International contest for a hotel-observatory in Nazca, Peru. The region was previously inhabited by an ancient, pre-Colombian civilization which designed fantastic geometric figures on the ground.
The hotel is a 100m high, totem-like tower. The lower part of the hotel is devoid of program and comprises only vertical circulation (stairs and elevators). The totem shape is a consequence of the fixed position of the vertical circulation (the blind facade facing the opposite side of desert), and a flexible strategy to insert program into the tower. Thus, the rhythm of the totem expresses the different areas of the program; the smallest floors corresponding to the bedrooms; the largest ones (the cantilevers) corresponding to the dining room and living room. The 100m-high terrace – required by the brief – is on the last floor.