How do you update a classic and still retain its essence? Just take a letter from Andrée Putman's reinterpretation of the famous New York Morgans hotel. This is her third go at it (she refreshed it once before in 1996) and what a go it is. This classy, delicate and knowledgeable designer has kept the hotel "the same" all the while making it relevant and fresh; and yes she has kept the checkerboard motif (remember the checkerboard stripes triming the doors of the city's old cabs that became a central element in the hotel's design).
