In the past few years, our spare, modern interiors have been slowly replaced by a surge in deep paint colors, high-gloss woods, or lush fabrics like velvets, furs and leather, that play upon a newfound yearning for the past. The effect created by using antiquated materials and finishes, extreme craftsmanship like brickwork or woodworking, and period-perfect details like exposed filament lighting toys with our perception of history, yet in its familiarity, it also lends a sense of authenticity. Eva Hagberg's new book Dark Nostalgia (The Monacelli Press), features 26 such projects where architects like AvroKO, David Rockwell, Roman & Williams and Julian Schnabel have taken this aesthetic into clubby, intimate corners of hospitality and nightlife, from the Royalton Hotel in New York City, to the Clift Hotel in San Francisco, to Alain Ducasse’s newest restaurant, Adour. -Alissa Walker

Captions by Eva Hagberg

Apotheke, tucked away on New York’s Doyer’s Street, mixes together a Parisian absintherie, an Austrian champagne bar, and an idealized apothecary to create an intimate pharmacy that happens to dispense emotion.

Allen & Delancey, designed by Jason Volenec of RKit Design, was inspired by Volenec’s narrative of someone like Adolf Loos setting a design groundwork that got added to over the years, layer by layer and story by story, until it became the rich and book-and-photograph-filled space it is today.

The storied Gramercy Park Hotel was given a stylistic overhaul by wildchild Julian Schnabel complete with teddy bear paintings and a constant tension between roughness–seen in gigantic rough-hewn columns--and refinement—seen in plush textural details. Mary McCarthy lived here; Madonna slept here; Ian Schrager was, definitely, here.

The storied Gramercy Park Hotel was given a stylistic overhaul by wildchild Julian Schnabel complete with teddy bear paintings and a constant tension between roughness–seen in gigantic rough-hewn columns--and refinement--seen in plush textural details. Mary McCarthy lived here; Madonna slept here; Ian Schrager was, definitely, here.

New York’s Public, designed and operated by multi-disciplinary firm AvroKO, makes municipal government appealing and card catalogs sexy. The designers used reclaimed barn doors and exposed filament bulbs to add a little rock to the industrial rawness.

Designer David Rockwell slammed high technology into a romanticized notion of the St Regis with his design for Adour Alain Ducasse. Inspired by the ritual of wine-tasting and the imagined memory of the St. Regis, Adour is an opulent iteration of a constructed past.

Atelier Ace were interested in, owner Alex Calderwood says, “engendering a sense of place,” which, for Portland, meant music references and tons of Douglas fir. The hotel is filled with Pacific Northwest hipsters chilling near the old Hotel sign in the lobby or soaking in claw-foot tubs.

Robin Standefer and Stephen Alesch run their Manhattan home like a laboratory, constantly switching up pieces of taxidermy, hippopotamus skulls, and antique inkwells in search of the perfect articulation of weighty memory.

Robin Standefer and Stephen Alesch run their Manhattan home like a laboratory, constantly switching up pieces of taxidermy, hippopotamus skulls, and antique inkwells in search of the perfect articulation of weighty memory.

Designer Sean MacPherson introduced a comfortable nostalgia to this stretch of the Bowery with the expression of an iconic Havana, buttressed with the use of solid woods, heavy stones, and hand-selected details like old hinges and ornately patterned rugs. The design was run on instinct, and reassures with permanence.

Designer Sean MacPherson introduced a comfortable nostalgia to this stretch of the Bowery with the expression of an iconic Havana, buttressed with the use of solid woods, heavy stones, and hand-selected details like old hinges and ornately patterned rugs. The design was run on instinct, and reassures with permanence.

Designers AvroKO created what they called an “Indo-Chinese-Colonial look” with their design for this restaurant, and its accompanying bar, Madam Geneva that has neon next to hanging elephant chains, carved wood below exposed brick, and stunningly detailed molding beside reclaimed fan-belt lamps.

Designers AvroKO created what they called an “Indo-Chinese-Colonial look” with their design for this restaurant, and its accompanying bar, Madam Geneva that has neon next to hanging elephant chains, carved wood below exposed brick, and stunningly detailed molding beside reclaimed fan-belt lamps.

Designers AvroKO created what they called an “Indo-Chinese-Colonial look” with their design for this bar, and its accompanying restaurant, Double Crown that has neon next to hanging elephant chains, carved wood below exposed brick, and stunningly detailed molding beside reclaimed fan-belt lamps.

Designers AvroKO created what they called an “Indo-Chinese-Colonial look” with their design for this bar, and its accompanying restaurant, Double Crown that has neon next to hanging elephant chains, carved wood below exposed brick, and stunningly detailed molding beside reclaimed fan-belt lamps.

Images Courtesy of Dark Nostalgia by Eva Hagberg. All images are copyright The Monacelli Press, 2009. No image may be reproduced or used without the permission of the publisher or its owner.