Musician Moby has expressed his frustration at over-designed hotel rooms that don’t take into account the people who have to stay in them.

Speaking to architecture magazine CLAD, the 51-year-old said suggested that top-level architects are too keen to prioritise aesthetics over comfort.

Not for humans

‘I have an issue with architects and designers who think about how is the space going to look when it’s on an architecture website, rather than how it’s going to feel for the people who either live there, work there or patronise it,’ he said.

‘Sometimes certain things like comfort are not that photogenic, and if you’ve ever tried to live in a photogenic space that isn’t comfortable, it can be really upsetting.’

He gave the example of a recent stay in a hotel room designed by the late Zaha Hadid (believed to be in the Puerta America Madrid hotel in Spain, where each floor is by a famous designer).

‘I had a couple of nights in Madrid staying in a hotel room that Zaha Hadid Architects had designed,’ he said. ‘It looked amazing, but was the least comfortable space I’ve ever inhabited.’

‘Literally sleeping in a dumpster would have been more comfortable. There was nothing soft in there. Everything was moulded plastic, which photographed nicely but wasn’t designed for humans.’

Opened in 2005, the Madrid hotel has 12 floors and includes contributions from architects such as Jean Nouvel, Ron Arad, Norman Foster, David Chipperfield, John Pawson and Marc Newson. Hadid’s rooms on the first floor feature continuous walls, furniture and fittings with her signature swooping shapes creating the impression of being inside a cave.