After the Razzmatazz bar at the JW Marriott in Baku we continue with our series and head to the Intercontinental Davos, which is one of the region’s most prestigious hotels. The crown jewel of the hotel is Studio Grigio, a 1500 M2 destination which takes up the entire top floor of the iconic building, while re-imagining the notion of gourmet restaurant, private dining, cocktail bar, entertainment lounge and sky terrace by combining them all into one social space.
Studio Grigio is the creation of acclaimed international restaurant designer Henry Chebaane from Blue Sky Hospitality who has conceived the brand identity, scenography and interior design of this living room for the 21st century, using a palette of 83 different black, white and grey tones inspired by the name of the region (Grisons/Graubünden) and its geology of Granite, Gneiss, Slate, Mica, Feldpsar and Quartz.
The innovative mineral concept is made sensuous and timelessly elegant by using refined materials from the fashion industry such as fine merino wool and full-grain leathers in tones of pale ermine, dark mink, edelweiss white, black diamond and vintage silver as upholstery to classic furniture from Eero Saarinen, Mies van der Rohe and Warren Platner.
Walking through Studio Grigio guests are treated to an art gallery mixing references to ancient Alpine nature and modern urban culture.
The walls are lined with fragments of crystal, white marble and silver stone, reflecting endless sparkles in all directions. A specially grey-stained oak floor alternates with a sculpted anthracite carpet, using 3-D technology to evoke mountain mineralogy.
Henry Chebaane is known for his whimsical sense of humour, which can be found in many details like the first-aid drinks cabinet shaped like a red cross on the back bar, the black cigar room with red lasers turning smoke into playful rings and the sound-reactive silver electric guitar he designed to sit on a huge piece of local granite that he called “Davos Rock”.
He has also curated for Studio Grigio an eclectic and engaging collection from a broad range of artists spanning centuries from across the world. This includes sculptures inspired by the hare of Albrecht Dürer, the ermine from Da Vinci and the alien from H.R. Giger.
Each dining table has a unique mouth-blown glass mountain bird from artist Oiva Toikka as well as fine shagreen porcelain with platinum detail, faceted cutlery, custom-woven napkin and water glass by 1930’s Finnish artist Aino Aalto. Every seating booth is made more private by the presence of three silver Swiss gnomes covering their ears, eyes and mouth in ancient wisdom.
The dining, bar and lounge areas are dotted with surprising and thought-provoking references to the surrounding mountains and human responsibilities towards nature, using urban vinyl dolls as communication medium. These conceptual art installations are light-hearted with a serious message, named evocatively such as ‘Last Steinbocks’, ‘Electric Yeti’, ‘Good Bat Spirits, and the largest at the entrance: ‘Warming Warning’: a group of African meerkats on reclaimed Swiss pine tree stumps.
Address: Studio Grigio restaurant
Baslerstrasse 9, Graubunden,
7260 Davos Dorf., Switzerland
Phone:+41 81 414 04 00
