Throughout history, the desert has been used as a symbol for several occurrences and events. In the Bible, it was often described as a place of solitude, with the potential for people to speak directly with God. In art, it has often been portrayed as a vast sea of sand, a place to lose oneself in, and where the border between life and death is blurred.
In literature the desert is often described as equally beautiful and dangerous, its intense sunshine without compassion for human needs for water and shade. The desert has also been portrayed as a place of hiding from the world, a place where no one would think of to look.
To build a hotel in the desert is to create a space for people that want to temporarily remove themselves from the rest of the world. By retreating into the desert, one is also entering a different universe, a place of silence and introspection.
In the desert, the only sound that is constant is that of the breeze gently moving through the sand dunes. Desert life – in the shape of lizards, snakes and scorpions – takes place in the cracks and creaks of the rocks, dormant during the hot days and only in motion thanks to the coolness of the desert night.
