Philippe Starck Destroys Royal Monceau Palace

Next year Philippe Starck plans to rock the establishment with a new take on “sexy, intelligent” luxury at Paris’ Royal Monceau palace hotel. But before rebirth comes destruction, and so last night Starck joined the hotel’s owner, Alexandre Allard, in hosting a Demolition Party at which a rumored 3,000 revelers were encouraged to help banish the old. Artsy hipsters, models in glittery costumes, and a Marie Antoinette look-alike mingled with guests in evening dress as they milled through 20 rooms specially commissioned from contemporary artists who decked out the empty spaces in spray paint, neon lights, bubble machines, hologram videos, and a bathtub equipped with a churning motorboat engine.

It didn’t take long for door numbers to start vanishing and the echoes of shattered glass to resonate in the courtyard. I would have raided the mini bar first, then made use of that bath!

It looks like hotel destruction is catching on and could become a global phenomenon…