Research On Genius Loci—Architecture Design Of Chinese Boutique Resort Hotel

As the economy has been developing since 21st century, the nation's consumer buying power has significantly improved. Citizens are no longer satisfied with physical health but begin to seek for more spiritual entertainment, which leads to popular choice of travel among the masses. The vigorous development in tourism industry and the age of experience economy also boost the transformation in consumption pattern:the new type of vacation tour designated for healthy lifestyle, entertainment and leisure gradually substitutes traditional sightseeing. As a result, various emerging products related to the newborn travel experience come into existence, among which the Boutique Resort Hotel stands out because of its uniqueness.Under contemporary context, resort hotels are frequently associated with tourist attractions, not to mention the boutique ones which are always built in places with beautiful natural scenery, strong cultural environment and harmonious living atmosphere. Thus, resort hotels become the bridge that can connect human and nature. Tourists are able to put themselves in different settings created by individual hotels and influenced by their place of spirits imperceptibly.The paper is based on the architecture phenomenon theory, Genius Loci, raised by the world-renowned architect Christian Noberg-Schulz, trying to analyze the origins and construction mode of spirit of place and explain its application on boutique resort hotel. The paper will select representative boutique resort hotels as examples and further discuss how do those hotels build their unique spirit of place by extensive research. Besides, with substantive analysis, the paper intends to reach a conclusion on the architecture design strategies used to develop place of spirit by boutique resort hotels.The paper will be developing its idea through the following five chapters:Chapter One:IntroductionThe first part will generally state the origins, background, and purposes of the research and introduce existing research related to the topic both home and abroad. Also, the paper will give specific definition boundaries among concepts such as resort hotel, boutique hotel, and boutique resort hotel. In addition, this part of the paper will confirm the research subjects and state the research approaches as well as framework of the entire paper.Chapter Two:Conception & TheoryFirst, Analysis of the development and general characteristics of the resort hotel, and leads to the new trends in the resort hotel——Boutique Resort, study its background, development status and design features. Second, Based on Schulz's Genius Loci theory and place of spirit theory, study the meaning and structure of place as well as the connotation in place of spirit. Finally, combines the conception of boutique resort hotel and the theory of genius loci, focus on the construction of spirit of place—the origins and design of place of spirit—to lay the theoretical foundation for the subsequent chapters.Chapter Three:Case AnalysisAccording to individual characteristics of place, domestic boutique resort hotels are classified into three categories:natural-re source expressive, historical-culture focused, and unique-theme built. Two to three cases will be chosen and explored for each category to discover hotel architecture and the conversation among various factors, such as place environment, hotel space, place characteristics, and tourist experience.Chapter Four:SummaryWith abundant vertical case analysis discussed in the previous chapter, this part will focus on horizontal comparison and make drafted conclusion on design strategies. First of all, the paper will sum up environmental characteristics of the place of boutique resort hotel; and then classify boutique resort hotel into three different categories based on their characteristics; next, extract and conclude strategies shared by the three categories of boutique resort hotel regarding to characteristics of place of spirit, and these strategies will become the overall construction principles. Last but not the least, the paper will give deep inquiry on the construction of place of spirit for each category in a more specific and detailed manner.Chapter Five:ConclusionThe last part will provide final conclusion and critical thinking toward the previous four chapters, and devote best efforts to predict future development trends in the boutique resort hotel industry.