Competing Projects 2025
UXUA Utopia A Very Gifted GuesthouseDrukkerij robstolk Amsterdam
When is a hotel more than a place to sleep? When does it become an iconic expression of a destination; interpreted through trend-defying tropical design fantasy, celebrating cultural exchange and conservation aspirations while evolving over a 15-year period to become the protagonist of an entire micro-economy – circular in all aspects – built upon equal parts craft and education?
This dream project is UXUA Casa Hotel & Spa by Dutch designer Wilbert Das, a former creative director and design director for the fashion label Diesel who changed his life by moving to Brazil. Named after the indigenous Pataxó word for wonderful, UXUA is located in the heart of the colonial fishing village of Trancoso, Bahia, and has captured the imagination of design-savvy fans worldwide and an international, fiercely loyal clientele who’ve collectively selected the resort as the best in the world (Conde Nast Traveler’s Readers’ Choice Awards 2021).
