Mikpritja, Hospitality, Gastfreundschaft. This was the motto of the latest Heinze Summit, which took place in the Albanian capital Tirana from 16 to 19 September 2021.
A group of about 20 people dealt with the interesting topic of accommodation in workshops, city tours and a social programme. Gerald Ollig was there for Eller + Eller Architekten.
The workshop was specifically dedicated to three questions. The organiser, Heinze GmbH, describes the course of the workshop as follows:
Theme 1: Hybrid architecture
With the possibilities of digitalisation, can the hospitality sector offer suitable spaces for forms of work that are not tied to a specific location? Do we need a universal architecture that turns a hotel into a boarding house in short periods of time and is constantly changeable? How much hybridisation can we recommend? Diversification of hotels and catering buildings can be economically interesting for the developer. Is mixed-use architecture to be planned from the outset and is this use sustainable?
Topic 2: Digitalisation and Digital Detox
Digitalisation is having a major impact on the hospitality industry. At the same time, the call for a digital detox is getting louder. How do we as planners want to react to these strongly differing wishes? The conclusion of a previous Heinze Summit was that host locations can be charged with virtual realities (VR) and experiences to complement the real journey. In what ways will we integrate virtual realities into our built environment?
Theme 3: Architecture
The architect is no longer the sole provider of ideas and creative partner of the hotelier! A large number of agencies get involved even before the design phase and define surfaces, spaces and guest experiences as a matter of course. These agencies are still partners of the hotelier and restaurateur even when the architect has long since completed his building task. How can we as planners become more relevant again? How did it happen that we lost large parts of our creative output to consulting agencies? How do we manage to utilise our creativity more economically? What lobby do we need to create?
Organiser: Heinze GmbH
Event partners: Marazzi, Object Carpet
Photos: Rolf Mauer
