Mid-Century Milan Meets Manhattan

Hannes Peer’s Bold Vision for The Manner Hotel

When I spoke with Hannes Peer the first time, what stood out was his deep commitment to research, geometry, and material honesty. He doesn’t just design spaces—he studies their cultural and architectural context with the care of a historian.

For Peer, every line, surface and finish must have meaning. His work is expressive but grounded, theatrical but precise. Historical references aren’t decorative—they’re structural, woven into the DNA of a space. He often returns to Italian mid-century design, not out of nostalgia, but because it offers a vocabulary of form and function that still resonates.

His recent project, The Manner Hotel in SoHo, is a striking example of this approach. Across this project, he references Italian masters like Gio Ponti, BBPR, and Carlo Mollino. You see it in the bold colour palette, the sculptural custom lighting, and the mix of vintage and contemporary art.

Peer reinterprets these influences through his own lens—shaping an interior that feels rooted in tradition but unmistakably modern.

(Marco Guagliardo - Mid-Century Home’s Editor in Chief)

For his first hospitality project, architect Hannes Peer delivered a striking and theatrical interior for The Manner Hotel in SoHo, New York.

The brief was clear—“go big or go home”—and Peer responded with a layered, confident interpretation of Italian mid-century design, filtered through his distinct spatial language.

Inspired by Milan’s golden era of interiors—names like Gio Ponti, BBPR, and Carlo Mollino—Peer drew from their play with materials and colour to create spaces that feel both curated and lived-in. As he explained, “They’re an homage to the golden era of Milan… I wanted to translate that here.”