban settings. This is something I have been doing for over 10 years and was exited to learn about such a group. They were having their 1st symposium get together in Oregon and I quickly signed up to attend. 3 days of constant sketching and meeting lots of people with a passion for urban sketching was an inspiring experience. There were people from all sorts of backgrounds and professions, as well as people attending from all over the world. I’ve experienced so much that I probably have more than enough stories and sketches from the symposium to fill up one book! The Mark Spencer hotel was a hotel recommended by the symposium and was in walking distance to the event location. The room was more than spacious for 1 person, especially the walk in closet was huge and I left it unused. This room was called the “courtyard view” room and it definitely was but since it was on the first floor and was right in front of the main entrance, it wasn’t the best room to have the curtains open.
Porter square. This was Gabi’s (founder of Urban Sketchers) session on teaching us to capture the atmosphere.
Kenny & Zuke’s deli across the street from the Hotel. Good food and friendly waiter.
94
July 30th, 2010
95
The Mira
52
Noise Survival Kit
2010
Hong Kong Http://www.themirahotel.com/
Upon returning to Hong Kong, my reservation to stay again at the Intercontinental was lost for some reason. Looking around for another neighboring hotel, I ended up staying at the Mira, a designer boutique type of hotel located in a busier part of town next to the large Miramar shopping centre. Upon checking in I was handed a small red box labeled the “Noise Survival Kit” - it contained a card explaining that there was construction going on in the shopping centre next door and they did not want customers feeling distracted by the sound. The box contained a set of ear plugs and 1 chocolate. I thought this was a very clever kit and even when hearing some construction noise from my room, it didn’t bother me. The room was very modern and what stood out was the amount of electronic gadgets in the room, such as: • Bose iPod speaker • Logitec universal remote • Sony wireless keyboard • Sony DVD player • Nokia cell phone (a room phone that was wireless could also be used in the city) • Philips digital clock • Iwata phone (with large display) The wall between the bathtub and the bed was also just clear glass! (A blind from inside the tub was there if privacy was needed)
102
My weekend trip to ‘Tai-O’ and old fishing village with lots of houses built over water on stilts.
1st sketch in Tai-O. Hot day, it was 96º F with no breeze. Beautiful island though.
August 13th, 2010
103
Royal Windsor Hotel
63
2 Large Closets
2011
Brussels, Belgium Http://www.royalwindsorbrussels.com/
After the Amsterdam film festival, the in-laws moved on to the next showing in Paris. Due to my work schedule, we had to depart and came back to Brussels to catch a plane back to the US. It was somewhat comforting to come back to Brussels, much more relaxed and less people after spending a few nights in the busy city of Amsterdam. Royal Windsor hotel was located just a few blocks up the street from the previous hotel ( 61 ) and was rated high in an internet review. Compared to the last 3 hotels which were modern in style, this room was traditional and quite ornate in details. As a personal style, I tend to prefer the clean modern aesthetics but the treatment on this room was executed nicely and I felt traditional styles could be nice too. The room was fun to sketch with lots of details but what particularly caught my attention was the 2 wooden cabinets installed by the window. The left was a wardrobe and the right had a TV, fridge, food, gifts etc. It was nicely incorporated into the room without taking away from the overall decor.
HergĂŠ wall painting. Loved this!
Street musicians. They all seemed like music student but were really good.
124
April 23rd, 2011
125
Carson Street Commons
A 2006
1st Measured Sketch Pittsburgh, PA Http://www.carsonstreetcommons.com/
For 3 years we used to live in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania in a part of town called the South Side. People familiar with Pittsburgh from the past would imagine this location to be predominantly an industrial area with large steel mill factories. All the large scale factories have been gutted down and for years Pittsburgh has been working hard on trying to revive the area which is now filled with new housings, stores and restaurants. The Carson Street Commons was also one of those newer building and was clean and modern in style. This apartment sketch was made a month before the one I did in Washington DC ( 01 ) so technically this would be the first room interior drawing I did by measuring. A rectangular apartment, the long corridor from the entrance lead into an open kitchen and living room. Instead of buying a bulky sofa, we bought a large bean bag cushion that made it easy to move around when space was needed. Since my wife and I spend a lot of time in front of the computer, a large portion of the living room was dedicated to a work table which would typically be used as an area for dining. (We usually had dinner on the coffee table or the kitchen counter) The bathroom was accessible from both the bedroom and the kitchen side. You just had to be careful to close/ lock the other door when guest were in the house.
128
Pen Pen’s trying to climb up a custom ‘fixie’ bike my friend Henry built for me.
2005 - 2008
129
Residence Inn Marriott
C 2012
Sketching Tools & Process Portland, ME Http://www.equityapartments.com/
Tools Used: Stanley fat max laser measuring device. This tool makes it easy to measure long distances with a push of a button
Stanley 10 feet tape measure
Weekend trip to Portland, Maine. I’ve been to this beautiful town in the past and decided to document the entire sketching process capturing each step. This was a pleasure trip and I had more time than a business trip so I decided on capturing the room through 1 point perspective. This room was quite complicated and took 5 hours!
Sakura Micron 01 pen (0.25mm) Sakura Micron 05 pen (0.45mm) 0.5mm mechanical HB pencil Muji cold open ruler. Long straightedge especially helps when using 1 point perspective and this one is compact enough to carry around
Kneaded eraser
Letter sized clip board. Used for being able to sketch anywhere in the room
Cosco date stamper. customized to include my name
132
Mini architectural ruler with binder clip. This ruler is used to do a scaled drawing and the binder clip helps to easily keep track of the side that is being used for the scale
Sakura Koi watercolor kit. 24 Colors inserted with a sponge. The additional plastic tray was discarded since I never used it
Holbein waterbrush medium sized brush
01
Step 1) The width x length is measured then blocked out on the center of the paper. The laser pointer makes it a breeze to measure the overall size of the room. The height is projected using 1 point perspective. For this room 1/4 Inch = 1 feet scale fit the best.
03
Step 3) Begin 1 point perspective projection upward. Using the vanishing point found in the center of the page, all of the items are projected upward using the appropriate measurements for each item. Note that the items that are closer to the center vanishing point tends to have much less ‘depth’ than the items further away.
02
Step 2) Once the overall size of the room is blocked out, the larger items such as the bed, cabinet, sofa, table is captured using the tape measure then every other smaller items are filled in afterwards. (Penciling time: 1hr 15 min)
04
Step 4) Completion of 1 point perspective projection. This room was much more complicated than I originally imagined and this step took a long time (Projection time: 2 hrs)
January 29th, 2012
133
PEN PEN with her favorite toys
136
Giclee Prints available
Thank you for looking through the book and hope you enjoyed it! If you are interested, high quality Giclee prints are available for sale of all hotel room sketches shown in this book. I made a few prints for my friends and was very happy with the quality so I wanted to share them with everyone. •
•
•
They are printed on heavy weight medium Hahnemuhle William Turner watercolor paper (Hahnemuhle is a very well known and respected German manufacturer of cotton rag papers) Sizing varies according to the sketch but a typical dimension is 9-1/2” (241.3 mm) wide x 12” (304.8 mm) long which includes a 1” (25.4mm) white margin for matting purposes. Each print will be signed.
Sample Giclee print photos. Sturdy enough paper to hang without a frame.
For further information, please visit my website: www.daikubara.com
137
About the author
Mike Daikubara is an Industrial Designer and Urban Sketcher capturing his everyday journey even when at home. In 2000, Mike began to avidly sketch his surroundings and decided in 2006 to expand his talents to sketching the hotel rooms he traveled to. All of Mike’s hotel sketches are to scale, providing the reader a highly detailed rendering for each location. Now six years later he’s extremely excited that his hotel sketches have turned into this book. A few years back his father gave him 4 old sketchbooks which belonged to his great grand father. That was the first time he felt sketching ran in his family.
Photo at Chichen Itza - Mexico
138
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