MARKET AT W HOTEL, BOSTON, MA - We drew inspiration for our design of Market from Henry David Thoreau’s description of the beach – a characteristic feature of the New England landscape - as the middle ground between civilization and nature, a place which bears the ephemeral marks of each as they act upon it. Similarly, the restaurant is a place in which the food products of the natural world are transformed daily into the man-made and manifesting one of the highest forms of culture before vanishing in the service of sustenance and delight. Guided by this image, we sought to accentuate the simple contours of the space, cladding them with materials that evoke the contrasts of color and texture one associates with the ocean rim and land’s end. Against the backdrop of sand grey floors we contrast the silver of driftwood with the tones of its woody core in a palette of bleached white oak and walnut veneer. Brown suede the color of seaweed and crab shell anchors the brilliant white of the banquette leather. Flashes of metal and silver leaf compress and reflect light in the manner of mother of pearl. A wood trellis forms a proscenium, framing the dining rooms in bony white ribs. This ensemble of wood, metal, stone and cloth presents itself to the street through the large east facing window, capturing morning light and, conversely, projecting the nighttime glow of diners encamped around festive table settings through the shadowed façade of the glassy tower. On these essential surfaces, the signs of nature’s acculturation present themselves daily then fade like footprints on the beach melting into a virgin canvas.