CityCenter Las Vegas Research Project
Introduction: This is an in-depth analysis of City Center Las Vegas (CCLV) written and compiled by the students of Dr. Al-Douri’s AAE 481 Architecture Place and Identity course. Students discuss the relationship of City Center to its immediate context and whether the appropriate materials and design decisions were made when taking the context into consideration. Sustainable design and construction, eco development, technology, mathematics, color and texture, and computation in architecture are some other topics that enter the discussion. In addition students compared City Center Las Vegas to multiple precedents that share the same goals and intentions. Each project’s location, concept, program, and functional requirements will be discussed and critically analyzed. This becomes a study and discussion of mixed-use spaces, relationships to their context, user experience, and what determines the success and failure of projects within the same category and scale.
Group 1 Kimberlyn Caoagas, Alexis Gabriel, Jaclyn Kidd, Alfred Pulido, Yoo Jin Suh Group 2 Andres Diaz, Josh Heinen, Vignesh Kamath, Erendida Zepeda
Group 3 Javier Barrera, Edrick Ferreras, Tyler Johnson, Kitty Slaughter
Group 4 Eric Gross, Dany Olsen, Nasar Saghafi, Roland Santos
Group 5 Yuri An, Divina Arellano, Adam Beck, Shirin Moqimi
Group 6 Kyle Fischer, Thomas Maderick, Melody Quihuis, Alberto Sanchez
Group 7 Adrian Bouche, Thanh Le, Bryan Oxborrow, Levi Unruh
Group 8 Nicholas Inouye, Burim Kalaveshi, Romy Ruaburo, Homayoun Zaryouni University of Nevada-Las Vegas AAE 481: Architecture, Place, and Identity Professor Firas Al-Douri, Ph.D May 11, 2013
Table of Contents
CityCenter Las Vegas Research Project [ page 1-10 ]
Direction of Architecture & Architectural Response to Multidimensional 1.1 - Introduction: Design Project Statement/abstract 1.2 - Design Project Site and Context 1.3 - The Direction of Architecture
[ page 11-31 ]
Architectural Response to Multidimensional 2.1 - Contextual Edge 2.2 - Sustainable Design and Sustainable Construction 2.3 - Holism in Architectural Design 2.4 - Critical Analysis
Precedent Analysis
[ page 32-42 ]
3.1 - Gloucester Green, Oxford, England 3.2 - Canal City Hakata in Fukuoka, Japan 3.3 - Masdar City Centre 3.4 - Saadiyat Island 3.5 - Al Raha Beach Development 3.6 - Galaxy Soho 3.7 - Zhengzhou Mixed Use Development
Regional Transformation, Technology and Eco-Culture
[ page 44-61 ]
4.1 - Spectrum of approaches 4.2 - Color and Texture 4.3 - Ecodevelopment 4.4 - Technology 4.5 - Mathematics, Connections in Architecture 4.6 - Computation in Architecture page | 1
Group 1 Kimberlyn Caoagas, Alexis Gabriel, Jaclyn Kidd, Alfred Pulido, Yoo Jin Suh Group 2 Andres Diaz, Josh Heinen, Vignesh Kamath, Erendida Zepeda
Direction of Architecture and Architectural Response to Multidimensional Requirements 1.1-Introduction: Design Project Statement
CityCenter is an 18-million-square-foot resort complex located on the Las Vegas Strip. Co-owned by MGM Resorts International— formerly known as MGM Mirage—and Dubai’s Infinity World, CityCenter is the largest privately funded development in the history of the United States (Ivy, 2010). Costing $8.5 billion dollars, the mega project includes nearly 6,000 hotel rooms, 2,400 condominiums, 38 restaurants and bars, a convention center, shopping mall, Cirque du Soleil Theater, and a 150,000-square-foot casino (Gonchar, 2010). Completed in December 2010 with the remarkable collaboration of architects, artists, master planners, and interior designers, CityCenter was designed and built in just over five years. The design team included the following entities: J.F. Finn, AIA, Executive Architect for Gensler; master planners Ehrenkrantz Ekstut & Kuhn; interior architects of Rockwell Group; Kohn Pedersen Fox Mandarin Oriental Las Vegas; Norman Foster - Harmon Hotel; Daniel Libeskind - Crystals retail complex; Murphy/Jahn’s - Veer Towers; Pelli Clarke Pelli - Aria Resort & Casino; and Rafael Viñoly Architects - Vdara Hotel & Spa.
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Figure 1.1-City Center at night MGM’s ambition was to create an urban core on the Las Vegas Strip (Creating CityCenter, 2009). The project development goal was to be “vertical, dense, and sustainable,” as noted by J.F. Finn, AIA, project executive for Gensler. The 67-acre site houses six main structures and a tram, connecting multiple mixed use projects to achieve the vitality associated with a largescale city.
Figure 1.2-Axonometric of City Center City Center ● 18 million sq. ft. project (6 main structures and a tram) ● Executive Architect: Gensler
Direction of Architecture and Architectural Response to Multidimensional Requirements
1.1-Introduction: Design Project Statement
● 42,520 sq. ft. of bars/lounge space at 10 bars, lounges and nightclubs in total ● 215,000 sq. ft. pool deck with three primary pools and one adults-only pool ● 80,000 sq. ft., two-level spa, salon and fitness center ● Lead Architect: Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects
Vdara Condo-Hotel and Spa ● 1,600,000 sq. ft. ● 57-story, 578-foot tower ● Houses 1,495 suites ● 18,000 sq. ft. two-story spa, salon and fitness center ● 40,000 sq. ft. pool and deck area ● 10,000 sq. ft. of meeting space, including a 4,000 sq. ft. ballroom ● 4,000 sq. ft. dining area (Silk Road, Closed July 2011). ● Architect: RV Architecture/Rafael Viñoly
Figure 1.3-Aria Aria Resort & Casino ● 4,000,000 sq. ft. and 600 ft. in height, it is the largest and tallest structure at CityCenter ● 61 and 51-story towers ● 4,004 guest rooms, including 568 suites ● 150,000 sq. ft. casino ● 300,000 sq. ft. of high-tech meeting and convention space ● 595,946 sq. ft. Cirque du Soleil theater accommodating 1,800 seats ● 37,668 sq. ft. of retail space ● 219,401 sq. ft. of restaurant space at 16 restaurants in total Figure 1.3-Aria page | 3
Direction of Architecture and Architectural Response to Multidimensional Requirements
1.1-Introduction: Design Project Statement
● 42,520 sq. ft. of bars/lounge space at 10 bars, lounges and nightclubs in total ● 215,000 sq. ft. pool deck with three primary pools and one adults-only pool ● 80,000 sq. ft., two-level spa, salon and fitness center ● Lead Architect: Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects
Figure 1.8-Crystals
Figure 1.7-Harmon The Harmon Hotel (Property in Litigation) ● A 26-story hotel tower, it has an elliptical layout and a highly reflective exterior ● Originally planned as a 49 story tower with 400 hotel rooms and approximately 207 residences ● Approved for demolition in July 2012 ● Architect: Foster + Partners
Crystals ● 500,000 sq. ft. retail and entertainment district ● 30-ft tall crystalline and metal-clad façade ● Amenities include fashionable clubs, gourmet restaurants, high-end retailers, galleries, incidental offices, and support areas ● Architect: Daniel Libeskind page | 5
Direction of Architecture and Architectural Response to Multidimensional Requirements 1.2-Design Project Site and Context
Figure 1.9-ARIA Express Aria Express (formerly CityCenter Tram) ● A 2,100-foot long elevated track ● Cable Liner Technology from DCC Doppelmayr Cable Car (DCC) ● Two rope-hauled parallel tracks independently operate a four-car passenger unit transporting up to 132 passengers ● A maximum of 3,266 passengers are transported per hour in each direction ● A hub at Crystals, the tracks proceed south to Monte Carlo or north to Bellagio. ● Architect: Gensler
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CityCenter is recognized for its many sustainable implementations, beginning with high on-site density; at 112 units per acre, which is comparable to that of Manhattan, New York (CityCenter, 2010, p.2). James Murren, MGM’s chairman and CEO expressed that, “Designing CityCenter was about creating a healthier environment for our guests, for the planet, and for the 12,000 people who work here. And, yes, about bringing in the money, too.” (Creating CityCenter, 2009). Home to sophisticated dining, high-end shopping, personalized hotel rooms, and outstanding art, CityCenter creates an aspiring new architectural language that speaks beyond the Las Vegas “theme park” provincialism. The project implements sustainability as a holistic part of the design, rather than an afterthought. The many awards and accolades bestowed upon the individual buildings and overall project attest to its stewardship and value to the international community. CITYCENTER ● US Forest Stewardship Council’s best commercial project of 2009 ARIA ● (2) LEED Gold Certifications (Hotel & Convention Center) ● Green Key Eco-hospitality- 5 Keys distinction
● Forbes Four-Star Award VDARA ● LEED Gold Certified Building ● AAA Four Diamond Award Winner (2012) ● Forbes Four-Star Award (2012) VEER ● LEED Gold Certified Building ● AIA Chicago 2012 Distinguished Building Award MANDARIN ORIENTAL ● LEED Gold Certified Building ● AAA Five Diamond Award ● 3- Forbes Five-Star Awards (2nd consecutive year) CRYSTALS ● LEED Gold Certified Building ● 2010 Innovative Design in Engineering and Architecture with Structural Steel awards program (AISC) ● 2011 ICSC Design And Development Award ● 2012 VIVA “Best-of-the-Best” designation by the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC)
Direction of Architecture and Architectural Response to Multidimensional Requirements
1.2-Design Project Site and Context
The CityCenter project is in sharp contrast to the fantasy hotel/casinos along Las Vegas Boulevard borrowing iconic monumental features of places such as Venice, Egypt, New York, and Paris. CityCenter’s contemporary architectural design is a sign that, “Las Vegas has been running out of themes. The trouble is that its effects rely entirely on dazzlement and over-the-top gigantism that gets old fast” (Goldberger, 2010, p.94). As Las Vegas matures, from its early years of emphasizing attraction based on imagination of the common tourist, it has been debated whether or not Vegas could or could not handle what might be referred to as real architecture (Goldberger, 2010, p.94). Diversity, art, and entertainment serving as the urban context for the design, the owners and partners of CityCenter took a gamble by proposing that people would flock to a resort that offered contemporary architecture. Their goal was to make CityCenter Las Vegas’ urban core, a city-scale development that would support a rich, twenty-four-seven lifestyle. Although City Center has distanced itself from a thematic architecture and fantastical forms, it still aspires for public attraction, while creating an urban living space. As a means of inspiring and influencing the public, the CityCenter Fine Art Collection is integrated into public spaces, featuring work by fifteen internationally-
renowned artists. This strategy was intended to carefully equip CityCenter’s unique architecture and place with areas to fascinate and entertain guests. CityCenter also provides the expected Las Vegas amenities such as restaurants, designer stores, shows, spas, nightlife clubs/ bars, meeting rooms and convention centers. The CityCenter Las Vegas (CCLV) project fulfills several of the universal cultural needs addressed in Derek Thomas’ Architecture and the Urban Environment. An ambitious approach to implement contemporary architecture into the flamboyant Las Vegas scene, CCLV provides a modern and innovative environment, in addition to creating a unique aesthetic in the Las Vegas Strip. For example, Daniel Libeskind’s distinctive designs of angular geometric planes contribute to giving CCLV its self-identity along the Strip. Equipped with ample amenities for food and entertainment, CityCenter provides an ultimate place for residence, social amenity, employment and leisure. (Gonchar, 2010, pg. 2) While CCLV may offer good opportunities for privacy and social or formal business activities, it lacks incorporation of nature in its design, which affects the ability to access the open space system for leisure (Gonchar, 2010, pg. 2). Although CCLV conclusively meets many of the universal cultural needs defined by Derek Thomas, a few of its lacking factors seem to derive from the site’s environmental and urban
context. CCLV’s collection of eclectic buildings is designed by some of the most acclaimed architects of contemporary time. Since all of the firms who worked on CCLV have unique design approaches, it is impractical to select anyone of the buildings to determine the style in which it was built. Rather, we must look upon the collection of buildings as a whole in reference to the phenomenological context of Las Vegas, primarily the Strip. The Strip houses a wide array of casinos and entertainment districts that each carries no relative reference to Las Vegas or its historical context. The uniqueness of CCLV’s comprehensive design compared to the many other architectural styles seen on the Strip, and its lack of historical reference to Las Vegas, makes it an appropriate fit located on the Strip. If CCLV was to be identified by a formal architectural style, it would most likely express Post-modernism characteristics with an emphasis on sustainability. According to Thomas in Architecture and the Urban Environment, Post-modernism is comprised of “hybrid and complex design forms, variable with surprises while merging conventional
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Direction of Architecture and Architectural Response to Multidimensional Requirements 1.3-Comparison of Urban Design Approaches to respond to the Socio-economic and Cultural Needs
with abstract. Their work expresses ‘pro’ representation: metaphor, historical reference, humor and symbolism, and positively exalted ‘baroque-esque’ excess.” (Thomas, 2002, p.49) Most of the characteristics described by Thomas can be seen at CCLV through various facets. The hybrid and complex design is readily apparent at Crystals, the luxury shopping mall designed by Daniel Libeskind. Its masses are stacked on and next to each other as if to evoke the imagery of shards of crystals rising from the ground. The metaphorical, symbolic, ‘baroque-esque’ nature of post-modernism can also be seen at Veer Towers, where the towers actually veer away from each other to satisfy the auto logical name, while the encompassing yellow-façade helps the structure with heat transfer. In addition to the post-modernist nature of the project, CCLV also strived to produce a sustainable complex. According to EE&K, who produced the conceptual master plan for the project, one of the primary goals of CityCenter was to produce a space that was “rooted in a more urbane and sustainable sensibility” (CityCenter, 2013). Staying true to their vision, CCLV incorporates various
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sustainable strategies that lead all the towers of the project to achieve LEED gold ratings with the exception of the Harmon hotel, which was not opened due to construction defects. executive for Gensler. The innovative approach, achieved by inviting internationally renowned architects and starchitects to individually design a modernist building was an architectural statement to end context stealing design. However, the project is not flawless ingeniousness and does have a few inconsistencies between visions and realities in which spaces are utilized and experienced. CCLV’s ultimate goal was to produce revenue. Revenue led the project to highly regard socio-economic user groups, such as typical tourists and high-rollers, during the decisionmaking process. In turn, the entire 67-acre mixed-use site not only equips environments of pleasure and leisure, but boasts six LEED Gold Certifications as well. Although some passive strategies were utilized in the design, such as exterior louvered shading, the luxurious elegance of the curtain wall was difficult to desert. However, City Center features a natural gas-fired cogeneration plant contributing to thirteen percent of the projects overall electricity use, whose thermal energy exhaust produces hot water and space heating. CCLV’s plaque seeking mentality in whichever way viewed is a step forward in bringing sustainable design practice to the Las Vegas Strip. In CCLV, an attempt was made to nurture
a place for social activity, culture, identity and security often made possible in an urban setting. Initial thought on creating niches for open space to display public art and pedestrian walkways was carried out, although somewhat sacrificed in the dense development which of course prioritized revenue income for the project to be funded. Perhaps a greater flaw is the project’s stature with respect to the pedestrian scale as it performs almost as a barrier wall for pedestrians along the Strip. A grand gesture invites vehicular traffic to the centralized roundabout, meanwhile, the pedestrian pathway is secondary to and overwhelmed by this almost interstate highway gateway approach. a greater flaw is the project’s stature with respect to the pedestrian scale as it performs almost as a barrier wall for pedestrians along the Strip. A grand gesture invites vehicular traffic to the centralized roundabout, meanwhile, the pedestrian pathway is secondary to and overwhelmed by this almost interstate highway gateway approach.
Direction of Architecture and Architectural Response to Multidimensional Requirements
1.3-Comparison of Urban Design Approaches to respond to the Socio-economic and Cultural Needs
Figure 1.10-City Center Drive With respect to privacy, a unique and innovative design feature was incorporated into the glass façade of the Aria. A horizontal saw tooth window frame is repeated to give each hotel room a “corner view” without sacrificing the privacy of each hotel room guest. In all, Derek Thomas’ universal cultural needs have been somewhat worked into the design of City Center Las Vegas. This is the first true attempt in Las Vegas to create a sense of place and identity in a densely tourist-populated area. Although the project has its shortcomings, it is successful in its modernist approach to dense mixed-use development on the Las Vegas Strip. The idea of creating a city center was formed by Jim Murren, the CEO of MGM Mirage, who thought Las Vegas lacked in a
world-class urban gathering place for the city’s residents. The goal for the CCLV was to create a city within a city that accommodated for a refined lifestyle, entertainment, and a social space. The two living spaces, Mandarin Oriental and the Vdara Hotel, had specific goals including providing each guest with open vistas to the Strip and CityCenter, natural daylight penetration, and comfortable active spaces. The sophisticated modern Mandarin Oriental and Vdara Hotel provide world-renowned residences, relaxing spas, and many other accommodations. The two towers are designed with a typical modernist approach, a high-rise skeleton construction enveloped by a curtain wall. There is a simplification of form and an absence of applied decoration, giving way to a clean aesthetic where materials meet in simple, well-executed joints. The building materials allow for generous use of glass and natural light where windows are no longer portholes to the outside, but large expanses of floor to ceiling glass providing dramatic views and introducing natural light deep into the interior spaces. The living spaces are no longer defined, but flow together as part of one contiguous interior space, reflecting a more casual and relaxed way of life. These modern elements were tools used by KPF and RV architecture to meet the envisioned goals of the two hotels. Even though the modern direction of architecture is
consistent throughout CCLV, the architecture strives for a new vision in architecture. The architects aimed at achieving architecture that could restore its integrity in the eyes of the ordinary people and elevate the qualities of the social environment to enhance the urban experience. Paul Katz, principal of KPF, stated “our buildings exemplify our belief that the arts of architecture and urbanism are inseparable; when a structure is completed, the client has not only made a contribution to their future, but to the future of a city as well.”(Gonchar, 2010) A mega-development wagers that urbanism and architecture can trump flamboyance and kitsch. strives for a new vision in architecture. The architects aimed at achieving architecture that could restore its integrity in the eyes of the ordinary people and elevate the qualities of the social environment to enhance the urban experience. Paul Katz, principal of KPF, stated “our buildings exemplify our belief that the arts of architecture and urbanism are inseparable; when a structure is completed, the client has not only made a contribution to their future, but to the future of a city as well.”(Gonchar, 2010) A mega-development wagers that urbanism
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Direction of Architecture and Architectural Response to Multidimensional Requirements 1.1-Introduction: Design Project Statement
Veer Towers ● 853,000 sq. ft. ● Twin 37-story, 480-foot towers that lean 5 degrees from their center in opposite directions ● 80-ft tall lobbies, complemented by 80-ft wall art by Richard Long ● 335 hotel rooms and 674 luxury condominiums are housed collectively ● 11,500 sq. ft. roof deck featuring an infinity-edge pool, hot tub, sun deck, and patio ● 11,500 sq. ft. floor featuring a media room, game room, screening room, fitness center, steam rooms, and saunas ● Lead Architect: Helmut Jahn
Figure 1.5-VEER
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Mandarin Oriental ● 547,000 sq. ft. ● 47-story, 539-foot glass and steel tower ● 392 hotel rooms and 225 condominium residences ● 12,000 sq. ft. meeting space, including a 7,650 sq. ft. ballroom ● 5 bars and a restaurant ● 27,000 sq. ft., 2-level; spa, salon, and fitness center ● 8th floor pool and deck ● 23rd floor Sky Lobby ● 8-level parking structure and a one-level subterranean parking structure ● Architect: Kohn Pedersen Fox
Figure 1.6-Mandarin Hotel
Direction of Architecture and Architectural Response to Multidimensional Requirements 1.3-Comparison of Urban Design Approaches to respond to the Socio-economic and Cultural Needs
and architecture can trump flamboyance and kitsch. With respect to privacy, a unique and innovative design feature was incorporated into the glass façade of the Aria. A horizontal saw tooth window frame is repeated to give each hotel room a “corner view” without sacrificing the privacy of each hotel room guest. In all, Derek Thomas’ universal cultural needs have been somewhat worked into the design of City Center Las Vegas. This is the first true attempt in Las Vegas to create a sense of place and identity in a densely tourist-populated area. Although the project has its shortcomings, it is successful in its modernist approach to dense mixed-use development on the Las Vegas Strip. The idea of creating a city center was formed by Jim Murren, the CEO of MGM Mirage, who thought Las Vegas lacked in a world-class urban gathering place for the city’s residents.
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Group 3 Javier Barrera, Edrick Ferreras, Tyler Johnson, Kitty Slaughter
Group 4 Eric Gross, Dany Olsen, Nasar Saghafi, Roland Santos
Architectural Response to Multidimensional Requirements 2.1-Contextual Edge
Looking at the location, the Las Vegas Strip, City Center looks as if it is not embracing the surrounding context visually, but as an industry where casinos are packed together all striving to gather the attention of every tourist on the street. City Center itself seems to embrace the idea of ignoring the context. To the South of City Center lies the Mandalay Bay and the New York, New York, to the North is the newly built Cosmopolitan and the Bellagio, and to the East is Planet Hollywood (Figure 1 and 2).
Figure 2.1: New York New York in contrast with City Center
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Figure 1.2: Planet Hollywood to the Northeast A majority of these projects are built around a specific theme, or place, and have created a unique identity all on their own. City Center, although it does not seem to be themed or modeled off of a place, embraces the idea that every casino is unique and designed in such a way that it ignores the surrounding context. Even when looking at the five different buildings within the City Center complex, Aria, Vdara, Crystal’s, Mandarin Oriental, and Veer Towers, they all have the same architectural style of modern contemporary, but they themselves ignore their own context by orienting them in different ways, cladding them in differing materials, and creating towers with differing heights (Figure 3).
Figure 1.3: Contrasting Building Facades
Figure 1.4: Intersection of Differing Building Materials This instead seems to create five separate buildings that would create “City Center”. By doing so it seems that instead of creating a single complex that would become visible as a single property, it has now become five separate buildings on the same building site (Figure 4).
Architectural Response to Multidimensional Requirements
2.1-Contextual Edge
Sitting on 67 acres of land, it is no doubt that City Center Las Vegas is an imposing figure on the Las Vegas Strip. The land being used is equivalent to 12 Manhattan blocks. CCLV is exponentially large even for a Vegas development. It dominates the view from the street and the neighboring hotels. However this is historically common in Vegas, as each new expansion to the strip is an attempt to surpass any projects that had come before. Through its daunting in size, CCLV is essentially follows the cultural heritage of the strip by attempting to outdo its predecessors. A similar argument can be applied to the architecture of the different structures that CCLV is comprised of. When looking at the strange forms of City Center’s buildings, like Libeskind’s Crystals complex or the Veer Condominiums, it is hard to believe that they may actually fit within their surrounding context. However, the Strip in Las Vegas is probably one of the only places on Earth where such selfcentered designs can actually work. The Strip is filled with a myriad of eccentric theme based hotels, all of which are an attempt to draw attention. So it can be argued that City Center acknowledges its surrounding context by being distinctive.
Pedestrian vs. Vehicular Traffic On the East side of the property, facing the Las Vegas Strip, the designers created a pedestrian friendly walkway that is separated from the traffic of the Strip, including pedestrian bridges that go over these roadways further separating people from traffic (Figure 5).
When visiting City Center, the only places where vehicles and pedestrians interact are in the parking garage and the drop off zones directly in front of the entrances to the casinos. By doing this the designers have created a way where people are safer, and are immersed within the casino environment, hopefully creating revenue for the property owners. The idea of separating pedestrian and vehicles is even seen on the facades of the five buildings. The larger towers are unornamented such that those driving by can understand what is taking place easily from a larger distance than if they were ornamented. The facades of Crystals, located along the pedestrian walkway on the Strip, is the only building that has multiple surfaces created from the building, as well as the only one that has a changing material pattern found on the surface (Figure 6).
Figure 5: Pedestrian Walkway Separated
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Architectural Response to Multidimensional Requirements 2.1-Contextual Edge
The finer details of the art geared towards pedestrians require them to walk up and actually examine the art without merely passing by it. The larger art pieces, such as those of the canoes in Nancy Rubins “Big Edge”, can be glanced at from a faster speed than that of pedestrians, and still understand what the art piece is and appreciate it in full detail (Figure 8 and 9).
By catering to two separate modes of transportation, City Center attempts to embrace those that are traveling by at a faster speed, like those in vehicular traffic, as well as those that are simply walking by, trying to entice them to enter the building and spend money.
Figure 6: More Detailed Material Texture for Pedestrian
These two things help embrace the pedestrian traffic on the street edge and try to keep their attention towards City Center, and possibly entice them to enter the building. Finally the way that art is placed both inside and outside help attract the two different travelers into the property boundary. Larger repetitive art pieces are placed on the exterior where vehicle traffic will notice them, while smaller pieces with finer detailing are placed inside, as well as outside, to attract pedestrians towards the space around them.
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Figure 8: “Big Edge” Designed as Art for Vehicle Traffic
Figure 9: Detailed Art Piece within Pedestrian Public Space
Architectural Response to Multidimensional Requirements
2.1-Contextual Edge
Emphasis on Interior As a casino City Center is focused on bringing customers into the building and doing whatever is possible to keep those people within the building. This meant that the design of the overall complex was focused on attracting people inside and keeping them inside. Besides the pedestrian walkway, which is designed for safety and movement towards or by the site, there is no outdoor public space at the street edge. It is not until the person is within the site boundary that there is any hint of outdoor space (Figure 7).
The outside is almost seen as taboo, which is the case within a desert environment like that of Las Vegas. With temperatures at an average high of over 100 degrees during the summer peak months of travel for tourists it is necessary for people to be indoors as much as possible to avoid this extreme heat (The Weather Channel, 2012). Emphasis is thus focused on the interior of the project rather than the exterior. The only emphasis that is created on the exterior is the advertising for events that occur within the building. Everything about the complex is focused on creating an environment to attract tourists and their money.
The interior of the building is the best place to do this considering that tourists visiting Las Vegas are unfamiliar with the weather and that 72% of those that travel to Vegas gamble, which is nearly 28.8 million people annually (“Las vegas visitor�, 2012 & Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, 2012). This is a massive amount of potential revenue for the casino industry, and as such every casino on the Strip is vying for every visitor at the same time. So by attracting people into the building, and then keeping them in the building, City Center will make the most profit for the owners.
Figure 7: Outdoor Public Space still kept Private with Fencing
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Architectural Response to Multidimensional Requirements 2.2 - Sustainable Design and Sustainable Construction The Greenness of City Center In architecture, designers should develop a code to determine the level of commitment in regard to a principle of ‘greenness’. This approach, according to Vale and Vale can be explained in six principles: respect the site, work with the climate, conserve energy, respect the builder and the end user, design holistically, and minimize the use of new resources (Thomas, 2002).
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First is the respect to the site, which relies on the specific characteristics of climate, topography, technologies and culture of a given region. Specifically among these them, is the extent in which new structures touch the ground and whether the land is exploited in order to create structural foundations for new constructions, The site known as the Las Vegas Strip, has been branded historically for the demolition of old buildings and its replacement by new ones. Because of the commercial value and the need for higher density structures, the sites of the Strip and its surroundings is expected and perhaps needs to be altered in order to maximize the use of purpose. Since the city relies heavily on the economic growth of the casino business, the site should be manipulated to best fit the design of new buildings. While the site context of the Strip is still being defined, the culture of Las Vegas as an entertainment capital is one of impressionable spaces, including casino, resorts, and entertainment (Figure 10).
Figure 10
Architectural Response to Multidimensional Requirements
2.2 - Sustainable Design and Sustainable Construction
Figure 11
Another principle refers to the conservation of energy. This begins during construction and carries on throughout the life of the building. City Center’s Aria is the world’s largest hotel to achieve a LEED Gold Rating (Figure 11). The building’s primary energy saving includes a curtain wall that uses a new generation of glass coating that lets daylight in while blocking the sun’s heat producing rays. In addition, sunshades reduce glare and maintain an even temperature in the guest rooms and ceramic frit is used on the glass to block daylight without obscuring views. This design allows a reduction of energy used in artificial cooling methods like air conditioning (“The aria resort”, 2010).
City Center has an 8.5 megawatt natural-gas co-generation plant that provides efficient electricity on site and reduces emissions, and uses ‘waste heat’ to provide domestic hot water (Basulto, 2010). It generates enough power to satisfy 13 percent of its demand. Furthermore, it captures the thermal energy produced as part of the generation process and uses it to heat the building. (Gonchar, 2010) It is powered by cleanburning compressed natural gas. Water conservation technology and systems save between 30% and 43% of water within the building and 60% of outdoor landscaping, saving an approximate fifty million gallons of water annually (Christ, 2011). These energy efficiency initiatives equal the power of 8000 households annually. In addition, City Center has developed slot machine bases that serve as floor air-conditioning units. This system cools guest from the ground up, rather than wasting energy on empty spaces by cooling from the ceiling (Basulto, 2010).
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Architectural Response to Multidimensional Requirements 2.2 - Sustainable Design and Sustainable Construction
Another principle is the respect between the builder and the end user. Specifically it focuses on the importance given to the health and safety of all people involved in the design process. In City Center, the various buildings have different purposes and it is clear that each one of them had clear goals in mind. Where retail and impression is required, the building has all elements. Where privacy and “healthier” environments are needed, buildings offer non-gaming, smoke free, ambiences, to create separation of spaces between public and private areas. It can be argued that the buildings’ glass façade allow for maximum daylight use. day and night, just like the casinos have. At night, the screen formed responds to the culture of Las Vegas nightlife living while keeping private and public spaces.
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Figure 12
For Example, the Veer Towers, designed by Chicago-based architect Helmut Jahn Vdara has AAA Four Diamond Award is also non-gaming, smoke-free, all suite ecofriendly boutique hotel with new sophistications spaces including Spa and Salon, wellness spa, salon and fitness center, pool areas with bars and cafes, and holistic meeting spaces (Figure 12) (“Vision architects”, 2013). The Veer Towers respond to the need for residential spaces within a growing cosmopolitan city. Its two 37-story glass towers with 337 modern condominiums each take an iconic shape by their five-degree angles (Figure 13).
Figure 13
They create an energetic effect of two towers dancing with each other (“Vision architects”, 2013). These towers create an identity to the site by taking a dynamic physical form. However, it maintains a physical connection to the strip culture by maintaining walking distances to the retail and entertainment district and by having a glass skin that shimmers day and night, just like the casinos have.
Architectural Response to Multidimensional Requirements
2.2 - Sustainable Design and Sustainable Construction
For the users who want housing and short-term lodge and entertainment, the Vdara Condo Hotel is great compliment to the nearby casino properties. The Vdara has the unique curvilinear skin of patterned glass. Its location between the Bellagio and ARIA Resort & Casino can offer 1495 residences with open floor plans with horizontal windows that maximize natural daylight and views to the city and the mountains (“Vision architects”, 2013). High end users and visitors can appreciate the residences at the Mandarin Oriental, state-of-the-art suites that hold 227 residences (“Vision architects”, 2013). City Center’s Aria is a luxurious resort casino with contemporary design that is different from buildings that preceded it in Las Vegas. It contains many activities at street level, 4000 rooms, dining, entertainment, shopping and spa experiences (“Vision architects,” 2013). Each of the two curvilinear towers has a 125,000 square feet of dining area, bar, and lounge spaces. There is an 1800 seat theater with a 300,000 square foot that currently features the Cirque du Soleil production, and a 80,000 square foot two-level spa building.
Lastly, the principle of holistic design must be consider, which embodies all green principles in the production and the end product. This principle takes into consideration the “big idea” of a project, which begins at the conceptual stage. City Center began with a master plan developed by New York’s Ehrenkrantz, Eckstut and Kuhn Architects (EEK) for a highdensity destination with interesting places and experiences. It commenced in 2004 and resulted after executives from the MGM Mirage traveled the world and met with many architects and designers to review their work and understand their approach and process (Basulto, 2010). It is worth noting that to oversee seven architects, three architects of record, 90 interior designers and hundreds of consultants, MGM retained worldwide firm Gensler to handle the large task of leading the project, including meeting aggressive schedule deadlines and coordinating with a diverse groups of professionals. City Center was conceived to be more than just big. MGM Mirage, which already owns Dubai based Infinity World, had big goals in mind. It included LEED certifications and the creation of an urban core for the sprawling city.
Instead of the isolated buildings spread out in the strip, the wanted to create a “vertical, dense, and sustainable” project, said J.F. Finn, AIA, project executive of Gensler. Although the ultimate objective is to generate revenue, the high-rolling architects were part of MGM’s business strategy. Instead of the typical strip casinos, the concentration of buildings on the site is the result of realities of the nowdefunct real estate boom of Las Vegas. The land was acquired when property values had skyrocketed and this led them to consider a high return on investment for the relatively small amount of land that was formerly occupied by the Boardwalk Hotel and Casino (Gonchar, 2010). The overall scheme was to create a plan characterized by mix uses, pedestrianoriented spaces, and buildings brought right up to the property line to form a street wall directly on the Strip (Gonchar, 2010).
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Architectural Response to Multidimensional Requirements 2.2 - Sustainable Design and Sustainable Construction
As a result of good design, in 2011 the U. S. Design and Development Awards chose The Shops at Crystal as a Gold Design and Development Award winner. Crystals won a gold award for sustainable design in the Innovation Design and Development of a New Project category because it demonstrated how a specific design problem can be solved by creating new standards. In the case of Crystals, it was the innovation quartz design that welcomes abundant natural light into the three level building (“Crystals at citycenter”, 2011). The Mandarin Oriental won the AAA Five Diamond Award designation for hotels and restaurants in North America because of its unique accommodations that reflect the ultimate characteristics in luxury and sophistication (“Mandarin oriental, las”, 2010). In total, City Center has won a total of six LEED Gold certifications (Figure 14).
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Figure 14
Architectural Response to Multidimensional Requirements
2.2 - Sustainable Design and Sustainable Construction
Sustainable Construction Practices City Center Las Vegas is the largest private construction project in the history of the United States (Christ, 2011). Knowing that the scale of the project was so massive the design team took extra consideration to not only make the buildings sustainable, but also make the construction sustainable. Derek Thomas describes six ways to maximize resources and maintain the environment: minimize resources consumption, maximize resource reuse, use renewable or recyclable resources, protect the natural environment, restore environments degraded by past activities, and create a healthy, nontoxic environment (Thomas, 2002).
One of the largest resources that are consumed during construction is gasoline. The design team used several strategies to minimize the transportation of materials to the job site. The first strategy used was during material selection; a majority of the materials selected were chosen based on a five hundred mile radius with the site as the center point. By cooperating with local and regional vendors the amount of greenhouses gas emissions created by shipping is reduced (“Materials”, 2013). One material in particular, concrete, was produced on site. City Center had access to a private, onsite concrete plant, which eliminated thousands of loads of concrete being delivered each day (Figure 15) (“Materials”, 2013).
Figure 15
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Architectural Response to Multidimensional Requirements 2.2 - Sustainable Design and Sustainable Construction
Another strategy the design team utilized was the maximization of reusing materials, not allowing anything to go to waste. One of the ways they accomplished this was by repurposing 85% of the Boardwalk Hotel (Figure 16) (“Recycling”, 2013). The demolition crew was able to salvage all of the doors, hardware, scrap steel, other metals, and carpet and put them up for resale; all of the broken tiles, concrete, and asphalt were taken off site, crushed and brought back so it could be used as structural filler (“Recycling”, 2013). Also the bathroom fixtures and countertops were sent to Mexico to be used in other projects, but instead of buying brand new packaging products they used the old drapes and some carpet to secure the fixtures (Lee, 2008). They construction team not only utilized the potential waste from the Boardwalk Hotel, they also used were able to use 95% of the construction debris, thousands of tons of steel, concrete, paper, and plastic (Christ, 2011). Due to the management of this project very little waste wound up on a Nevada landfill.
This goal of reusing as much potential waste as possible can also be found in some of the art pieces throughout City Center. Maya Lin’s Colorado River interpretation is made out of 100% reclaimed silver and instead of using new boats Nancy Rubin’s Big Edge sculpture uses salvaged boats (Figure 8 & 17) (“Materials”, 2013). They both wanted to express the ideals found in the buildings architecture and engineering through their works of art.
Figure 16
The City Center team did not only focus on reusing materials from their own site, they also reused some of their neighbor’s resources as well. Instead of transporting water to the site to spray on the ground to control the dust the construction team reclaimed the water from the Monte Carlo’s cooling towers; this also eliminated the energy needed to process and pump it onto the site (“Water”, 2013). Figure 17
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Architectural Response to Multidimensional Requirements
2.2 - Sustainable Design and Sustainable Construction
During the construction special considerations were taken to create a healthy non-toxic environment that would not create future problems for the building. The workers on the site had designated areas to smoke in so none of the tobacco fumes could be absorbed into the carpets and wallpaper (“Wellness”, 2013). All of the paints, sealants, adhesives, carpets, and composite wood products were chosen based on their ability to not release toxic substances into the air after the building becomes occupied (Figure 19) (“Wellness”, 2013).
Figure 8: “Big Edge” Designed as Art for Vehicle
Water usage is a big issue in Las Vegas. Utilizing new innovative ways to use water intelligently is the most crucial way the design team could help protect the natural environment. Their conservation strategies save about fifty million gallons a year (Christ, 2011). The team had specially designed low flow fixtures that if the complex was 100% occupied would save seventy-six million gallons of water a day (Figure 18) (Lee, 2008). Another way the water in the desert is being protected was by reducing the amount to waste that went to the landfill; the less waste in the landfill the less the groundwater is contaminated (“Recycling”, 2013).
Figure 18
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Architectural Response to Multidimensional Requirements 2.2 - Sustainable Design and Sustainable Construction
The team was not only concerned with their current impact on the environment, they were also concerned about repairing any damage done by previous activities. The first thing they did to accomplish this goal was by obtaining half of all of their wood from the Forest Stewardship Council (Figure 20 & 21) (“Materials�, 2013). This organization helps promote the responsible management of the world’s forests.
They ensure that all clear cutting is avoided, all laws are followed, and all ecosystems and native species are protected. After years of deforestation organizations like this help ensure there are forests for the future. Also through the knowledge gained by everyone involved with the project MGM Mirage Corporation implemented several sustainable strategies which have reduced the energy of all of its Las Vegas properties by 6% (Hvistendahl, 2010). The company also trained forty thousand of its employees on how to reduce their personal environmental impact (Hvistendahl, 2010).
Figure 20
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Figure 21
Architectural Response to Multidimensional Requirements
2.2 - Sustainable Design and Sustainable Construction
Taking into consideration the principles of Vale and Vale and the six initiatives of Derek Thomas, it can be argued that City Center has made an honest effort to become as sustainable as it possible could. They repurposed materials whenever possible and applied all sorts of conservation techniques. However, the amount of reused materials is relatively small compared to the total amount used. A large part of these structures required new materials that consumed more resources.
Sustainable construction involves the capacity to shape human behavior to become accountable for their effect on the environment (Thomas, 2002). Sustainability is more than recycling and reusing materials. It also involves building micro-cities and experiences that enhance the living of the end user; it also involves creating jobs that allow local and regional growth. The current issues in sustainable construction now occupy agendas for social and political changes in regards to the environment (Thomas, 2002). After learning about the collaborative processes involved in the production of large scale projects like City Center it is evident that for a building to be truly sustainable not only do the architects, engineers, and manufactures have to design green, all of the contractors and the clients have to work green as well.
Like Thomas explains, “all development has the potential for bringing about a negative two-pronged change to the natural environment (Thomas, 2002)�. The project of City Center can be criticized for being massive and expensive. The luxury in the details of the interior spaces can be characterized as a large waste of resources. The energy used in the overall operation of the various buildings will always be higher than the average building. On the other hand, we must embrace the attempts to save energy and the approaches being made to create enjoyable spaces that create new experiences. The efforts being made by the various designers to think thoroughly about each space in the various buildings speaks to the commitment of these professionals to break out of the typical design approach.
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Architectural Response to Multidimensional Requirements 2.3 - Holism in Architectural Design:
Expressing itself as the ‘urban core’ of the Las Vegas Strip, City Center undoubtedly rivals many of the city’s existing structures in terms of aesthetic quality. The Master Plan seeks to revitalize and redefine the city through its unique design techniques. With the help of many different architectural design firms, the project attempts to reflect many aesthetic principles and attributes outlined by Derek Thomas through contextual perspective, proportion and scale, and color and texture. Thomas states that the final product of an architectural structure should be assessed on how it addresses its contextual surroundings in response to its sense of ‘place’ (Thomas, 2002). In regards to City Center, there exists a disconnection between most adjacent buildings on the Las Vegas Strip. The goal of most structures on the Strip is to stand out from its competitors rather than respect its surroundings.
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In an article by Gensler, they state that the location of project was one of few places in the world where they had a completely clean canvas (Gensler, 2009). This shows that not much attention was given to the surrounding context in the design of City Center’s aesthetics. However, of all the buildings that constitute City Center, the Vdara might be the only building that respects the surrounding architecture. Led by principal Rafael Vinoly of RV Architecture, the vision behind Vdara was to design a building that would complement the Aria and other near nearby resort casino properties (Basulto, 2010). Its crescent-like shape is a common form found in many other properties in the area. Additionally, within the Master Plan each of the distinct buildings that compose City Center responds to one another in terms of aesthetics, through materiality and hierarchy of spaces. Although there is only little evidence of an aesthetic response to the surrounding context, the project physically connects to the adjacent properties via ‘People Mover’, a tram that runs through the Monte Carlo, City Center, and the Bellagio (Gensler, 2009).
There is much subjectivity that surrounds the idea of ideal proportions of a given structure however, Thomas discusses two main objectives: to create pleasing aesthetics through harmonious proportion, and to create a sense of order among the elements in a visual construction (Thomas, 2002). As stated previously, City Center shows a hierarchy in spaces among the distinctive structures that compose it. The Aria is the centerpiece of the whole project, and its proportion in comparison to the rest of the project is visibly larger giving it a higher sense of importance. Conversely, the Crystals retail and entertainment building is proportionally smaller the rest of the project because it responds more to the human scale. Thomas discusses how the design of a project could be considered ‘in scale’ if it conforms with human norms, or as ‘large scale’ or ‘small scale’ according to its departure from these norms (Thomas, 2002). With this information in mind, it is reasonable to conclude that most of the structures within the City Center project are proportionally large-scale structures that show order in its composition. However, the only exception is the Crystals, which is proportionally smaller than the rest of the buildings to effectively utilize space at the human scale.
Architectural Response to Multidimensional Requirements
2.3 - Holism in Architectural Design:
Color and texture play a large role in the design of a building. Utilizing them efficiently in the built environment, they can have a highly emotional effect on society (Thomas, 2002). Thomas states that the goal at all times, when using these two elements, should be the enhancement or revitalization of the aesthetics of the building or place (Thomas, 2002). In the design of City Center, all of the buildings facades utilize color and texture to give each structure a distinctive look and character throughout the whole project. Most of the structures use a curtain wall system, but apply color and texture differently. In the design of both the Aria and Vdara, the facades of both buildings are distinguished by their pattern of blue horizontal stripes that articulate each floor. According to Thomas, the blue hue of a building evokes a soothing effect among individuals if the color is not too strong (Thomas, 2002).
The Vdara also uses bands of white stripes that cover the faรงade, which Thomas states is a cheering and stimulating color (Thomas, 2002). The textures on the curtain walls of both structures are smooth and similar to one another, showing the structures correlation to one another. In the design of the Mandarin Oriental, the scale of the buildings rooms are reflected in the horizontal painted aluminum patterns on the faรงade. The staggered vertical stripes are expressed with a golden-yellow hue that evokes a cheerful and stimulating emotion (Thomas, 2002). The texture of the building is also smooth, similar to the Aria and Vdara. The Veer Towers use horizontal sunscreens that provide shading on the east, south, and west facades that reduce energy consumption and maximize comfort for the occupants within it. These sunscreens are also a golden hue, similar to the Mandarin Oriental, showing an aesthetic connection through color to the adjacent property. The sunscreens give the two towers a rough texture, which is different from most of the buildings in the project. This change in texture expresses the structures individual function as a condominium, and not as a hotel or resort casino.
The faรงade of the Crystals retail and entertainment structure is clad in a unique reflective metal that changes and one moves past it. The retail structures crystalline form, color, and smooth texture allow the building to stand out on the Las Vegas Strip as the gem of the city. Although the many controversies surround the Harmon Hotel, its color and texture add to the overall aesthetic of City Center. The building uses different shades of blue in a fluctuating horizontal pattern on the curtain wall of the building. Through its blue hue and smooth texture, the Harmon Hotel uses commonalities seen throughout City Center to derive its aesthetic qualities. Thomas states that in urban design it is important that there should be textural harmony in a building or in a group of associated buildings (Thomas, 2002). Throughout the City Center project, color and textural harmony are applied in the design of the each building to create a balanced architectural aesthetic.
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Architectural Response to Multidimensional Requirements 2.4 - Critical Analysis:
City Center successfully addressed the contextual edge through its architectural protocol by being sensitive to the site and context. In dealing with the Las Vegas strip, it is difficult for most buildings to lack a decent protocol. The Las Vegas strip is so unique and different than most strips in other cities. As everyone knows, Vegas is known for having a variety of different themes and unlike most cities that try to have a cohesive style to form their identities, Vegas identity is practically formed for doing the opposite. City Center is completely different than all other hotel and casinos, which is what actually makes it fit in with the context. City Center has a good protocol in the aspect that it blends in well with the high rise, skyscraper style of the surrounding buildings.
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It would have been awkward if every other hotel and casino towered over City Center, which would have led it to have a terrible architectural protocol. Connecting City Center by transit with the adjoining Bellagio and Monte Carlo properties also shows its sensitivity to the site and context, because it creates an even larger setting that guests, and visitors can experience by walking, without ever having to use their automobiles or cabs to get to their destinations. MGM MIRAGE saw sustainability as a huge source of added value that would not only greatly benefit City Center and its owners, but also its guests and visitors. Gensler was the firm that took the lead and initiative to make sure that sustainability was achieved in as many aspects of the project. The goal was to enhance energy performance, improve indoor air quality, and reduce water use. These goals seem simple, but at the scale of the City Center Project they add up and are crucial for its success. For example, sustainability was used in not only the design but demolition, construction and operations. In terms of Derek Thomas’s argument, this sustainability approach addresses the criteria of cultural experience and energy needs for the final products architectural worth (Thomas, 2002).
For the construction aspect of City Center, it addressed the criteria of energy needs. During the construction process, construction waste was minimized and demolition waste was diverted from landfills almost entirely (Gensler, 2009). About 95% of all construction waste that would have ended up in landfills was recycled. Another useful construction feature that addressed the criteria of energy use was the City Centers point during the construction process to reclaim water from the neighboring Monte Carlo Resort & Casino. Using the Monte Carlo for dust control in the position of precious drinking water ended up saving 2.4 million gallons of potable water (LAS VEGAS’ CITYCENTER ONE OF WORLD’S LARGEST GREEN DEVELOPMENTS, 2012). Another key move that was done during construction dealt with the ventilation systems. The Ventilation systems were completely sealed until installation. It seems like a minor move, however this protected the ventilation systems from the dust, smoke and harmful particles that were present on the construction site.
Architectural Response to Multidimensional Requirements
2.4 Critical Analysis
No smoking was allowed on the site once the ventilation was sealed which ensured vastly higher indoor air quality which also deals with Derek Thomas’s criteria of cultural experience. The idea here was being that the space was enhanced with this construction step that would appeal and benefit the user (Thomas, 2002). In terms of design, there were also many sustainable features that took place in City Center. One of the sustainable design features was the high performance façades in each tower with specially coated low-emittance insulating glass and sunshades. These energy-efficient exterior features helped reduce the heat transfer from the sun onto the buildings, which in return meant saving energy and appealing to the visitors at the same time.
Like in the construction phase, this meets the criteria of Derek Thomas for energy needs and cultural experience. For cultural experience it may not be as clear, but our culture is used to having temperature controls in interior spaces. Most buildings have interior temperature control but city center went a step further by trying control the initial heat transfer making it sustainable. Other notable design features are the reflective rooftops and the general use of materials that were locally sourced and/or recycled content. Another unique sustainable design feature that the City Center gaming area features is its cooling method and its slot machines. There was the “development of slot machine bases that serve as floor air-conditioning units, efficiently cooling guests from the ground up, rather than wasting energy on empty space by cooling from the ceiling” (City of Gold, 2009). Although simple, this approach was innovative as it is one of the first casinos to apply this method.
City Center of Las Vegas combined the works of various architects in order to create a unique place with various dynamics. However, in the idea of proportions, City Center has established in its own roots a sense of hierarchy where in some applications it works for the desired effect, but in other cases it seems to conflict. Each one of the buildings has roughly the same amount of floors the smallest amount being the Harmon Hotel with twenty-seven floors and the Aria with sixty-one floors. The variation in heights creates a pleasing arrangement between the buildings that distinctly separates them yet establishes a sense of connectivity without there being too much of a drastic change. The only exception is the Crystals mall that is only three floors and has the most unique design that is completely different from the rest of the towers of city center. For the most part, at a human-scale, it would be the first aspect to stand out yet be nearly impossible to see at certain angles making it almost non-existent to the other towers. Its deconstructive design gives it an edge that helps it find its niche in the city center, but is truly just an attachment to the completed design.
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Architectural Response to Multidimensional Requirements 2.4 - Critical Analysis
The next issue with aesthetics would have to be the actual design of each of the towers because of the use of various architects. While this creates diversity which can be pleasing to some people, it also creates chaos and a sense of disorder with all of the high-tech use of a high-rise. Each building has the high-tech approach by utilizing curtain walls with reflective properties, but some have sweeping forms that are dynamic where as others have a highly orthogonal, standard form. The Veer Towers and the Mandarin Oriental do not flow as well together as the Vdara does to the Aria and Harmon Hotel. With so many variations, a passerby may find themselves lost walking and a driver may miss many of the details on the road of the varying towers. Each independently has qualities that are elegant, but in the middle of all of the towers, one could easily be lost and feel an ominous looming compared the separation of all of the other hotels on the strip.
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It is almost impossible to take in each tower alone for its beauty by standing back because not all can be viewed at one distinct point without the other tower intruding in one way or another. With all of the various walkways at different heights, attempting to navigate the system would have users focused more on the footbridges over trying to admire each particular tower. Lastly, with the use of lights, the original idea of City Center seemed to create a heavy glow at night much like the light of the Luxor except more grandiose. Upon completion, the City Center at night looks incomplete and dark. The unoccupied rooms and the lack of light shining through leaves City Center blending into the night sky and reflecting the city back to itself. This may seem effective in practice by taking away some attention from itself, but it really only hurts itself by making it seem closed off. While it might be massive in its scale, its night time appearance pales in comparison to the original idea.
With City Center being in the heart of Las Vegas, there is a certain attitude that the city center should have as far as relating to the city itself. Unfortunately, the city center almost wants to be a city and not a part of the city. When it comes to the site, the City Center effectively utilizes the space to incorporate a series of hotel towers typical of Las Vegas all into one to create a small city. However, when looking at the Strip or Las Vegas Boulevard, each of the casinos as a very distinctive pattern even though they all have unique facades. Each casino has a general theme, a hotel aspect, a casino paring beneath it much as a tower and base, and each is brightly lit so that it stands out during the night hours where most people tend to interact with the city itself. Each casino is spaced accordingly so each one has its own spotlight where it can be viewed from in full and the theme can be fully understood. The City Center of Las Vegas has combined itself all into one large grouping where it splits itself from the other casinos and becomes one giant piece.
Architectural Response to Multidimensional Requirements
2.4 - Critical Analysis:
It does not relate well to the rest of the Strip because not only does it separate itself and bundles multiple casinos and hotels into one tight region, it also looms over the rest of the strip and stands out entirely. The City Center has the tallest hotels on the Strip and then when night falls, becomes dark tall towers in a mess of a metropolis. While beautiful to view, the actual interactions of City Center to Las Vegas creates a whole new dynamic where it encourages users to stay put in one region where as the rest of the Strip encourages users to explore one casino to the next and venture into various atmospheres while having the viewing pleasure of others.
As far as sustainable practices are concerned though, it reaches LEED gold standards so it makes some attempts at adapting to the harsh climate of Las Vegas, but it still utilizes air conditioned spaces surrounded by glass which even high performing, still impacts its overall performance. Curtain walls are not idea when temperatures get extreme and in practical application to the context of the desert, would seem almost foolish. Fortunately, other practices have been used such as utilizing a natural-gas-fired generation plant and recycling water. This is not seen in the design at all however. From a glance, most would assume it is highly unsustainable, which the goal was not to focus on sustainability but to generate revenue and make attempts at saving revenue in the meantime. Because of this, design meant more than sustainable features and sacrificing the ideal high-tech curtain wall design would mean a more standard design and not as modern of a design which was not something the clients would probably desire.
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Group 5 Yuri An, Divina Arellano, Adam Beck, Shirin Moqimi
Precedent Analysis
3.1 - Gloucester Green, Oxford, England
Gloucester Green is a city center development designed by Kendrick Associates in 1980’s. It is a mixed use development; incorporating flats, shops, restaurants, a bus station, and a large open space used for a variety of organized activities, including a one day a week open air market, busking and other entertainments. Most of the buildings as well as the bus station and the main ‘piazza’ were built as a piece in the late 1980’s. The development is situated approximately a quarter of a mile from the main shopping center of Oxford. The main plaza space is entirely pedestrian, although one edge incorporates a taxi rank. The bus station forms a distinct and separate territory within the development as a whole. The transport advantage of living at Gloucester Green was strongly appreciated. The main spaces are open twenty four hours a day and there is no control over pedestrian access. The benefits of the central location for its convenience for getting to work were widely praised. Architecturally there has been a clear attempt to create a definite place within the city, as a ‘stylish quarter’. This has been achieved through the use of the building form
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Figure 3.1 - A model of the whole scheme to enclose the main spaces, and through a consistent palette of materials and architectural detailing. Mixed use development has a practical value. Its application has provided a firm foundation for achieving the complex goals of sustainability. (Coupland, 1997). While City Center has tried to achieve some of the Mixed-Use qualities of Gloucester Green, it has failed due to many reasons. People come to Las Vegas to gamble and have fun. People who live in Las Vegas do not necessarily want to live on Las Vegas Blvd. and people who come and visit do not need to buy a condominium when they have so many choices as which hotel they want to stay. It is not the most accessible for people walking along the Strip and the Shopping Mall is too expensive to shop at.
Figure 3.2 - View across Gloucester Green from opposing sides of the piazza
Figure 3.3 - Views across Gloucester Green from opposing sides of the piazza
Precedent Analysis
3.2 - Canal City Hakata in Fukuoka, Japan Canal City Hakata is a large shopping and entertainment complex in Fukuoka, Japan. Called the “city within the city,” it boasts numerous attractions including shops; cafes; restaurants; a theater; game center; cinemas; two hotels; and a canal, which runs through the complex. Located adjacent to Fukuoka’s entertainment district and between the commercial and retail core of the city, Canal City has become a tourist attraction and commercial success for Fukuoka. In order to conserve power after the Fukushima nuclear plant disasters, the energy saving measures at Canal City was very important. Filled with hanging gardens and pools of cooling water, the mall’s outdoor canyons manage to keep the temperature down with minimal air conditioning. It is the largest private development in the history of Japan. It is built with a distinctive fanciful style, with many curving sculptures and fountains and city of Fukuoka hardly visible, to create an atmosphere like an oasis away from the rest of the town. With Canal City in business, areas around the complex began to see increased success as well. The nearby food markets, in decline and seeing little business, began to rebuild and rehire shops because of the foot traffic from Canal City. (Schwanke, 2003). City Center wanted to be a world-class urban gathering place for the city’s residents.
Figure 3.4 - interior of Canal City Hakata The C.E.O of the City Center wanted to bring the diversity of New York to Las Vegas, to make it a world-class urban gathering place. City Center could have been that urban gathering place if it created better walkable outdoor spaces, better shopping experience, variety of shopping prices. What City Center needed to do was to create a place that attracted most ranks of people and not only for the high-class. Architecturally, it needed to be more interesting to grasp people’s attention and interest. Overall it failed to do what Canal City succeeded to do.
Figure 3.5 - Interior of Canal City Hakata
Figure 3.6 - Exterior of Canal City Hakata
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Precedent Analysis
3.3 - Masdar City Centre, City in United Arab Emirates
Masdar City Centre is located in Masdar City, which is about 17km south-east of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. It was designed by Laboratory for Visionary Architecture (LAVA, 2009). Their design was chosen as the winning design for the competition. The design is intended to be a world class landmark of sustainable architecture and engineering design that exceeds any current standards of green building practices. The design includes a plaza, five-star hotel, a convention center, entertainment complex, and retail. The designers have called the plaza portion of the design the “Oasis of the Future: a living, breathing, active, adaptive environment; stimulated by the social interaction of people, and showcasing the use and benefits of sustainable technology�(LAVA, 2009). The plaza is intended to be the social center of Masdar with 24 hour access to all public amenities. They wanted to offer the highest quality of indoor or outdoor comfort and interaction. The building takes advantage of interactive, heat sensitive technology that changes lighting conditions according to pedestrian traffic. Photovoltaic technology is
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Figure 3.7 - Interior of Masdar City Centre used throughout the design for energy collection. Roof gardens integrate food production, energy generation, water efficiency, and the reuse of organic food waste. The water features in the plaza can also be stored underground during the day to conserve water and revealed again at night. Water features and various other features of the building are triggered only when pedestrians are approaching so as not to waste unnecessary energy when not in use. The umbrella-like structures that cover the plaza were designed after sun flowers. They move to follow the sun across the sky to provide the most efficient solar collection and shading. They are open during the day to collect energy and shade the plaza below and they close at night to reveal the night
Figure 3.8 - Masdar City Centre Programming
Precedent Analysis
3.3 - Masdar City Centre, City in United Arab Emirates sky. There are no automobiles permitted within the walls of Masdar City. Transportation throughout the city is accomplished with walking, public mass transit, or personal rapid transit systems (PRT). This configuration of the urban landscape without automobiles allows for a much more pedestrian friendly environment. In comparison to the Las Vegas City Center the Masdar project is a more successful design. Masdar City Centre has successfully integrated indoor and outdoor spaces more efficiently and created a more enjoyable social environment. The majority of the Las Vegas City Center is indoors. The Las Vegas weather is not an excuse for the lack of outdoor social and circulation spaces as the weather is just as harsh if not more so in Masdar. We do understand that the functions of the buildings are different in some ways. The goals of most Las Vegas Casinos are to keep you indoors and spending money, not encouraging you to wander off somewhere else. There was lost opportunity in the Las Vegas City Center project to take advantage of outdoor spaces. When it comes to sustainability, both projects achieved LEED certifications, but the Masdar City Centre seems to have taken everything a step further. Even though the Las Vegas City Center still achieved LEED Gold, wit didn’t incorporate the kind of project wide design choices that were
Figure 3.10 - Aerial view of City Center Las Vegas Figure 3.9 - Aerial view of Masdar City Centre made in the Masdar project improving the sustainability and efficiency of the design. The Masdar City Centre took circulation a step further as well by creating enjoyable pedestrian spaces and using mass transit systems instead of wasting space with roads, cars, and parking. Ultimately both projects attempted to create a social and cultural landmark within a city and both succeeded, however, Masdar City Centre took every aspect a step further and in the end will create a more efficient, sustainable, and enjoyable space.
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Precedent Analysis
3.4 - Saadiyat Island, United Arab Emirates
Saadiyat Island, which means “Island of Happiness,” is a large, low-lying island 500 meters off the Coast of Abu Dhabi Island. It is geographically located on the northeastern part of the Persian Gulf in the Arabian Peninsula. The waterway separating Saadiyat within five minutes commute of downtown Abu Dhabi. The island was a desert wasteland until development began in 2004 (Keeton, 2011, p.193). Developing from an oil-based economy, the United Arab Emirates is reinventing the resort into a tourist-based economy. The design team for the master plan is Gensler, with engineering expertise from Buro Happold. Pritzker Prize-winning architects, like Hadid, Ando, Foster, Gehry, and Nouvel, have also designed building throughout Saadiyat (Keeton, 2011, p. 199). The area of this project is 19 km of beachfront and its cost is $27 billion. Saadiyat Island is divided into 7 districts: cultural district, Saadiyat Marina, Saadiyat Beach, Saadiyat Promenade, Saadiyat Lagoons, Saadiyat Retreat, and Saadiyat Reserve. The size of the island allows each district a sense of remoteness and exclusivity. The Marina becomes the heart of the island, which is dense
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Figure 3.12 - Interior of Saadiyat Island
Figure 3.11 - Aerial view of Saadiyat Island with high-rise areas and becomes closest to downtown Abu Dhabi. The residential Lagoons, Retreat, and Reserve then become more private. The Cultural District makes this new town different from other resort cities, in that it is in line with the 2030 plan for Abu Dhabi. The significance of Saadiyat Island is that it acts as a symbolic capitol and is defined as the sum of cultural and social recognition. This project is very similar to Las Vegas’
City Center in many different ways. Like Saadiyat Island, the developers of City Center gathers well-known architects together such as Pelli Clark Pelli Architects, RV Architecture, Helmut Jahn, Studio Daneil Libeskind, Rockwell Group, Kohn Pedersen Fox, and Gensler to design the buildings within this master plan (The Architects, 2013). Having the same objective of enhancing a tourist-based economy, City Center was developed for residents to live close by the strip and to improve the culture of Las Vegas bringing new art from around the world. Both projects also face the challenges of climate. Overcoming the extreme heat and dryness of the desert, both projects use technologies to build environmentally friendly buildings with obtains LEED certifications.
Precedent Analysis
3.5 - Al Raha Beach Development, United Arab Emirates Situated on the marina east of Abu Dhabi, Al Raha Beach Development has become a signature element of the new waterfront city. Introduced in 2007, Foster + Partners proposed this project in response to the climate and topography of this coastal site. This mixed-use project consists of offices, apartments, hotels, and shops to encourage constant social activity. Using environmental computer analysis, they’ve designed an asymmetrical and sculptural building in response to the climate. Using many passive systems, the building is shaped to minimize solar gains. The performance of the facade is 30-40% better than the standard conventional facade (Al Raha Beach Development, 2007). Overall, Al Raha Beach Development overcomes the extreme climates of Abu Dhabi and yet optomizes the aesthetics of the design (Burry, 2010, p. 148). Comparing this project with the overall master plan of City Center Las Vegas, Al Raha Beach Development becomes more successful in developing a more sustainable design. City Center does take response in the extreme climates of Las Vegas, but is not one of the main goals in design. The way City Center reduce solar gains is the use of materials. They’ve added complex glazing, window shades, and tinted
roof windows, but it is not evidently visible that they’ve directly incorporated environmental design, unlike Al Raha Beach Development (Nature of Luxury, 2013).
Figure 3.13 - Exterior perspective of Al Raha Beach Development
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Precedent Analysis
3.6 - Galaxy Soho, Beijing, China to create a more monumental whole. The separate volumes have their own atrium and cores, but merge together at various levels, providing shaded outdoor plateaus and internal spaces with dramatic views (SPACE, 83) The shifting and moving plateaus shift multiple levels into each other’s view forming a deep sense of envelopment and immersion within an environment of stimulation. The architecture unfolds below, above, and into layers in all directions with logic of continuity and multi-level curvy-linearity. It is a 360-degree architectural world, which has no corners, no disrupted transitions, but in which everything evolves. It is very much inspired by nature. The project is comprised of deep vistas that are formulated by hundreds of meter of interests in all directions. The strategy here is to create a space of easy flow and easy orientation. One discovers interplay of light and shadow and of closed and open space while moving within the volumes (SPACE, 85) In addition, about the aspect of sustainability of the project it has been designed and planned using a series of green building strategies in pursuit of LEED certification. Bicycle storage, changing rooms, as well as preferred parking for low-emitting and fuel-efficient vehicles are provided to encourage residents to choose green commuting. A cooled roof
Figure 3.18 - Galaxy SOHO, China site plan
Figure 3.17 - City Center, Las Vegas aerial view of 3D model reduces the heat island effect to minimize impact on the microclimate and residents. Gray water and water efficient fixtures reduce at least 20% potable water consumption. Highly efficient lighting fixtures, chillers, and double silver low-E glass achieve 14% energy saving off the building’s annual energy cost. Green refrigerant minimizes ozone depletion and global warming. The installation of metering equipment to measure office air-conditioning energy use increases energy use efficiency and reduces energy waste. (SPACE, 86)
By looking on both plans of these two different projects, one can see how both share a similitude in the distribution of the buildings by having a central courtyard to interconnect them to create a more active and enclosed environment in the project. On both projects the central courtyard aid in the circulation of the buildings between each tower, and the enclosure and height of each buildings were a success to create shade between them for cooling purposes during the summer days.
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Precedent Analysis
3.7 - Zhengzhou Mixed Use Development, Zhengzhou, China
Zhengzhou Mixed-Use Development was designed by Trahan Architects in Zhengzhou, China. The project site is located in the historic city center, which is the primary shopping district just north of the main train station and just south of the People’s Park (a large public park). This design project has a broad scale master plan labeled “The Rise of Central China,” which is implementing a two-part initiative: ecological and infrastructural development. Ecological development prioritizes the surrounding natural resources, such as forest park, scenic areas, wetlands/reserves, rivers/ lakes and urban green space. The Infrastructural development addresses an emerging market identified as “Logistics Industry” (Bernstein, 106-107). This proposed design blends the hotel and live/work top with the retail base. In order to maximize and prioritize the corners of the site, the hotel and live/work program are rotated over the corners, framing the exterior and interior. Also, the project has green boulevards that flow into and up the edges of the site to create a green urban space at the mezzanine level. It is planned as an entertainment level so
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Figure 3.19 - Exterior view of Zhengzhou Mixed-Use Development patrons can enjoy amenities and an elevated view of the city. Moreover, plan of the design is to have the retail base steps down in plan and section for greater connectivity to the adjacent urban edges. Its gradated triangulated façade reinforces the corners and programmatic relationships from floor to floor (Bernstein, 108). In addition, this mixed-use development is on a triangular site and has an elegant plan that has three tapered towers, a 47-story hotel and two 27-story condo and office buildings, rising from a seven-story retail podium. In the gaps between the towers, the podium steps back from the street so that its planted terraces can draw visitors up to a park-like inner sanctum. Design influences on the project include not only New York City’s Rockefeller Center, but also the terracing seen in rural areas of China (Bernstein, 110).
Figure 3.20 - Interior view of courtyard
Figure 3.21 - Zhengzhou Mixed-Use Development programing
Group 6 Kyle Fischer, Thomas Maderick, Melody Quihuis, Alberto Sanchez
Group 7 Adrian Bouche, Thanh Le, Bryan Oxborrow, Levi Unruh
Regional Transformation, Technology, and Eco-Culture
4.1 - Spectrum of Approaches
There are a spectrum of approaches an architect can take when it comes to responding to the changing of urban context. An indirect approach is a way of designing that reflects general principles given by the cultural traditions, while a direct approach reflects specific regional building forms (Abel, 2000). The city center project incorporates regional traditions with its sophisticated and contemporary design by embodying the need to glamorize its forms, technology, materials, and composition. An indirect approach is dominant as seen in the lack of regional forms derived specifically from the area. Instead the overall design is meant to overshadow the existing and create a new identity within itself. Each building comes together as a whole to create a one of a kind city within a city. The overall goal of the project was to create an urban setting unlike any other. The existing Las Vegas regional context of high-rise construction combined with small corridors creating high-density urban environments embodies the design of the City Center. However, its simple goal to create its own identity almost enables the ability to relate to the urban context within the direct approach.
As an example, some individual projects seem to be a representation of the designer’s work rather than the regional context, like that of Daniel Libeskind’s Crystals retail complex. Which, with its form, shows more of his signature work and less of a traditional retail space seen in Las Vegas (Figure 1). Indirectly, however, City Center embodied the Las Vegas’s culture by creating a project of continual evolution, richness, and diversity. Las Vegas’s regional construction has a trend of continually competing with its surroundings. Each building within the city center reflects this by competing with each other on separate levels of design.
Figure 1 Las Vegas Crystals Retail Complex
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Regional Transformation, Technology, and Eco-Culture 4.2 - Regional Architecture and Identity
The Las Vegas City Center is far from a regional prime object. High rise multi-use developments including casinos, hotels, residence, retail areas, and restaurants have all been seen before. Therefore, how has the City Center created regional architecture and identity? Due to the growing complexity of the Las Vegas society, a modern approach was taken and implemented a high-density plan that creates an urban core for the notorious sprawling city. Unlike other buildings on the strip where the structure is isolated and surrounded by big open lots, the City Center’s high-density design keeps everything and everyone as close knit as possible.
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Figure 2 Las Vegas Meadows Mall
Regional Transformation, Technology, and Eco-Culture
4.3 - Color and Texture
The usage of color in the CCLV project is harmoniously apparent in all the buildings, and work together to create a sense of unity through the site. Instead of taking the approach many previous projects on the Las Vegas strip have took, with flashing LED lights, and vibrant colors to draw people in, they used the forms of the buildings to express the CCLV. The dominant color represented through the tall glass facades, as you can see in image (number), is a blue hue, which Derek Thomas explains as “soothing effect if not too strong” (Thomas, 2002). Instead of using large LED signs to draw people into the project, LED lights are used strategically through the site like Jenny Holzer’s “VEGAS” which is a 260 foot long LED display of art, rather than a billboard sign. This usage of color in the public art projects takes on a different approach than what was conceived as normal for the hotels lining the Las Vegas strip.
Art exhibits throughout the CCLV are what captivate the people inside the public spaces. The CCLV presents the first major permanent collection of art in Las Vegas to be integrated into a public space. As soon as guests check in they are greeted by a large sculpture, an eighty four-foot silver cast of the Colorado River, that lines the back of the check in desk. The sculpture is inspired by the movement of the river through Nevada’s desert landscape, and the major water and energy source that it represents to the Las Vegas area. In light of Nevada’s standing as “The Silver State,” Lin used 100 percent reclaimed silver to develop her creation (Nevius, 2008). There are many more projects and sculptures throughout the CCLV project, including many world renowned artists.
The impact of these colors, textures, and public art pieces gives CCLV a distinct, unique approach to creating a sense of place and identity on the Las Vegas strip. The architects wanted to create a city within the city with this project, and I believe they were successful at this approach because of their similar use of colors and textures through the projects. Creating a sense of place in a theme based city is not easy, so CCLV took a complete different approach and designed with no historic precedent in mind. One large downside of the project is that they are trying to create a city center, one that is sustainable in itself, but yet they have a large emphasis on car transportation throughout the projects. When creating a city center that claims to be self sustainable and a city within a city, I ask the question why they would need to put such an emphasis on the transportation system in and out of the project. Overall the CCLV does step away from the previous notion of having to recreate a themed project standing unique to the next, and by doing this it becomes a very unique, paradigmatic shift in the way developers can think of Las Vegas, and its future.
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Regional Transformation, Technology, and Eco-Culture 4.4 - Eco Development
City Center Las Vegas follows many ecological principles of eco development in the construction of the project. The first and most obvious ecological principle seen is decentralization. The design of the entire project was split into five major building versus only having one. This gives the project a less dominating presence and allows for several designers to have major input versus one dominate person. City Center Las Vegas also follows the decentralization concept by allowing many local firms having a say in the construction of the buildings, which follows the idea of bottom-up decision making strategy.
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Another ecological principle of eco development that City Center Las Vegas follow is participation of local people. The project made hundreds of jobs available for contractors and construction workers. It also made new jobs and expanded small local firms in size. “A local electrical supply firm nearly doubled in size, and a drug screening company that was specifically born out of the project” (Monet, 2012). Many companies spent more than $700 million in construction and design contracts with minorityowned firms throughout the five year project. So for many businesses, City Center provided them the opportunity to start and/or expand their business. Again going back to the principle of decentralization, Bobby Baldwin president and CEO of City Center said, “As part of our Company’s Diversity Initiative, we undertook an aggressive approach to ensure that minorityowned firms had maximum opportunity to participate in the project” (Monet, 2012). This allowed for local firms to bond with one another and gain valuable experience in the process.
Bobby Baldwin promoted the idea of large and small firms to partner up with each other. By dividing the dominance of larger firms, contracts were divided into smaller portions to accommodate the more limited resources of companies that were less experienced on larger projects. City Center represented the business growth of a lifetime for many local firms in Las Vegas. Vice chairman Dick Rizzo of Perini Building Company “sought out the most qualified local firms, then used our Company’s national contacts to cast our net far and wide across the United States to identify the most qualified minority and women-owned firms” (Monet, 2012). Although this is not the principle of eco development by promoting local help but Dick Rizzo did seek minority firms around the United States to provide opportunities for them as well, even women-owned firms which there are only a few. City Center had the highest proportion of minority representation in history.
Regional Transformation, Technology, and Eco-Culture
4.4 - Eco Development
Another ecological principle of eco development that City Center Las Vegas follow is the use of and maximization of local materials. In four year of construction, City Center recycled more than 90 percent of all construction waste. The Boardwalk Hotel was imploded (see figure 6 and 7) to make way for City Center which 80 percent of the structure was recycled and reused throughout City Center (Reid, p50). Not only construction materials were recycled but many other things like water were as well. During the construction process, “reclaimed water from the neighboring Monte Carlo Resort & Casino was used for dust control in place of precious drinking water, which contributed to savings of 2.4-million gallons of potable water” (Zanella, 2012).
City Center not only reuses materials but they also promote onsite production of raw material and energy. A concrete batch plant was built on site to generate concrete at the cheapest possible way which City Center saved on transportation and energy. City Center was the “first generate energy on The Strip through its 8.5-megawatt, natural gas cogeneration plant, providing efficient electricity on site (10 percent of overall City Center use), reducing emissions and using “waste heat” to provide all domestic hot water at City Center, including within its numerous pools” (Zanella, 2012). Lastly, City Center used local materials wherever possible like the use of stone for a wall that was mined less than 30 miles from Las Vegas. They also used native plant for outdoor landscaping which were carefully selected to provide a beautiful array of native desert plant life. To this day, one way City Center still promotes eco-development is through its restaurants. Many restaurants focus on farmto-table ingredients, buying produce, meat and dairy direct from responsible local growers.
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Regional Transformation, Technology, and Eco-Culture 4.5 - Technology
City Center Las Vegas applied many technological strategies to promote Ecodevelopment during the process. It was not only choosing the appropriate technology, but it also implemented intermediate technology, hybrid technology, and information technology. By applying these technologies, City Center Las Vegas was able to showcase their unique concept of regional-based development, use of and maximization of local resources, as well as participation of local people. Decentralization was clearly demonstrated through the five unique buildings that created a dense city within the city.
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In the content of appropriate technology, decentralization principle implementation, City Center Las Vegas was able to demonstrate the central to eco-development policy and practice. The fact that City Center Las Vegas is located on the Strip inside a high volume of tourism cultural context, it became important for City Center Las Vegas to be the first model of mixused integrated with gaming context at an urban scale, of which created high-density context at its site. But it is determined to operate every day with a commitment to conserving natural resources.
Intermediate technology application embedded in City Center design concept with not only energy conservation by 10 percent of the overall uses, but also in the reduction of emission and using “waste heat� to provide all domestic hot water at the City Center fits in the category of cost efficient principle (Reid, 2010). The conservation strategy integrated into the project was able to generate enough power to satisfy approximately 13 percent of City Center’s electricity demand. Thermal energy was produced as part of the generation process for water heating supply that has benefited from the integration of natural gas cogeneration plant (Gonchar, 2010). These factors helped City Center Las Vegas continuously reduce their cost. In addition, water conservation technology allowed City Center to save 50 million gallons of the overall water usage annually including outdoor landscaping. Intermediate technology also promotes eco-development by the use of local material. As mentioned above in section 4.3, by using the recycled materials from the debris of Boardwalk Hotel and using reclaimed water for dusting control allowed City Center Las Vegas not only able to lower the capital cost but also qualified in the labor intensive category of intermediate technology choices beside its construction size.
Regional Transformation, Technology, and Eco-Culture
4.5 - Technology
The combined technology embedded within the City Center project demonstrated and encouraged through the principle of decentralization. As decentralization is being part of both hybrid technology and ecodevelopment characteristic, it was enabling to showcase the promotion of an alternative development paradigm. Information technology applies especially to eco-development project like City Center Las Vegas. Besides decentralized decision making as characteristic, it also monitors and controls a building’s environmental performance under changing climatic condition. In such climate condition like Las Vegas, the idea of slot machine base ventilations that serve to provide cooling and heating efficiently was an appropriate resolution in the context of environmental friendly concept. With the ventilation at the base of the slot machine, the Aria Casino was able to avoid wasting energy on cooling empty spaces near the ceilings. Smart controls were also being used in every guest rooms. The smart controls monitor energy use recognize the guest as they enter the room and remember as they leave. The controls would cue light settings, temperature controls, and other electronic devices, therefore, the hotel was able to eliminate waste energy use when the guest is not in the room (Christ, 2011).
In the critique of the appropriate technological choices used in the City Center Las Vegas project, it is arguable that the materials used in the façade indicated a lack of attention to the regional climate. Regardless of the highperformance characteristic of the glass facades, glasses produce glares and reflection under bright sunlight. Due to the lack of shades and shadows from the surrounding context of City Center Las Vegas, the Vdara death ray incident set an example for the lack of attention in specification process that adequate to its environmental climate condition. In addition to technology use in City Center Las Vegas, the main problem did not lie in the use of technology but it lies in the lack of technology implementation during the design process. In order to specify any material use in any project, it required extensive testing and experimentation during the design development phase. The designers failed to take advantage of the technology available in the building industry to extensively experiment the high-tech film used on the south-facing glass panes to avoid situation like Vdara’s incident. In result, the film installed on glass facade as a resolution to the glares and reflection scattered more than 70 percent of reflected ray (Maimon, n.d.).
Figure 8 illustrates the relationship of the sun’s angle to the orientation of the building form that caused an issue that should have easily resolved during the design process.
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Regional Transformation, Technology, and Eco-Culture 4.6 - Mathematics, Connections in Architecture City Center is a collaboration of many different architects, all with different styles and design approaches. Many of these different styles can relate to Burry and Burry’s contemporary mathematical based design principles defined in The New Mathematics of Architecture. These principles can be divided into six categories all of which can be related to the City Center project in one way or another, however, the most identifiable ideas of complexity, optimization, and surface are what define the project. The categories of packing and tiling, topology and datascapes are present within the project but they do not make as much as an impression as the others. Complexity, optimization, and surface are the concepts both directly or indirectly related to the design of the Las Vegas City Center and had a strong impact on the design.
Complexity theory is the coming together of smaller parts to create a larger whole (Burry, 2010). This theory is becoming more and more popular with the development of prefabricated parts, organic designs and building systems. Complexity found in City Center project has less to do with the building physicality and more to do with the planning, programming and the collaboration of the many different professionals. Gensler explains “a team of thousands designed and delivered City Center (2013).� It was designed and built in 5 years, a huge undertaking being the largest commercial project in North America (Gensler, 2013). The organization of the each individual specialist to create the larger project is the foundation of the complexity theory.
Figure 9. This diagram notes the complex organization and the order of management. (Gensler, 2013)
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Regional Transformation, Technology, and Eco-Culture
4.5 - Technology
MGM and Gensler managed the design complexity by dividing the site into 3 blocks and combined common areas (figure 9). These block were layered with all of the programmatic necessities including public, private, service, gaming, transportation and all other requirements for such a large project. These blocks were then subdivided by assigning teams to find solutions to meet the client’s needs for the specific buildings and sites. Block A consists of Aria Resort and casino, block B Vdara hotel and the Bellagio employee parking garage, block C holds the Mandarin Oriental, the Harmon hotel, Veer towers , Crystals retail shops and the common area interconnect the unique blocks (Gensler, 2013). The teams for each assigned area could work independently and more efficiently and in the end combining their work with the others to contribute to the greater whole.
Another one of the six categories define by Burry and Burry is the idea of optimization. Burry and Burry define optimization as a process of optimizing a system or process for the best possible results (2010). From the very start MGM wanted City Center’s design to be environmentally friendly and on its completion “City Center is the world’s largest LEED development” (Gensler, 2013). Being such a large project City Center met its ambitious LEED goals by optimizing resource use and mechanical systems. The optimization of City Center for sustainability began with Ec o-Charrettes where the sustainability goals where communicated to all of the people involved with the project (Gensler, 2013). Mechanical system were optimized by using state-of-the-art natural gas energy production, ultra-efficient lighting, Energystar appliances, efficient glazing and a centralized computer monitoring system all contributed to a 30% reduction in energy use. City Center uses Native and adaptive plants optimize landscaping, saving 60% water for landscaping and water-saving fixtures saves an additional 30%. Sustainability optimization continued with the material recycling and reuse from the previous existing structure. Even trash removal has been optimized with four trash docks that recycle as much waste as possible (City Center, 2013). page | 53
Regional Transformation, Technology, and Eco-Culture 4.6 - Mathematics, Connections in Architecture Lastly, the category most prevalent in the City Center project is the concept of Surface. Surface is described as a boundary of matter is best described as the plane and its many different manipulations (Burry, 2010). These manipulations such as minimal surfaces, curvature, double curvature can be seen in every building in the Las Vegas City Center (Figure 9). Aria adapts the use of double curvature and self-intersection. The main structure forms a sort of S figure creating what is known as double curvature and a wing sprouts from the main structure producing self-intersection. Mandarin Oriental and Veer tower focus more on the surfaces of the plane and thinness. Mandarin Oriental has the form of two merged parallelograms with a slice removed for the main façade. This slice shows the thinness of the curtain wall and of the surface. Veer towers are simple box forms that rise skewed into the sky.
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These forms angle and make the structure seem light and thin. Vdara like the Aria has a single curvature because of it arched form. Crystals designed by Daniel Libeskind and David Rockwell is the most unique form of all of the City Center buildings (City Center, 2013). Built with orthogonal forms the Crystals building combines all of the surface principals but curvature. Its geometric forms self-intersect and use mathematical surfaces that create a unique shopping center. Using similar tectonics properties as the Disney concert hall by Frank Gehry the form of the building uses mathematical surfaces that is unique and draws crowds. Being such a large project the management of building complexity, the optimization of sustainable practices and the treatment of building surfaces is what most connect to Burry and Burry’s mathematical concepts. Complexity can be more than applying mathematical concepts to aesthetics. Sustainability optimization can be applied and be driven by big business because a mutual benefit is found between the protecting of the environment and the eventual payback of initial investment. Surface treatment seen in the City Center project can take different from and approaches can remain a cohesive whole. It is partly through these connections which make City Center a special project among the other great Las Vegas attractions and resorts.
Regional Transformation, Technology, and Eco-Culture
4.6 - Mathematics, Connections in Architecture
City Center Las Vegas is comprised of five individual properties, all of which express a different design styles and approach. Although each of these properties has their own unique approach to design, they happen to share one thing in common; the use of computational tools in generating forms. These computational tools involve the use of algorithms, a very specific set of mathematical instructions for carrying out a procedure and generally include instructions for to stop (Burry & Burry, 2010). In architecture, this means formalizing the design process as a set of procedures and specific instructions. Three of the five parts to City Center, Mandarin Oriental, Aria and Vdara, are rather simple in form and will not be discussed in this portion of the paper.
The first of the remaining two projects to be discussed are the Veer Towers. These two towers are adjacent to one another and are inclined at two opposing five-degree angles. This simple shift in each floor plate was done to make it seem like the towers were dancing with each other (Basulto, 2010). A simple shift in form has made a dramatic impact to the overall design of the towers. The next project to be discussed is Crystals, a high end mall designed by Architect Daniel Libeskind and interior design firm, Rockwell Group.
Figure 12. Euclidean Geometry and the formula for Statistical Stability in Time Reversal (Stanford, 2004) page | 55
Regional Transformation, Technology, and Eco-Culture 4.6 - Mathematics, Connections in Architecture The dramatic angles and crystalline metal clad façade create a unique language within the context of City Center. Such forms can begin to raise question as to the intent of the design or how such shapes were derived. The metaphorical inspiration for the mall design were crystals, hence the name for the project. Although Libeskind himself doesn’t discuss how the crystalline forms were derived, a reoccurring image on the firm’s website may hold the key to their inspiration (Figure 12). The Elements of Euclidean geometry are evident in the forms of crystals through the numerous isosceles, acute and right triangles. The image on Libeskind’s website shows a formula that is used for statistical stability and specifically relates to predicting and determining wave lengths (Stanford, 2004).
In the equation shown, λ is the central wavelength of the emitted signal; L is the distance between the source and the transducer array. These formulas are applied in architecture, specifically used in determining the structural attributes for ribs and cross bracing in domes and vaults (Figure 13)(Ayers, 2010). I’m unsure how Libeskind applied these curve determining formulas in his jagged, orthogonal design, but the formula in its simplest form (Figure 14) may have been used in determining the repeating triangular forms. Figure 14. The equilateral triangle ACB is formi ntersection of the two circles. (Ayers, 2010) Euclid’s
Figure 13. Gothic Arch from Elements Prop 1. (Ayers, 2010)
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Regional Transformation, Technology, and Eco-Culture
4.7 - Critique
City Center Las Vegas is one of the world’s largest sustainable developments. This project pursued LEED certification and its development added merits to the appreciation of technological innovations. Respects the natural ecosystem of Las Vegas city by carrying out sustainable features that started since its construction, as an example a large-scale recycling operation allowed a recycling and reuse of more than 230,000 tons of construction waste. In addition, the participation of local workers fulfilled an eco-development concept, decentralized approach, by introducing the “know-how” (Able, 2002). More than 10,000 construction workers green building techniques that can be implemented at other building developments in Las Vegas and perhaps all across the nation “ eco development emphasizes the capacity of people themselves to invent and generate new resources and techniques, to increase their capacity to absorb them, and put them to socially beneficial use, to take a measure of command over the economy, and to generate their own way of life” (Able, 2002).
Some other ecofriendly futures are among water fixtures that save up to 39 percent of water indoors and 60 percent outdoors. It introduced the first fleet of compressed natural gas-powered limousines, an 8.5-megawatt cogeneration plant to provide 10 percent of its electricity, energy efficient HVAC, lighting and room controls. City Center was conceived to be more than just a big resort in fact created an urban core for the city itself and targeted spaces rather than just creating beautiful buildings “the idea was to create a mix use plan, pedestrianoriented spaces, and buildings brought right up to the property line to form a street wall directly on the Strip” (Gonchar, 2010). City Center Las Vegas was born under rough economic conditions however it will eventually benefit from growing numbers of visitors that comes to the area. The expectations were high at the time, by late 2009 City Center brought about 5,900 hotel rooms to Las Vegas, expanding its hotel inventory by almost 5 percent despite the number of visitors that at the time had fallen by around 2.85 million since 2007. It has been almost three years since its opening and regardless of the economic fall down that the country faces, then and now, City Center rather than a failure faces an upcoming success.
A majority of the hotel rooms have been filled since its opening although at lower room rates than originally planned. Condominium sales have not taken off yet but units have been sold. In additions, many luxury retailers have moved into the shopping center and about almost twelve percent of the mall is vacant for future retail spaces. Full impact on the local economy has not been yet established, on the other hand considering that it opened at a bad moment City Center could indeed be a key factor to increase local economy. According to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, the gambling city has slowly recovered from the recession and City Center has kept its occupancy active reflecting on the economic rise statistics. Despite the evidence of slow growth on the local economy some still think City Center it has nothing to do with it “It was something that MGM really wanted to do, but in terms of the local economy, I think it’s debatable whether it was pulling a lot of new visitors into Las Vegas” (Gregor, 2012). Even though Las Vegas city is considered a city of novelty and reinvention real estate experts considers that it is not yet ready for new developments, at least not until the economy recovers at its full potential.
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Regional Transformation, Technology, and Eco-Culture 4.7 - Critique
For long periods of time, Las Vegas city has not yet acquire a specific identity among the American culture. Las Vegas has become recognized worldwide as a premier gaming destination but it also holds art, adventure and natural beauty. The identity of Las Vegas culture lays on a melting pot where each building is best describe by experiencing its layout. The City Center features two contributions to the culture of Las Vegas: the first is its collection of works of public art by well-known artists such as Henry Moore, Frank Stella, Robert Rauschenberg and Claes Oldenburg.
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All the modern art is display in harmony with fountains, pools, furniture and interior design that compliments the contemporary taste of public spaces. The second contribution, like mentions before, is the achievement of “LEED Gold” status for six of its buildings, a high mark of distinction for environmental responsibility never before achieved in a project of this scale. It does not target the local community of Las Vegas however the Strip is considered the heart of the city even though in many cases local residents try to ignore. Nevertheless, City Center is a beautiful, diverse, clever and unique project, perhaps its greatest contribution to the city is to teach visitors and others about the value of fine arts, architecture and sustainable design.
The introduction of Charles Correa’s multidimensional approach in design to City Center, Las Vegas, CCLV, is somewhat complex in that it seems from the surface that much of what Correa discusses is implemented in the design of the newest large-scale development to rise from the Las Vegas Strip. Chris Able provided a comprehensive list of what Correa considered a successful use of multi-dimensional design (Able, 2000). That being said, CCLV arguably covers less that a forth of the given list. Correa above all else emphasized on the encouragement of the economic and social advance of any given area. With this in mind, though the development of CCLV involve a wide range of firms and even an international collaboration between MGM Resort and Infinity World based in Dubai much of the local economic infrastructure suffered from this project.
Regional Transformation, Technology, and Eco-Culture
4.7 - Critique
The CCLV development is the “most expensive commercial project in U.S. history,” states Joann Gonchar. Adding on to the complete disregard for economic circumstances, MGM Resorts has reported a $13 billion dept while financing City Center, a complete failure in the strive for a holistic multi-dimensional design. Additionally, CCLV actually promotes itself as exclusive incorporating high-end commercial good (Figure 15) turning a blind-eye to the vast diverse income groups of Las Vegas, focusing on the wealthy and potentially visitors (Illia, 2010).
CCLV is praised and claimed to the most sustainable development on the Las Vegas Strip, yet if we look closer we begin to see that many of the design choices contradict these claims. Though some sustainable strategies are implemented such as a 8.5 megawatt cogeneration plant, thermal heated spaces and water, high performance glass, etc. how sustainable are huge glass structures in the middle of the Mojave desert (Gonchar, 2010). LEED certification, though a stepping stone to a sustainable future, is somewhat lacking in the drive to a fully sustainable design. The requirement for LEED certification can be construed as simple to achieve. A design does not need to meet every category to be awarded as a sustainable design, but rather it only takes 60/100 points to be considered gold certified.
So far CCLV has yet to meet any of the requirements for multi-dimensional design as stated by Correa. However, where CCLV does push father than any prior development on the Strip is the complete shift of themed structures to an urbanistic and “international” architectural forms. Although the primary function of the complex follows the context, the overall formal expressions are new to this location. The complex uses a wide spectrum of architectural approaches as well as color, texture, and ecodevelopment to produce a very unique identity on the Vegas Strip. Crystals for example, design by Daniel Libeskind is the primary face of City Center along the Vegas Strip.
Figure 15: High-end retail lines the street edge displaying the exclusivity of the retails available. page | 59
Regional Transformation, Technology, and Eco-Culture 4.7 - Critique
Libeskind uses rigid and sharp angular forms to create a facade unique to the Las Vegas. Each of the forms uses distinct figural forms to stand on their own and from the immediate context. Dramatic architectural expressions are implemented throughout the site to “trump flamboyance and kitsch” that most of the other structures on the Vegas Strip display (Gonchar, 2010). At the same time, given that each of the components of CCLV were designed by different architects, the overall impression of the complex is as collection of unique architectural expressions instead of a cohesive ensemble as seen on figure 16 (Gonchar, 2010). Chris Able mentions in Architecture and identity that architecture is shifting from a “Western cultural domination” to a “local and other alternative culture-forms for appropriate models” in the urban context of each region of the world (Able, 2000). To further validate Able’s stand on architectural expression, Silvia Guzman Torres expresses that, “a city should not look to other cities for its architectural cues and inspiration” (Lefaivre, 2003).
So how does this apply to a city such as Las Vegas which in reality has no formal regional/ local architectural form. Rather, Las Vegas attains its identity through radiant flashing lights and signs, over the top theatricality (themes), and the intangible and contagious atmosphere of the driving economic force, gaming and tourism (figure 17). City Center Las Vegas can arguably be the first formal regional/local model for this “Photoshop collage” city and described by Denise S. Brown and a architectural revival. For when architecture starts to becomes predominantly market-driven, it loses its sense of being an artistic discipline (Lefaivre, 2003).
Figure 17: Las Vegas Flamboyant identity of light and theatricality.
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Though it is practically impossible to derive architectural expressions from local inspirations in Las Vegas, CCLV makes a decent attempt to be innovative within the scope of the gaming industry. While maintaining its functional gaming infrastructure, the architectural expressions at CCLV begin to create a unique identity as it breaks from the traditional themed isolated high-rise structure. However even with the strives that CCLV does it does not break from the “traditional glass box” archetype of the early Western cultures. Rather than even reacting to climatic issues of the desert in traditional vernacular fashions, the architects remained in the realm of powerful bold statements that go hand and hand with high-rise glass structures (figure 18). Las Vegas is still far from attaining an architectural identity, and it might never truly achieve an formal identity, but City Center Las Vegas though imperfect is a stepping stone to that goal.
Regional Transformation, Technology, and Eco-Culture
4.7 - Critique
Though it is practically impossible to derive architectural expressions from local inspirations in Las Vegas, CCLV makes a decent attempt to be innovative within the scope of the gaming industry. While maintaining its functional gaming infrastructure, the architectural expressions at CCLV begin to create a unique identity as it breaks from the traditional themed isolated high-rise structure. However even with the strives that CCLV does it does not break from the “traditional glass box� archetype of the early Western cultures. Rather than even reacting to climatic issues of the desert in traditional vernacular fashions, the architects remained in the realm of powerful bold statements that go hand and hand with highrise glass structures (figure 18). Las Vegas is still far from attaining an architectural identity, and it might never truly achieve an formal identity, but City Center Las Vegas though imperfect is a stepping stone to that goal.
Figure 18: Dominating high-rise creates a bold architectural gesture on the context.
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Work Cited
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