Design firms: Parts and Labor Design and Gachot Studios, New York
The details: In America’s political capital, a new hotel provides a platform for debate, conversation, and change via artist-in-residency programs, wellness-focused amenities like sound baths and infrared saunas, and programming centered around liberal-minded causes. “Everywhere you go, you’ll experience inspiration and dialogue on radical topics,” says president and founder Katherine Lo of her social justice-focused brand Eaton Workshop (locations in San Francisco and Hong Kong are also on the boards). Dubbed the anti-Trump hotel, Eaton aims to “subvert the traditional hotel model and create a space where today’s artists, activists, and changemakers can create a positive impact in the world.”

In keeping with this ethos, New York firm Parts and Labor Design “conceptualized an environment that offers multiple venues for guests to not only eat and drink together, but also to exchange ideas and experiences,” explains cofounder and principal Jeremy Levitt. From the cabin-like radio station and stepped lounge seating area to the coworking space and ground-floor restaurant, American Son, Parts and Labor sought to recreate the atmosphere of a 1970s-era newsroom, using midcentury furniture, leather seating, and a color palette of orange, red, and mustard.

Leading the design of the guestrooms, reception, library and living room, Allegory bar, and rooftop event space Wild Days was New York-based Gachot Studios. In a similar vein, cofounder Christine Gachot crafted settings “that would truly engage the community and provoke conversation, controversy, and culture.” White oak plank floors, walnut paneling, and kilim rugs foster a cozy aesthetic “that doesn’t overpower its visitors,” says Gachot, “a space that will become, over time, a backdrop for people and their passions.”