Design Time: Adam Tihany

Getting His Sea Legs

Tihany design debuts aboard two of this year’s newest ships.

By Karen Egly-Thompson

Adam D. Tihany is renowned for creating innovative and luxurious interiors for some of the world’s most iconic hotels, restaurants, and bars. His land-based design projects have included hotels from the Mandarin Oriental to the Beverly Hills Hotel; restaurants such as Aureole in Las Vegas and New York City; and Bar Boulud in Boston and London.

In 2008, Tihany design traveled from land to sea when he created three new spaces for Celebrity Cruises’ Solstice-class: the Grand Epernay main dining room with its elaborate circular wine tower and exquisite glass staircase; the intimate and elegant Tuscan Grille, inspired by a Napa Valley wine cellar; and the sleek Oceanview Café, with a modern take on Lido dining.

And now, his most recent foray into ship design debuts with two of this year’s most stunning new ships.

Classy Koningsdam
“Koning” means “king” in Dutch, so Koningsdam is a fitting name for Holland America Line’s newest and largest fleet addition as well as the inaugural ship in its new Pinnacle class. Stylistically looking ahead, Koningsdam blends Holland America’s classic features with a fresh, contemporary design.

Tihany designed the majority of Koningsdam’s interior public spaces, looking to the structure of musical instruments for the ship’s design vision — a theme coined the “architecture of music.” Tihany points out that everything is meant to look and feel like you are inside of, and surrounded by, a musical instrument. Inspired by an image of a violin interior, Tihany metaphorically implemented the curves and play of light seen from inside a violin to the flowing design of the ship’s interiors.

The centerpiece to the entire design theme is the atrium. Using the harp as its muse, the atrium features a sculptural double arc structure and staircase made of a polished steel and rod system, connecting three decks. In the evening, an HD display of artistic videos paired with music is projected onto the ceiling of the atrium, providing guests with unique, interactive entertainment.

A wavy ceiling made from highly polished mahogany crowns the Queen’s Lounge, a two-story multifunctional entertainment space on Deck 3. Tihany explains the ceiling’s sinuous lines echo both the shape of a violin and the sounds that come from it. Furthering the concept, the fiddleback wood veneer….

This is an excerpt only. To subscribe to Porthole Cruise Magazine, click here.

^{Photo: Holland America Line}