On the seventh day...

Much has happened between, but now it is time for a much needed update.

The Cirque training centre has given me much difficulty. Initially, I began with the idea of using words to guide my design process. Cirque defines itself with three; dexterity, grace and daring.

I tried to create a form that encapsulated all of this by designing something that gave visitors a feeling of floating, or bringing them to another plane that they couldn't be on otherwise.

That led me to this:

Forms hovering above the ground, with the idea of ascension present in most of the early schemes. However, the bulkiness of the program, such as the height of the training spaces made it feel much less graceful and dexterous than I intended. And so, I scrapped it.

Then I read. Rick Joy is an architect from Tucson, Arizona who seems to be getting some attention these days. His semi-recent book, desert works, has a foreword by Steven Holl, and an introduction by Juhani Pallasmaa, which is where I have found my new inspiration.

Pallasmaa writes about the desert in a way that made me think of it as something other than just sand and rock.

"The immense emptiness of desert landscapes such as the African and Australian Sand deserts or the all white expanses of snow above the Polar Circle, radiating a strange appeal and emotional power. These settings erase the traces of man and evoke an experience of timelessness. The total absence of vegetation exposes the naked skin of the earth and turns the landscape into a tactile and muscular experience. Landscape becomes an extension of the human skin.

...

It is probably the sublime vastness and the sense of a divine void that has attracted these artists. The desert floor provides the tabula rasa for creative work that breaks from the confined and conditioned spaces of cities and museums. It gives a new context to the endeavours and products of modern man. A rusting carcass of a car appears brutal in a setting of lush greenery, but appears a fragile memento of human vulnerability and the vanity of human effort under the desert sun."

This has inspired me to think of the flat landscape as something much more than a spot to 'place' the building, but to think of the ground as something that will become a part of the building.

But what form will it take? How will it be fully resolved? Stay tuned.

Places

I started this post a few weeks ago but forgot to complete and publish it...

The initial approach to project 4 was a bit of a challenge as designing a full building seemed slightly foreign after a series of studio projects that produced more theoretical (though still valuable) results. In speaking to Vince, I was asked (multiple times) what spaces in Las Vegas I was inspired by. From an architectural point of view (and not that of an unedumacated tourist) it felt difficult to really identify the spaces that were of great value. So many aspects of Las Vegas’ resorts and casinos fall under Venturi’s duck and decorated shed analogies that it becomes hard to look beyond this and really appreciate the (few) spaces that embody true architectural merit. After re-visiting my pictures and some studio discussion, I’ve come up with a list of spaces in Vegas that would be equally as inspiring if they were stripped bare of their bells and whistles and parasols…

Caesars Palace - Forum Shops

The Wynn - Parasol Lounge
(While the parasols really were 'pretty', the glazed wall facing the landscape and pool/pond, the natural lighting and the connection between the upper and lower floors is what makes the space successful. )

The Wynn - Parasol Lounge

The Wynn
(Can't remember what this was called... but it's a bright, vibrant contrast to the dark casino area)

The Bellagio Solarium

The Venetian
(Ok, this is debatable, but tell me a canal on the second floor of a resort isn't worth mentioning...)

And a space I disliked? That's obvious. The Luxor. Dark, heavy, stinky.

None of these spaces have entirely unique programs and could be equally as functional in extruded boxes (aka Costco), however, in 'designing the architecture' and giving special attention to the details, these spaces transform from spaces to places, communicating a strong sense of their genius loci. Something to think about in progressing with our designs.

LV: Virtual Log

And my trend of delaying posts till they're completely irrelevant persists. Here is what i had intended on completing about 2 or 3 weeks ago after having visited Las Vegas with Studio.

...It is used to track my experiences there in reference to time and space.

...oh and to make things look complex though it doesn't really mean anything! Yeah! That's awesome!

On a more serious note, it's a visual diary in in the sense that being able to track these flows in a visual manner rather than through reading words triggers the memory of these experiences for me. From the perspective of an outsider it tracks this experience in an objective manner that is, honestly, devoid of any real human voice. Yes, that's a negative aspect about it and was an interesting result from this exploration.

The infographic is pure data. It is not compromised by opinion, nor does it measure the human experience as a subjective value. Hmm, is that what your Independent Study is about, Smash?

Clicking the image will open up the higher resolution version. EDIT: Turns out it doesn't uplaod the full resolution image. Hopefullly i can find a site to host it that i can link to.

Organized by day, dotted lines on the map represent distance walked, and solid lines distance covered by vehicular modes. Dots represent places/experiences These are linked to the date and are ordered according to when that visit took place during that day. Any images included represent only that which had been experienced the first time (therefore just because i visited the wynn more than once, doesn't mean that image will show up more than once, though the line that represents it will).

Making this, honestly i imagined it as though an interactive website. That'd be a more appropriate viewing platform for this sort of thing.

On a more human note, two new beers i tried:

And in order to perpetuate another trend that my posts adhere to, here come the embarrassing photographs:

Cosmo - Las Vegas

In case anyone (Raz) is interested, received this via ArchDaily last night. Watch the video! Don't recall seeing those columns in any lobby...

Not your usual perspective...

Somehow, we ended up on the roof of the hotel... no wait, that only happens in movies.
I can't remember the photo source - I think was the engineer's website.

The Fabulous Flamingo

I've found a few images of the Flamingo Resort from back in its glory days. It's too bad it does not completely embrace its own history in the design of the resort instead of only briefly acknowledging it through a handful of black and white photos in a back room on the casino floor. It is one of the few resorts along the Strip that has any true or contextual history at all. Although, I was lucky enough to find an older gentleman working in the casino who knew a great deal about the history of the Flamingo. All I had to do was ask.

Images from the 1940s - 1950s:


Images of the Flamingo today:

There's no Bay in Mandalay!

Mandalay:
Mandalay Bay:

Looks just like it... right? Not really. Besides the extensive [over]use of gold and a few ornamental details, I'm not entirely convinced that Mandalay Bay is successful in capturing the true essence of Mandalay. To be honest, I wouldn't have even know they were going for a South East Asian theme had it not been discussed prior to the visit. Tropical theme, maybe, based on the jungle foliage in the casino... but South East Asian? Where are the pagodas, the statues of Buddha? I'm no geography expert, but even a quick Google search is enough to realize the disconnect between the two. It was also interesting to read that there is in fact, no bay in Mandalay... there's a river. I'm disappointed.

Fun fact: the sand at Mandalay Bay's 11-acre-beach (pool) is from our very own Wasaga Beach! Because there just wasn't enough sand in the desert...

Not just subtlety...

Finally had a chance to go through some Vegas photos. Wanted to share small number of observations. The first has to do with the less subtle aspects of the framework necessary to support the spectacle of Vegas.

This is the Wynn. One of Vegas' newest hotels:



While taking a walk just "behind" the 'Strip', which is to say, one street over and parallel. I came across this (massive) building:



Upon closer examination, it bore this sign:



That's right, staff parking. This parking lot, big enough for a mall in Canada (its almost as deep as it is wide), is reserved for the staff of the Wynn. Not so subtle.

This window awning from the Paladio is a bit more subtle. A cursory examination of the design wouldn't fool you as to the materiality, its metal, not cloth (as the one it is an imitation of would most likely be). But it might fool you into thinking the awning can be folded down. It sure looks that way. Of course, they don't fold at all:



A word on spectacle, of which there is no lack in Vegas. This is a vertical wine cellar with an automated robot retrieval system. The restaurant is built around the cellar, giving a whole new meaning to a restaurant built "around wine":



Finally, for those who might not have had a chance to go off the strip, some Frank Gehry in Vegas. Yes, he might not have had anything to do with City Center but even he has a building here:

Vdara Death Ray

I found this article interesting - and it reinforced my dislike for fully glazed buildings. Silly architects, stop trying to cook humans.

"The tall, sleek, curving Vdara Hotel at CityCenter on the Strip is a thing of beauty.

But the south-facing tower is also a collector and bouncer of sun rays, which -- if you're at the hotel's swimming pool at the wrong time of day and season -- can singe your hair and melt your plastic drink cups and shopping bags.

Hotel pool employees call the phenomenon the "Vdara death ray."..."

Read more.

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'?

Around the World in Seven Days...Really!

It has been a week since my last post and there really too much to tell...you know what they say, a picture is worth a thousand words...

What better way to start of the trip than a limo ride to the hotel?

Paris

Mitch searched high and low for a meat only buffet…..

Venice
Night time…Daytime?
Egypt

Terrifying.....

New York


GreeceRome

…we even managed to make it to the pool

Freemont Street

I couldn't help but fall in love the old school neon lighting!