A disclaimer on this post: I am an engineer. Architects and engineers famously don’t get along all that well. Oh sure, we work on projects together, but engineers understand and respect the laws of physics. Architects, not so much. I do in fact like and respect architects, and at one point in high school, I wanted to be one. That was until I realized how much more I like and was better at the math and science of design than the art of it. However I do appreciate good architectural design. Then there is Las Vegas. I need to study the history of Las Vegas because I am really curious when and why casinos started being built with crazier and crazier, over the top themes. The casinos really know how to do a theme also. They completely saturate the property with the theme, whatever it may be. I have to wonder if drugs were involved in the design of some of the casinos. Along the Strip, are casinos and hotels with themes based on at least three different continents, several different time eras, and both real and fictional places. Part of what I find so hilarious is that casinos with completely different themes sit right next to each other. For example, on the southern end of the strip is Mandalay Bay which has water as part of its theme and features an aquarium. Thus it is appropriate (in Las Vegas logic) that next to it is the Luxor, which is themed off of ancient Egypt (i.e. the desert) and features a giant, black glass pyramid, a shape, I might add which is rather inefficient use of space for a hotel. Also, I can’t leave out the fake Sphinx in front of it because of course a pyramid is not complete without a sphinx.
The Luxor sits hilariously next to the Excalibur, so that one can walk from ancient Egypt to the fictionally old England of Camelot.
I must say that while the Excalibur does a nice, over the top, job of a theme based on the fictional England of the Camelot tales, it really does not have a proper moat, and that is a disappointment.
From fictional England, one can then walk to modern day New York City because well, why not?
Across the street from New York New York is the MGM Grand, whose theme I have never been clear on, but it features a giant gold lion head in front. If the MGM Grand lion and the Luxor’s sphinx came to life, would they be friends or enemies? Would they eat the giant M&Ms and drink the giant margarita and coke that sit next to the MGM Grand in what appears to be food trademark central?
Very close to all the gaudiness and insanity is the brand new CityCenter, which features some absolutely gorgeous buildings and in my opinion, looks rather out of place on the Strip.
At the front of CityCenter is the Crystals at CityCenter designed by Daniel Libeskind in his trademark disjointed, angled buildings design. I am rather a fan of Daniel Libeskind. He and Frank Gehry are probably my favorite modern architects, but I could never work on the construction of any of their buildings because first, I’m not that type of engineer, and second because they seem to enjoy designing buildings that try to break the laws of physics.
The Crystals is even interesting up close due to the different materials and textures on the exterior.
Inside the Crystals is more insane architecture. I have no idea what this wooden structure is supposed to be.
Across the street from CityCenter is Planet Hollywood and the Miracle Mile Shops, whose architecture is not really insane, just rather loud. The exterior of the Miracle Mile Shops features a series of three-dimensional dots that look either green or purple depending on the direction from which they are viewed. I have no idea what they are supposed to represent, but they are kind of cool.
Next to Planet Hollywood, we again travel to another continent with Paris which features a scale model of the Eiffel Tower because again, why not?
At this point on the strip, you can look at a scantly clad women from Bally’s who appears to be looking at Paris, perhaps to get some much needed clothes for which Paris is famous. Across the street is the edge of ancient Rome (Ceasar’s Palace), modern (?) Italy (Bellagio), and the modern architecture of CityCenter. Only in Las Vegas.
The Strip is not done yet though. Across from ancient Rome is the Flamingo, which is not all that outrageous, but just features lots of pink flamingos that would never be found in Nevada. Then the Asian themed Imperial Palace, which appears to be coming down or being renovated. Asia is next to the New Orleans’s Mardi Gras themed Harrah’s. Close to this, we go back to Italy with the Venetian and Palazzo. Italy is very popular on the Strip.
Across the street from fake Venice is the Mirage with its waterfall that at night has a volcano on top of it. Again, why not?
In the background is Treasure Island which of course has pirates. Don’t most deserts have pirates? Oh wait. . . Then slightly further down the strip is the Fashion Show Mall which appears to just be a mall, but a UFO landed on top it. No doubt the UFO got lost from nearby Area 51. Further down from it is the Stratosphere which features a roller coaster on top of a really tall tower because isn’t that where most people put their roller coasters?
Well north of the Strip are the really old casinos of Fremont Street. Several years back, they built the Fremont Street Experience, a light structure to help bring business back to their area and away from the Strip. From an engineering standpoint, the Fremont Street Experience is a cool structure.
One of the fun things about the Fremont Street Experience is that it is a light show that encapsulates other lighted advertisement signs.
I have to wonder how much electricity would be saved if all of Las Vegas’s lights were converted to LEDs. At the east end of the Fremont Street Experience is Fremont East. I have no idea what is in this district, but it features a fun, retro martini sign. Presumably there are bars there, but I think that goes without saying.
So that was my one cent tour of the insane architecture of Las Vegas. I hope you enjoyed the visit. I did.
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