The Biltmore Hotel Debrand
Marika Kleinfeldt
The Biltmore Hotel Debrand is a collection of merchandise that exposes the sinister history of this iconic hotel in Providence, Rhode Island. The Biltmore Hotel was built by Johan Leisse Weisskopf, an alleged satanist. Since its founding, rumors of supernatural occurrences, illicit activities, political corruption, and even deaths plagued the hotel. Each item in this collection covers the topic of satanism, political corruption, and the era of Prohibition and speakeasies. After a long period of abandonment, the hotel was rebranded to erase this history from public memory. The Biltmore Hotel Debrand attempts to remind us of the origins of the hotel through promotional merchandise, including eight different items; a hoodie, t-shirt, tote bag, pouch, keychain, sticker set, pins, and posters. This project invites the viewer to learn about the over a hundred years of history surrounding the Biltmore Hotel. Each item is an amalgamation of Rhode Island's history using a combination of digital archives, past newspapers, and vintage photographs.