CREATIVE CHAOS- Inspired Spaces

Large spaces-can you name the large spaces in our lives that require design, decoration, atmosphere and experience?  Hotel lobbies come to mind and having seen the inside of 7 of them in the last two weeks I was interested to see how each of these entities treated the lobby area with design and decoration.  

These pictures are from the Sofitel in Cairo and the LeMeridian Hotels The welcoming areas were expansive with tall ceilings, wide spaces and huge windows that overlooked the Nile river.   Their floral displays were massive, yet contained and artistic.  What I noticed in particular were the groupings of masses of flowers together to create an impressive display (this was true in several places in Egypt).

What I learned from these spaces were the principles of design:

Scale--matching the scale of the pieces to the space--nothing tiny and small.

Color-using color to enhance and deepen the atmosphere.

Texture-interesting textures to draw you in.

Lighting--direct and indirect lighting to focus you on gather spaces.

Lines--clean lines were the order of the day--nothing cluttered.

Repetition-same colors and designs were seen throughout the spaces.

Rhythm- movement, even the slightest indictation, is pleasing to the eye.

So, how does this translate to the large spaces we have in our churches?  Can we learn something from these places who try to invite and draw people into an experience in their hotels just by their impressive lobbies?

This post is part of Creative Chaos over on Ragamuffinsoul