The gilded NoMad, drawing design inspiration from its 1905 Beaux-Arts structure and designer Jacques Garcia's former Paris apartment, boasts a Parisian-style restaurant flowing into the lobby of the hotel and furniture modeled after French originals.

WSJ: Boutique Hotels: 'Home' Away From Home

This divorce of narration from structure in Western architecture was confirmed in the early Renaissance (15th century), when humanists sought to elevate the status of architects, establishing the designer's control of every element of a structure, conferring an auteur dominance.

WSJ: Enlightenment on an Intimate Scale | The Adinatha Temple at Ranakpur | Masterpiece by James S. Ackerman