New Hotels for Global Nomads: Saddam Hussein's Nuclear Threat to the United States [With Flaps]

Traditional hotels defy the reality of transience, offering a reassurance to weary travelers that they'll enjoy the familiar comforts of home. One pities anyone whose idea of domestic bliss is a Ramada Inn. This catalogue of an exhibition running through March 2 at the Cooper-Hewitt in New York, celebrates a fresh approach that puts chic ahead of comfort, and makes every guest realize she isn't in Kansas anymore. It intersperses W Hotels and the properties of Ian Schraeger and Andre Balasz with blue-sky projects that--if realized--might make you wish you had stayed home. That's especially true of one that was built--Jean Nouvel's hotel in Lucerne--where every ceiling is silkscreened with a movie still that could inspire nightmares. Maybe that Ramada wasn't so bad, after all. (Michael Webb is the book reviewer for LA Architect magazine.)