Kimpton Bem Hotel, Budapest

Marcel Wanders Studio, 2024

The Budapest cityscape, the underwater life of the Danube River, characters from Magyar mythology, and Hungary’s diverse wine regions become the protagonists of the storytelling graphics created for the newly opened Kimpton Bem Hotel in central Budapest.

Under the creative direction of Marcel Wanders Studio, Haapio Creative contributed to the hotel’s artistic concept through original character illustrations, collage-based wall murals and bespoke surface patterns featured throughout the rooms and public spaces.

For the hotel lobby, we composed a ten-metre-wide mural depicting Budapest on both sides of the Danube. At its centre is our original illustration of the Golden Stag, a figure from Magyar mythology associated with origins and renewal.

For the sommelier room, we created two ten-metre-long narrative wallcoverings exploring Hungary’s diverse wine regions. The panoramic landscapes were composed from licensed archival-style imagery and custom graphic elements, bringing the regions together as continuous visual stories. One of the key characters featured in the hotel's graphics is the Turul bird, a prominent figure in Hungarian mythology.

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Client: IHG
Creative Director: Marcel Wanders
Interior Design: Marcel Wanders Studio team
Photographs: IHG
Visuals & Graphics: Haapio Creative
More information: kimptonbembudapest.com