In Hindsight...

So I have returned to Toronto and just did some grocery shopping at Metro in order to replenish my fridge. Let me tell you, it feels very strange being back on campus and to our Canadian climate.

Going from this:

To this:

photo source

How could we not have learned a ton about designing under different climatic circumstances?

Looking back at the trip as a whole, I realize that there is just so much to see in Vegas and I will have to head back eventually to check out what I missed. I, for one, did not get a chance to visit every single hotel. In addition, I snapped some photos on the plane and, though I'm not 100% sure we flew directly over the Grand Canyon, I was in awe at the rugged landscape. A trip to the Grand Canyon is certainly on the itinerary for my next visit. It's unfortunate we didn't get to see it this time around but, as I mentioned, Las Vegas Blvd itself was a lot to take in.

Also, just to quickly add to Tricia's 'Crystals' post, in addition to concerns for maintenance we were intrigued by the lightshow on the cladding as well (Louis Vuitton portion). We suspect that the light source is on the cladding itself (as opposed to projected on to the building by an external source).

Night 'lightshow' (left of the palm trees)

Lightsource: the grid of 'dots'?

Grand Canyon?

hey everyone,
so i've been looking at different tours for grand canyon and i'm pretty sure we've all come to the same concensus that: a) we don't want to spend too much money i.e. anything over $200, b) we don't want to be gone for a whole entire day

i found this tour that is only $114...is a total of 10 hrs (an improvement from 13)
its a bus tour not an airplane but we would be leaving vegas at 7:45am-8:30 and be back in Vegas around 6:00pm where we can still have the rest of the night to go out and do whatever.


http://www.paradisefoundtours.com/grand-canyon-west-rim/skywalk-lookout-bus-tour/

this is the link to the $239 tour
it is by flight and we can go from 7am and be back in vegas at around 2am.
if we go with this option we need to make a decision quick as they will have to call in another plane for the whole group of us

http://www.paradisefoundtours.com/grand-canyon-south-rim/airplane-and-bus-tour/


and the last option which is the cheapest rate $80 and is the full day 14hr bus tour where we would arrive back in vegas at around 9:45

http://www.paradisefoundtours.com/grand-canyon-south-rim/bus/


it would be ideal to make a decision by thursday so..
check out all the options and let me know what you guys think!

Grand Canyon

From what has been discussed in studio, it would appear that all students in the course will be in Las Vegas by Sunday, February 20th if not earlier.  This would allow the class to entertain the prospect of visiting sites within the state that would be worthwhile, most notably the Grand Canyon.  Though there are a range of ways to experience and arrive at the Grand Canyon from plane and helicopter from your hotel to simply driving half a day in the desert.  The trip costs are already accounted for and have been relatively consistent with the estimates of the course outline however they did not include visits to the Grand Canyon or the Hoover Dam.  Those interested may wish to bring the prospects of a visit in the next studio meeting.