issue 10 / 2016

official publication of the chapter of the american institute of architects

60 years of design Celebrating the people, places and things that define the Las Vegas cityscape

We’ve got the look Five architecture tours for every taste

The other Mr. Las Vegas The innovator who styled the Strip LAND ROVER LAS VEGAS: HOW DO WE MEASURE SUCCESS? By achieving the extraordinary, just as Land Rover Las Vegas has done. They’ve been named a winner of the Land Rover Pinnacle Club Retailer Excellence Award. Pinnacle Club winners have achieved the highest level of sales, service and customer satisfaction. They have taken the ideals of excellence and turned them into a way of doing business – for every customer, every day. Please stop by Land Rover Las Vegas to preview our exciting product line, and to experience the true measure of success. Congratulations Land Rover Las Vegas on your outstanding achievement. President’s note

optimism by design

It’s my pleasure to welcome back Architecture Las Vegas after a long hiatus. The revival of the magazine couldn’t come at a better moment. With Las Vegas once again showing signs of robust recovery both culturally and economically, now is the perfect time to restart a community conversation about architecture, design and quality of life. My hope is that Architecture Las Vegas, published as a partnership between Desert Companion and AIA Las Vegas, serves as a catalyst for that dialogue. This year is special for another reason: The AIA Las Vegas Chapter is celebrating its 60th anniversary. That’s 60 years of not only representing the interests of the architecture profession, but 60 years of contributions not only of architects, but also owners, being an advocate for livability through design — developers, contractors and other visionaries who design that is responsible and engaged, yes, but also made Las Vegas what it is today. In reflecting on that interesting and inspired. rich past, we’re also moved to think about what the Our chapter started in 1956 with humble future holds, and where we’ll go next. beginnings, and has since grown to be a formidable It’s impossible to discuss the growth and organization with over 500 members. Our growth development of Las Vegas without talking about parallels that of the city we call home. Over the last the Strip. Over the years, as each bold new - 60 years, the has grown at an almost was designed and created, the community and breathtaking pace, and there was a 20-year period valley expanded and grew with it. That explosion where we had the title of “fastest-growing city in of population brought in tens of thousands of new the U.S.” It’s safe to say we were probably one of the residents at a time, with rich, diverse backgrounds fastest-growing AIA chapters as well. During that and perspectives, but it also presented a challenge phase of phenomenal growth, one of the highlights for the architectural community: It was up to us to for our chapter was hosting the AIA National envision places for them to live, shop, play, learn and Convention in 2005, the largest and most successful worship. One fact alone hints at this dramatic story: AIA National Convention and Design Exposition in During this 20-year period of incredible growth, the the history of the Institute. Most recently, of course, Clark County School District designed and built we survived the Great Recession, which hit our 200 schools. That’s a strong testament to the will and profession in Las Vegas hard. However, today we’re vision of both our leaders and community members. emerging from that period, stronger and wiser, and This is truly a time to celebrate the accom- the chapter is vibrant and growing again. plishments of our architectural community while Therefore, it’s fitting that in this issue, we look also looking forward to the future. Please enjoy the back in a spirit of pride and celebration as we trace features, profiles, discussions and perspectives in this the history of design and construction in the valley, rebirth issue of Architecture Las Vegas. Thank you for and explore how it shaped the environment we your continued support as we celebrate 60 years. live in today. But we’re considering more than just designers and buildings. In our main feature, “60 Brett K. Ewing, AIA years in a bright, bright city,” (p. 42) we consider the President AIA Las Vegas Chapter

PAGE issue 10 / 2016 ARCHITECTURE LAS VEGAS 1 issue 10 / 2016

official publication of the las vegas chapter of the american institute of architects [ features ]

60 years of design Celebrating the people, plaCes and things that define the las Vegas CitysCape

We’ve got the look fiVe arChiteCture tours for eVery taste Tours de Force: Whether you’re mad about mid-mod or love the Las Vegas spirit of the other Mr. las vegas the innoVator who styled the strip 32 reinvention, these five architecture tours will inspire you.

On the cover: 60 Years in a Bright, Bright City: From swimming pools to neon signs and leisure Wayne McAllister's 42 architects to gonzo journalists, here are 60 things that define the Las Vegas look. iconic sign for the Andrew Kiraly Sands. Photo courtesy Las Vegas News Bureau. Cover design 2015 Design Awards: Meet the winners and tour the projects of the winners of 2015’s by Scott Lien. 48 AIA Design Awards. Scott Dickensheets CityCenter courtesy MGM Resorts International

PAGE ARCHITECTURE LAS VEGAS issue 10 / 2016 2 ARCHITECTURE + INTERIORS

www.djc-ltd.com [ departments ]

Blueprint for Conversation: Architects can raise the profession’s profile by getting out 10 from behind the drawing board — and into the community. JoAnna Haugen

The Other Mr. Las Vegas: Meet the man who developed many of the brilliant design 16 elements of that we take for granted today. Tony Illia

Generation Next: These up-and-coming architects and firms are bringing fresh talent 26 to the Southern Nevada cityscape. T.R. Witcher the shape of history This issue Looking Back — and Ahead: An overview of the events marking 60 years of AIA Las of Architecture Las 60 Vegas, from lectures to holiday galas. Vegas celebrates 60 years of design in Southern Nevada — Perspective: It isn’t enough for architects to merely create buildings. We need to think on and off the Strip. 64 of ourselves as partners in the creation of cities. Craig Galati courtesy UNLV Special Collections Library

PAGE ARCHITECTURE LAS VEGAS issue 10 / 2016 4

header space

Issue 10, 2016 Architecture Las Vegas is the official publication of the Las Vegas Chapter of the American Institute of Architects

Publisher & Executive Director Randy Lavigne, Hon. AIA

co-Publisher christine kiely

Editor Andrew Kiraly

Art Director S.A. Lien

sales and business development bettina busch

Advertising Sales sharon clifton, parker mccoy, favian perez, noelle tokar, markus van't hul

print traffic manager karen wong

AIA Las Vegas Editorial Committee Brett K. Ewing, AIA President, AIA Las Vegas Mark Ryan, AIA President, AIA Nevada Eric Roberts, AIA Past President, AIA Nevada Curt Carlson, AIA SH Architecture Lance Kirk, AIA LGA Chris Lujan, Assoc. AIA TSK Architects Jeanne brown Librarian Emerita, UNLV CARON RICHARDSON AIA Las Vegas

Contributing writers geoff carter, Scott Dickensheets, Craig Galati, JoAnna Haugen, Tony Illia, Jason Scavone, T.R. Witcher

Contributing Photographers Brent Holmes, Chris Smith

Contact Us Architecture Las Vegas AIA Las Vegas 401 S. Fourth st., Suite 175 Las Vegas, NV 89101 Phone: 702-895-0936 Email: [email protected]

Architecture Las Vegas is published twice annually by the Las Vegas Chapter of the American Institute of Architects in partnership with Nevada Public Radio and Desert Companion Magazine. Copyright Architecture Las Vegas by AIA Las Vegas Chapter. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reprinted or otherwise reproduced without publisher’s written permission.

PAGE ARCHITECTURE LAS VEGAS issue 10 / 2016 6 GIBSON PARISIAN GRAFFITI VIGNE COURBÉ DANDELION

CREATORS OF THE WORLD’S MOST FABULOUS LIFESTYLES

Las Vegas Design Center - 495 S. Grand Central Parkway Suite A-100 Las Vegas, NV 89106 [email protected] • 800.476.9505 • www.christopherguy.com

NEW YORK LAS VEGAS CHICAGO MILAN MADRID LONDON PARIS SINGAPORE WORLDWIDE AIA Las Vegas Board of Directors 2016

Brett K. Ewing, AIA President

Jon Sparer, AIA 1956 to 2016 President-elect John Sawdon, AIA Celebrating 60 Years Treasurer of Architecture Patrick BattÉ, AIA Secretary

For sixty years the Las Vegas Chapter of the American Institute of Jennifer Turchin, AIA Architects has advanced design and the built environment through Director education, public awareness and by empowering our members. We invite Dwayne Eshenbaugh, AIA all Las Vegas to join us in celebrating the progressive growth and the Director innovative architecture of this remarkable city, and we salute the AIA Cesar Ceballos, AIA architects who have created it. Director

Jenifer Panars, AIA We are most grateful for the partnerships and support we have received Emerging Professionals throughout the years from the architecture and design community, and Director most especially this year from our 60th Anniversary Sponsors. Anna Peltier Allied Director

Glenn Nowak, AIA Education Liaison

Iwona reducha, aias aias president

Mark Ryan, AIA Past President

Randy Lavigne, Hon. AIA Executive Director and

Platinum Sponsors Aria Landscape Architecture | 501 Studios AIA Las Vegas, Polar Shades Sun Control Gold Sponsors American Insurance & 401 S. Fourth Street, Investment | Assurance, Ltd. | Nevada Sales Agency | Southwick Suite 175 Las Vegas, NV 89101 Landscape Architects | TJK Consulting Engineers, Inc. Phone: 702-895-0936 Silver Sponsor Attanasio Landscape Architecture Email: [email protected]

PAGE ARCHITECTURE LAS VEGAS issue 10 / 2016 8

COMMUNITY

What does an architect do? Seems like a simple enough question, and with a simple enough answer: An architect draws plans or makes models of buildings. After that’s done, the architect hands the plans over to a construc- tion company that takes on the job from there. Right? Not quite. The belief that this is the sum total of what an architect does is a common misconception — not only among the general public, but even among many aspiring architects entering the profession who dream of designing great buildings. Designing buildings is great. But drafting building plans is only part of the job. “What we do is much more about people than it is about buildings, and it’s much more about the communi- ty inside than the actual building itself,” says Craig Galati, AIA, principal of LGA. That’s not news to most architects. But how do you convince the public of that idea — that architects are much more than people who draw buildings, that they’re arbiters, creators and interpreters of the very spaces we live and work in, that they’re the spokespeople for good design? How can architects raise their image from that of mere designers of structures to thought-leaders who in- spire broader conversations about how design influences our spaces, our lives and our community? Many local ar- chitects know the answer, because they’re making it hap- pen — through means ranging from art to social media to old-fashioned, face-to-face meetings with neighbors.

Join the club Raising the profile of architects can be as simple as being part of an organization. Case in point: Curt Carlson, AIA, principal and director at SH Architecture, sits on the Board of Directors for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Las Ve- gas. He notes that simple community involvement of this Blueprint for sort is just as important as those things traditionally tied to an architect’s job description. “It’s not just building buildings,” he says, “but how the conversation community is actually intertwined with the buildings.” How do architects raise their profile in Ultimately, it is the activities within and around the struc- the public’s mind? By taking their work tures that truly matter, and Carlson feels that involvement — and their words — well beyond the in a worthwhile organization — one that may not have drawing board anything to do directly with architecture — can nonethe- less deliver valuable insights into the needs and desires of the community. And input from the community, in turn, informs his professional perspective as well. His colleague Eric Roberts, AIA, director at SH Ar- chitecture, sees another point of community entry for ar- chitects — think not building plans, but paintings. “I believe that many architects possess an untapped

PAGE ARCHITECTURE LAS VEGAS issue 10 / 2016 10 WE’RE PROUD

YEARS OF EXCELLENCE

We value our loyal clients, the friendships & relationships – our reputation, our dedicated employees & their families and we are forever grateful for the many opportunities.

PAGE issue 10 / 2016 ARCHITECTURE LAS VEGAS 11 COMMUNITY

resource of creativity that remains unshared mentions several specific ways that might Open the doors with the community — through art,” happen: For example, a First Friday exhib- Just as important at getting involved in Roberts writes in an email. “Many archi- it or lecture series in which architects and the community is inviting the community tects are also incredible artists and possess artists collaborate on a project or discuss a in. Architecture strikes many people as a great skills in painting, drawing, photogra- headline topic in the realm of lifestyle, art complex practice to the point of being ar- phy, sculpture, model building or other arts. or design. “I’d like to see more architects cane. Many local architects say that a bit of I would like to see the architecture com- display work they’ve completed them- transparency is crucial to remind the public munity take a more active role in the art selves, out in the community, and to show that the process of creating spaces is, in community in Las Vegas, and perhaps to see themselves as artists,” Roberts writes. “I many ways, a collaboration between the ar- that reciprocated by the art community.” think it’s important to be seen as more chitect and the public that will use the His thinking goes that nourishing the than a creator of building plans.” space. For instance, the Las Vegas AIA chap- natural connection between design, art and And Roberts puts his money — or ter opens many of its events to the public, architecture can go a long way to changing rather, his marker — where his mouth and its office can at times act as an infor- the public’s perceptions about the profession is. He leads an Urban Sketchers group mation booth, fielding questions from the — and spark some fresh dialogue among that attracts both artists and architects. public about architects and architecture. In these distinct groups. “Architecture and art Sketchpads in hand, every month they fact, the entire month of April — Art, Ar- should push and pull one another within a visit a visually interesting Vegas locale, chitecture and Design Month — was de- city, they should challenge one another and whether a Strip icon or a natural land- veloped to raise public awareness about and they should be in constant dialogue.” mark. There’s a lot of drawing, but also a celebrate the accomplishments of local ar- If that sounds a bit abstract, Roberts lot of dialogue. chitecture and design.

THE RIGHT PARTNER WORKING TOGETHER. BUILDING TOGETHER.

Collaborating with our partners from the start gives us the ability to achieve the goals of our clients while creating unique spaces. We look forward to joining forces to build the UNLV Hotel College Academic Building.

Learn more at mccarthy.com

PAGE ARCHITECTURE LAS VEGAS issue 10 / 2016 12 “The number one problem is educa- And the education process doesn’t stop ating a symposium on Downtown to dis- tion,” says Randy Lavigne, executive direc- once the public is in the door. For instance, cuss housing, public architecture and more, tor of the AIA Las Vegas. “Most people the school’s February lecture by Phoe- and working with the Contemporary Arts don’t understand what architects do and nix-based architect Will Bruder, FAIA — Center on an exhibit of architecture stu- the value they bring to a project.” one of its popular Klai Juba Wald Lecture dents’ work. Eric Strain, AIA, associate professor of Series events — was followed by an archi- “Through these efforts I believe we architecture at UNLV and owner and chief tecture school open house, with an exhibit can begin to elevate the awareness, under- architect of Assemblage Studio, is one of highlighting student work. standing and appreciation of architecture in many UNLV professors working to build “We believe getting all these commu- the valley,” Strain says. multiple bridges between the architecture nities into the school and open house will school and the general public. So far, Strain, begin to raise the exposure for architec- Meeting of the minds who joined UNLV in August, is pleasantly ture,” says Strain. The school has also re- The spirit of collaboration behind such surprised by the results. For instance, Strain launched its popular “Slide Slam” event, public events extends well beyond academ- says, the October lecture by heavyweight high-energy slideshows showcasing the ic offices and into the realm of politics and design and architecture critic Aaron Betsky work of artists, designers, photographers public policy, where architects continue to drew 250 people — and not just architects and, of course, architects. That’s the kind of strive to have a voice. and building buffs. “We had people from interdisciplinary mix needed to bring ar- Chris Lujan, AIA, an associate at Tate the areas of design and art, the casino in- chitects deeper into the conversation about Snyder Kimsey, takes an active role in those dustry, the development community and aesthetics and design. The architecture arenas at the local and state levels, bringing the general public,” he says. school is also talking to the city about cre- his perspective from the architecture and

Congratulations to AIA Las Vegas for 60 Years of Service

Architecture Interior Design Urban Design Landscape Architecture MINNEAPOLIS LOS ANGELES LAS VEGAS BILOXI DENVER PHOENIX SEOUL BEIJING www.cuningham.com

PAGE issue 10 / 2016 ARCHITECTURE LAS VEGAS 13 COMMUNITY

design side. “Sometimes people believe that ful resource in carrying on a conversa- think we’re doing our jobs responsibly for architects are relegated exclusively to the tion about design. the next generation.” bricks-and-mortar side of community “What’s happening with social media building, but we realize that, at a policy lev- is really exciting for a number of reasons A structured conversation el, informing local constituents really starts for architecture,” Lujan says. The ongoing And, finally, when it comes to inspiring with describing an idea,” he says. discussions that architects have with conversations about the built environment, This often takes the form of commu- community members often happen over David Frommer, AIA, executive director of nity forums, charrettes (brainstorming ses- the course of several open meetings. But UNLV Planning and Construction, points sions) and open meetings, where laypeople these days, the conversation doesn’t end out that architects have the best props avail- are given the opportunity to share their when the meeting adjourns. More able: the buildings and spaces themselves. thoughts about neighborhood develop- tech-savvy firms share updates using so- “One of the most powerful ways to ments while also giving architects the cial media or leverage their websites as a engage the public related to the value and chance to demonstrate how they can help dynamic platform, and invite community importance of high-quality architecture realize those goals. Lasting much longer members to participate in the process and design — and, naturally, the role ar- than a single meeting, these give-and-take outside the conference room. chitects and design professionals play re- conversations between architects and com- Carlson’s firm has deployed online lated to this — is through realized archi- munity members take place throughout a surveys to gather feedback from people tecture, environments and spaces that are project’s planning process. Architects pro- who can’t attend public forums, and it also welcoming and open to the public, and vide details on the intended project while sets up mini-websites and uses electronic exhibit the quality of exceptional design also soliciting ideas and concerns from newsletters to keep stakeholders informed that make for great places for people to be people living in the neighborhood, giving of ongoing progress on projects. in,” he writes in an email. “Few things everyone an opportunity to offer feedback. “We want to keep people up-to-date compare to designing and constructing “We really believe that we can help on what decisions have been made or great and compelling places for people, communities navigate through this pro- just to get more ideas and keep the con- and people experiencing those places and cess,” Galati of LGA says. “They have as versation going,” he says. enjoying them and understanding the val- much to say — if not more to say — than Yet, even as these online conversa- ue of great design.” The challenge is in we do on how their community should be tions happen in real-time, they have the taking that enjoyment and articulating it shaped. Our job as designers, planners and opportunity to live on much longer. Lu- as part of a larger dialogue. That leads into architects is to dig as deep as we can and to jan of Tate Snyder Kimsey points to an Frommer’s other suggestion: Why not Las really help those communities make the example of a rural school he worked on, Vegas architecture tours? best decisions about what they want.” which was documented digitally “Many cities with strong design and Carlson’s firm SH Architecture also throughout the entire process. architecture traditions have city tours led makes use of these visioning sessions, en- “People from around the world were by architects and design professionals to couraging feedback from potential users actually able to see what the outcome talk about some of the more important, about the project. was,” he says. A handful of publications groundbreaking, innovative or compelling “We ask people what they would like picked up on the story, and other school design in a city,” he writes, calling out Chi- to see and how they plan to use it,” he says, districts got in touch to find out more cago, New York, Seattle and New Orleans noting that something like schools or Boys about the project because they faced sim- as just a few examples. & Girls Clubs located throughout the val- ilar challenges. Because of the digital doc- The UNLV Architecture Studies Li- ley may seem similar in nature, but each umentation, stakeholders were able to in- brary offers self-guided tours, and organi- neighborhood has different circumstances. clude a much wider community in the zations such as The give “Everything is slightly different. It’s really process. “You’re giving a voice to the cli- tours of their own grounds, but perhaps the about what that community needs and ent and suddenly they’re able to influence time is right for a citywide architecture what they can benefit from,” Carlson says. decisions from around the world,” he says. tour — one that captures not just the “We’re responsible for bettering the breadth of local architecture, from Strip Spread the (digital) word community — and communities we may whimsy to site-specific, desert-savvy domi- Constructing a building is a decided- never even visit,” Lujan adds. “If we can ciles, but builds a public appetite for think- ly physical process, but architects are address architecture through means be- ing and talking about design. finding that digital tools can be a power- yond what the physical building is, then I — Joanna Haugen

PAGE ARCHITECTURE LAS VEGAS issue 10 / 2016 14 PAGE issue 10 / 2016 ARCHITECTURE LAS VEGAS 15 HISTORY

mous with the Las Vegas lifestyle. Even his seemingly ordinary innova- tions became textbook ingredients for modern casinos. “Wayne McAllister did for Las Vegas what Daniel Burnham did for Chicago and Pierre L’Enfant did for Washington, D.C.: Establish a unique, memorable, and functional design that perfectly suited the purpose and character of those cities,” says architect and author Alan Hess. And in the Vegas spirit of reinven- tion, McAllister was largely self-made. A San Diego native, McAllister was a high school dropout who taught him- self architecture. Despite this, he as- cended to the profession’s highest ranks, scoring groundbreaking com- missions for everyone from Marriott and Hilton to Meyer Lansky and Bugsy Siegel. McAllister was an icon- oclast, too, brewing up bathtub gin during Prohibition (even co-owning a brewery after Prohibition), running a machine shop, managing a restau- rant, and even operating a commercial ostrich farm. His unorthodox back- ground, broad range of experiences and entrepreneurial spirit meant a continual self-reinvention that was re- flected in his architectural work marked by ceaseless experimentation, The Other Mr. Las Vegas adaptation and evolution. Roots? Tradition? Legacy? De- If there’s one name synonymous with Vegas architecture, it’s Wayne cidedly un-Vegas ideas that didn’t McAllister, whose projects shaped the inimitable style of the Strip quite fit his spirit. “When you’re designing some- thing, you don’t look back at any- Glamour. Swagger. Panache. Verve. thing else. It flows from your ideas, not from what you Not words that immediately scream architecture!, exact- did before,” McAllister told a reporter. “But naturally, ly, but they do when it’s Wayne McAllister we’re talking what you did before is in the background, isn’t it? You about — and when we’re talking about legendary Vegas certainly don’t want to just repeat what you did before.” resorts such as the El Rancho and The Sands. It’s hard to overstate: McAllister defined Las Vegas glamour and Just add (hot) water swagger with radically designed and nightclubs, McAllister had a blue-collar work ethic coupled restaurants and casinos that forever changed the city’s with flexibility, creativity and an ability to deliver visual DNA. His relaxed, open and flowing spaces em- high-quality work that consistently exceeded owner bodied a leisurely freedom that soon became synony- expectations. His skill, inventiveness and deferential de- Wayne McAllister courtesy Las Vegas News Bureau

PAGE ARCHITECTURE LAS VEGAS issue 10 / 2016 16 Protecting your relationships. In the design and construction industry, there is no better way to protect your relationships than by using AIA Contract Documents. As the Industry Standard for over 120 years, our pre-drafted agreements and forms defi ne the relationships and terms involved in your project, ensuring all parties are aware of expectations. Developed with input from key stakeholders, and recognized by courts across the country, AIA Contract Documents protect your project from start to fi nish. Wayne McAllister courtesy Las Vegas News Bureau

Visit us online at www.aia.org/contractdocs HISTORY

Enter the Sands man: McAllister's design for the Sands included this 56-foot- tall sign that made it one of the meanor made him a heavily sought-after most prominent on the Strip. talent. Those traits also help explain how he got such an early start. At age 19, McAllister landed an un- precedented $10 million commission (more than $2 billion in today’s dollars) to design Hotel Agua Caliente in Tijua- na, Mexico. It was an instant success when it opened in 1928 — the most op- ulent, talked-about resort of its era — boasting a casino, bathhouse, cocktail bars, restaurants, golf course and race- track. (The resort inspired the 1935 film In Caliente). The Spanish Mission-style complex, spread across 655 acres, attract- ed celebrity visitors like Charlie Chaplin, Eddie Cantor, Al Jolson, Irving Berlin, Bing Crosby, Clark Gable, and Jean Har- low during Prohibition. Agua Caliente was a seminal project in McAllister’s career. It laid the founda- tion for the , with design innovations that included casinos built without clocks or windows, and hidden catwalks for security. There was also fine dining, intricate ornamentation and lav- ish entertainment. The resort’s 85-foot- tall bell tower, meanwhile, acted as a vi- sual centerpiece and symbol, predating the neon monikers that would eventually define the Strip. At your leisure: McAllister's And thank heavens for his self-taught basic plan for the emphasized a playful, free- skills. McAllister’s unique architectural wheeling aesthetic — perhaps style likely would have been “learned out all the more apparent because of him” with formal school training, McAllister had no formal training as an architect. Hess says. Instead, the young designer (who lied about his age) was unencum- bered by tradition or reputation, enabling a creative freedom and design malleabili- ty uncommon among his peers.

Rise of the roadside America, in the 1950s and 1960s, had a newfound sense of freedom and appetite for adventure, thanks to Eisenhower’s creation of a national interstate highway system. A new type of roadside architecture developed as a result, inspired by car culture’s sense of movement. This was McAllister’s element. Historic casinos courtesy Las Vegas News Bureau

PAGE ARCHITECTURE LAS VEGAS issue 10 / 2016 18 Downtown dynamic: McAllister created the original plans for the and The Fremont, two signature Downtown hotel- casinos.

He played a pivotal role in designing drive- with restaurants like Simon’s, Hody’s, Pig ‘n in restaurants (once as ubiquitous as today’s Whistle, and Bob’s Big Boy, gaining crucial drive-thru) that reflected dynamism and experience with themed yet practical spaces character of the automobile. that would later serve him well in Las Vegas. Known as , it was Although Modernist masters like R.M. widely popular in southern from Schindler and Ludwig Mies Van Roche the late 1940s through the mid-1960s. Cars tried their hand at Googie-style restaurants, gave rise to new mobility and development, it was McAllister who “pulled the some- fueling the explosive growth of suburbs what crude vernacular expressions of the during the post-World War II economy. drive-in restaurant into a unified, sophisti- The sunny Los Angeles climate was another cated, and utterly modern whole,” says Hess. catalyst, contributing to the indoor-outdoor They were small spaces, but make no lifestyle that produced light-filled sprawling mistake — they drew big attention in a spaces that later spilled into Las Vegas. Goo- booming city on the move. McAllister was gie took its design cue from automotive unconsciously readying himself for remak- technology, using Atomic-era materials such ing Las Vegas, laying the groundwork for the as chrome, glass and steel for construction. future Strip as an iconic visitor destination. Buildings embodied action, becoming a says architecture critic and author Chris Space-age expression of forward momen- Nichols. “He immersed himself in the prac- Back at the Rancho tum and progress. Streamlined, asymmetri- tical matters of creating space.” McAllister’s reputation was firmly es- cal compositions were accentuated by Indeed, McAllister fully engaged him- tablished when he designed the 110-room prominently placed halo neon signs that self in the language of kitchens and restau- Hotel. It was the town’s lured visitors and buoyed business. rants for a holistic design approach that first luxury resort along Highway 91 (later “McAllister would first become an ex- pumped up business’ bottom lines through known as the Strip). The $425,000 El pert in the building type he was to create,” efficient planning. He was honing his craft Rancho was initially promoted as the Historic casinos courtesy Las Vegas News Bureau

PAGE issue 10 / 2016 ARCHITECTURE LAS VEGAS 19 HISTORY

“Caliente of the West” when it debuted in parking, central pool and iconic sign $5.5 million, 200-room terracotta-red 1941, referencing McAllister’s previous that served as both visual identity and resort opened December 15, 1952, along success in Mexico. The Mission-style visitor enticement. And, naturally, there South . A porte-co- complex, on 66 acres, consisted of low- was celebrity luster, with performers chère of three soaring, doglegged fins led slung bungalows with a shake roof and such as Betty Grable, Pearl Bailey and to a two-story glass-walled main en- board-and-batten walls partially connect- Chico Marx providing entertainment. trance bordered by imported Italian mar- ed by covered arcades. It had a sprawling (Actors Paul Newman and Joanne ble. A substantially sized casino anchored cowboy dude ranch feel with exposed Woodward were married at the El Ran- the complex, funneling guests through a beam ceilings, fireplaces, split-rail fencing cho in 1958.) After a financially lucra- brightly carpeted, clockless gaming space and working stables. tive run, including a 1947 renovation, on the way to the registration desk, Like many of McAllister’s finest the resort burned down to the ground restaurant or street. The window-free Googie creations, the El Rancho was in 1960. It was never rebuilt. area was lit by low-hanging copper chan- nestled against the highway with a tow- deliers while a network of concealed cat- ering windmill sign outlined in neon cool walks let security personnel keep tabs on that pierced the skyline, effectively act- The Sands Hotel was one of McAl- the action below. ing as a beacon and magnetic draw for lister’s most elegant, modern and beloved A 500-guest main cocktail lounge road-weary travelers. Moreover, El Ran- creations, raising the bar for future Strip had Western themed bas-relief ceramic cho served as a blueprint for future resort opulence. (John F. Kennedy was an murals, featuring cowboys, racing wag- Strip resorts, with a lavish casino, easy occasional guest in the late 1950s.) The ons and Joshua trees, designed by Allan

ENTERTAINMENT ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN

Las Vegas | Macau | Zhuhai | Amsterdam | Ho Chi Minh City www.steelmanpartners.com

Steelman Partners Affiliated Companies

Galaxy Phase II, macau

PAGE ARCHITECTURE LAS VEGAS issue 10 / 2016 20 Stewart of Claremont College, Califor- Fremont Street. It featured modular pre- nia. Two-story wings, each with cast concrete construction with varying fifty rooms named after famous race- tan-colored panels. A wide, thin concrete tracks, were arranged in a style, blade, running the full length of the tow- surrounding a tropically landscaped half- er extended past the roofline with the moon-shaped pool with a floating hotel’s neon sign, visually breaking up table. Sumptuously appointed suites had the building mass. Guest window brise- plush blue carpets, ivory-colored chairs soleils (sunscreens) served a similar aes- and white ceilings. thetic function, while adding a sleek, fu- However, the Sands’ most memora- turistic feel. The tiled street-level façade, ble design feature may be its 56-foot-tall meanwhile, featured a broad flat building pylon sign. Luminous neon script letter- canopy whose swirling neon underside ing was sprawled across an egg crate grill enticed pedestrians. that cast playful shadows in the desert “At night, the underside of this cano- sunlight. The effervescent and colorful py came alive in a dizzying explosion of moniker, cantilevered from a stucco neon, with galloping white and rose spi- tower, was more than sparkling bait: It rals ringed by yellow, pink and white was a graphic calling card, an alluring waves,” Nichols wrote in his 2007 book, highway seduction that soon became The Leisure Architecture of Wayne McAllister. synonymous with the hotel. The hotel’s many amenities included The sign’s tagline “A Place in the a rooftop pool, a 30,000-square-foot ca- Sun” came from the 1951 film starring sino and Mid-century Herman Miller Montgomery Clift and Elizabeth Taylor, furniture designed by Charles Eames. Its foreshadowing a luminous reputation Carnival showroom, bathed in pink with with celebrity performers that included resin cylinder chandeliers, was the setting Danny Thomas, , Judy for a teenage ’s Vegas de- Garland, , , but in 1959. and . Although McAllister stopped design- McAllister’s iconic style helped the ing full-time at age 49, the impact from casino itself become an icon. The Sands his work still reverberates today. He in- ultimately etched its name into Vegas vented the “form and flavor of the Las Ve- lore during a three-week period in 1960 gas Strip,” setting the “pattern, style and when , , Sam- approach” with his architectural designs, my Davis Jr., and Peter Nichols says. It’s no small feat creating a Lawford filmed Ocean’s 11 at the hotel. place where people want to spend their The quintet additionally sang and time and money. McAllister always had a danced in the 385-seat Brazilian carni- knack for observing the changing land- val-themed during a peri- scape and adapting accordingly. od known as the “Summit at the Sands.” “McAllister is responsible for estab- Las Vegas would never be the same. lishing the defining features of Las Vegas architecture from the 1940s through the Hotel Fremont and beyond 1960s — a key formative era,” says Hess. McAllister designed the city’s first “From his long experience in San Diego, high-rise, the Fremont Hotel, which Tijuana and Los Angeles, he understood would also be his last Las Vegas project. the right balance of luxurious amenities The $6 million, 155-room California and stylish architecture that would appeal modern-style resort brought charm and to people as Las Vegas created itself as a flair to . The Fre- unique recreational destination.” mont opened on May 18, 1956 along —Tony Illia

PAGE issue 10 / 2016 ARCHITECTURE LAS VEGAS 21 design

The HOUSE ALWAYS WINS How Strip architecture defined a young and growing Las Vegas — and spread across the globe

From the time opened But this is more than a bemusing observation. This in 1966 until came alive in 1999, Las speaks volumes about the spirit of Las Vegas, and Vegas was replica-mad when it came to casino-re- points to one of our lesser-known exports: design as a sorts on the Strip. You know them by heart, now. We means to maximize desire. have Rome. We have New York. We have Venice and Paris and Giza. From steak joint to The Strip So if you can take irony, give it physical form and Wayne McAllister was a 19-year-old whiz kid build it from the ground up, it’s in Macau, where the who started in architecture before he even finished iconic swooping top and chocolate-brown glass of the high school. Despite his youth, by 1926 he had Wynn were cloned, wholesale, on the edge of the already made the kind of connections that enabled South Sea. him to push through a proposal to build the $10 You want to double down on that irony? There’s million Agua Caliente casino-resort just over the The Venetian Macao, a copy of a copy that proves border in Tijuana, Mexico. that there’s no idea that Las Vegas can’t take, repack- The resort opened in the middle of 1928, and age, reuse or export. Where the Strip goes, so goes by the end of ’29 it would feature a hotel, casino,

the city — and the world. horse track, spa, golf course, pool, tennis courts, a Illustration: Scott Lien

PAGE ARCHITECTURE LAS VEGAS issue 10 / 2016 22 rail depot and an airport. It was an the combination of open plan and nat- immediate hit that was popular with ural materials like the split-face granite Hollywood luminaries like Gary wall that houses a scalloped copper fire- Cooper, Bing Crosby, Charlie Chaplain, place hood make it feel like the only the Marx Brothers and difference between where you’re stand- (who no doubt took a note or two on ing and the world outside is the carpet the operation). But more than that, it underneath. gave McAllister the blueprint to build- Antonio Morelli was the orchestra ing a destination resort in the desert, leader at the Sands’ Copa Room. He centered on gambling, at the heart of a had the house built in 1959 with archi- your-every-whim-catered-to fanta- tect Hugh Taylor, who had worked on syland. When the El Rancho, also the Desert Inn after McAllister, and designed by McAllister, opened in 1941, whose reach in Las Vegas would prove it was the first time an architect would to be undeniable. bring styles and ideas from their other Neighborhoods like the Scotch 80s, projects to bear on Las Vegas. It wouldn’t Winchester township and the Arts District be the last, and it would quickly become still show that mid-mod influence. It’s a two-way street. testament to both the accessibility of the “They established a type,” says Alan style and the lack of other fashionable Hess, architecture critic for the San Jose options at the time that so many early Mercury News and author of Viva Las enclaves here drew from the look. Vegas: After Hours Architecture. “They “When you’re talking about what told people, told architects how you was going on in Las Vegas at that time, organize rooms, services, landscape, these buildings were influential because pool, recreation, entertainment, casino, they were so prominent,” Brett Ewing, cars, all of those elements. Those are AIA, of Cuningham Group Architecture difficult elements to put together in a says. “There were 50,000 people living convenient way, a workable way. The here at that time. It was a small commu- Rancho did that right at the beginning. nity. There were so few buildings here The Flamingo and the Sands both that if you were driving around the city, introduced an interest in real sophisti- you’d come up on these properties. I cated design for the period. There was think you’d pay more attention.” an elegance and a sophistication and a The pioneer roots of the city weren’t classy side to Las Vegas design.” erased completely, though. The Last The type of mid-century design that Frontier, opened in 1942, seized on the dominated the early Strip projects of the city’s Western traditions and tried to pro- ’40s and ’50s would prove to be one of duce a Wyatt Earp and Billy the Kid the earliest and most lasting influences version of the Rancho, with clapboard on architecture in Las Vegas. false-front buildings and rough-hewn The Morelli House, moved whole- wood posts. It stands as one of the city’s sale from its original location at the earliest examples of a themed resort. Desert Inn Estates in 2001 and added to the National Register of Historic Places Coalesce and spread in 2012, is a stunningly preserved exam- But still, the overall aesthetic of the ple of mid-mod architecture, with its early Strip would rapidly coalesce. In beam-and-post construction, glass cur- 1965, Tom Wolfe, dazzled by what he tain wall and opposite clerestory win- called with no small amount of wry dows create an ethereal, floating effect. deprecation the Late American Rich The room swims in natural light, and style of “Boomerang Modern, Palette

PAGE issue 10 / 2016 ARCHITECTURE LAS VEGAS 23 design

Curvilinear, Flash Gordon on Ming- weapon at their disposal, and it quickly The theme machine Alert Spiral, McDonald’s Hamburger became one of the favorite items in Certainly, other aspects of themed Parabola, Mint Casino Elliptical, Miami their arsenal. architecture were especially prominent in Beach Kidney” wrote, “Las Vegas and And they put it to use. Circus Circus other off-Strip casinos and resorts around Versailles are the only two architectural- expanded to Reno in 1978. Though the Las Vegas, from the artificial village of ly uniform cities in Western history.” Atlantic City version of Caesars didn’t Sam’s Town to the Spanish ambitions of You can hear hindsight laughing in the open with the ersatz Roman style of its Sunset Station to the Mediterranean fla- distance, but it’s a style that drew in the Las Vegas counterpart in 1979, it adopted vor of . But the Modern resorts of Palm Springs in the those trappings by 1987 after a remodel. impact of also had occasionally 1920s and ’30s, metastasized them here, The Taj Mahal followed in 1990. Buffalo unexpected consequences. and spread them outward. Bill’s built a false-front Old West village Architect David M. Schwarz designed The Valley Ho, for example, seized in Primm in 1994, and the Nevada The Smith Center to pay tribute to the Art on the concept and opened as a Landing put a riverboat in Jean in 1989. Deco trappings of , highlight- Modern-styled desert resort in Theming, and its logical — if exaggerat- ed by the stunning Carillon Tower, with its Scottsdale, Ariz., in 1956. A year later, ed — endpoint, fantasy architecture, soaring vertical lines leading up to its George Vernon Russell, the architect of were a hot commodity. 50-ton Deco-styled steel cap. The tower- the original Flamingo in 1946, would “Any number of so-called local casi- and-steel cap evokes the idea of a mini aim to replicate the groundbreaking nos in other parts of the country have Chrysler Building in Las Vegas. (Well, Vegas version in Santa Rosa, Calif., taken a very active role in theming,” says another mini Chrysler Building, anyway. with its glass curtain walls and elegant Joel Bergman, AIA, of Bergman Wall New York-New York got there first.) stonework. You can still see the pylon Associates. As architect of The Smith Center certainly could sign just off the lobby entrance, just like and Treasure Island, Bergman is one of have existed without more than two its Las Vegas counterpart prior to the the integral figures in Las Vegas themed decades of theme architecture driving the Flamingo’s 1953 renovation. architecture. Prior to that, he worked conversation, but it’s less likely. Certainly, “These large motor inns, though they under Martin Stern Jr., architect of The it wouldn’t have slotted in so naturally to were big , that development is a International who pioneered another a landscape that had adopted as its chief unique contribution of Las Vegas from Vegas-bred architectural innovation: characteristic the defiantly unnatural. that period to this entertainment, recre- structural integration, or, rather, build- “The Smith Center really is an Art ational architectural type,” Hess says. ing up instead of out. Deco homage,” Hess says. “It was kind of “None of those Las Vegas hotels from the “People like being in (themed casi- surprising when I first saw it, because ’40s or ’50s were ever published. They nos). It’s a nice flavor. It’s telling a story there was very little else Deco in Las weren’t known. They certainly weren’t or exaggerating a story, and just having Vegas. The Smith Center wasn’t built to honored as anything new in the architec- fun with it. Because if we have fun on fit into a context. It just says ‘we’re cul- tural profession, but they did have an the design side, the people who are ture, we’re Deco, we’re sophisticated,’ and effect in the industry because you will see coming there, they have fun. And when used it for theming purposes as much as those sorts of large, motel-based resorts people are having fun, money gets made. anything.” usually called motor inns in other recre- I have worked in South America some- If form had a distinct evolution in Las ational places like Phoenix and San Diego what, and Europe and Asia; the reason Vegas from loose theming to the fantasy and elsewhere. What Las Vegas invented they called me is because I’m a theme architecture of the Excalibur and Luxor, with those had an effect. Now what Las architect and they wanted a flavor. In then function had an equally seismic shift Vegas is doing also is having an effect some cases without anybody’s permis- when Martin Stern Jr. designed The worldwide as casinos expand.” sion. I noticed this particularly in Lima, International for Kirk Kerkorian, who With both Caesars Palace and Circus Peru, where casinos took the name and opened it in 1969. Circus, Jay Sarno strapped earlier and a half-assed attempt at theming of vari- The tri-wing tower was a form that more modest ideas about theming to a ous casinos from New York-New York would be oft-repeated in resort archi- rocket ship and blasted it into high orbit. to Station. In fact, at one time the tecture afterward, but it was both the Caesars’ Roman styling was a revelation, people who developed scope of the project (1,500 hotel rooms and Las Vegas wasn’t going to let one actually bought the old signage and at a time when resorts often ran around guy have all the fun. Resorts had a new moved it down there.” a third of that number) and the way it Sands, International renderings courtesy UNLV Special Collections Library; Wynn rendering Resorts

PAGE ARCHITECTURE LAS VEGAS issue 10 / 2016 24 Dare to flair: From left, the Sands, the International, and

integrated a low-rise casino with a Square and . The Strip, in turn, high-rise hotel tower together that responded with Linq, the shopping center proved revolutionary. wrapping around the northwest corner of As corporations eagerly moved into TI and The Park from MGM, set to tie into Las Vegas, the architecture reflected it the new T-Mobile arena being built behind with the muted, safe designs of the New York-New York. Celebrating green Flamingo’s 1972 expansion, Stern’s 1973 “Even though the Strip in the summer MGM Grand and the 1978 Desert Inn can be 115 degrees on a July afternoon, you for 1,400 years. remodel. It took until 1989 and the still see thousands of people walking up and opening of Bergman’s Mirage to finally down,” Ewing says. “It doesn’t deter them for marry form and function in a quintes- one minute. What spun out of that was Tivoli The Anasazi natives knew the benefits sentially Las Vegas model. Village, and now Downtown Summerlin. I of green building. Their structures have With its South Seas/Caribbean loose think the Strip helped prove people can be stood the test of time. Being built from local materials and using geothermal and theming, high-design aims and a massive, outside all the time and you can get a lot of solar technology their structures prove 3,000-room footprint, The Mirage tied use out of it. Now on the Strip you see the that green building is both beneficial to together the sophistication of the Sands, casinos opening themselves up to the outside the environment and your pocket book. the fantasy of Caesars and the unified where they didn’t used to.” We are leaders in insurance products utility of The International. The approach The latest great evolution in Strip style and services for architects and engineers wasn’t just copied on the Strip or in gam- is the high-design towers of Wynn, Encore, with over 50 years of specialized ing markets like Atlantic City, but any- CityCenter, The Cosmopolitan and the experience. From loss prevention to risk where a new casino-resort could spring shelved Fontainebleau. It’s a movement management, we strive to build long-term relationships with a foundation built on up, from The Star in Sydney to the that hasn’t been lost on the rest of the trust and commitment. Northeast tribal casinos like Foxwoods gaming world. When Revel opened in and Mohegan Sun. Atlantic City in 2012, its swooping curved Call us today for all your business or glass façade looked like it wouldn’t be out personal insurance needs. Walk this way of place standing next to the Wynn. Yet The Mirage had one other trick up Neither would the MGM Grand Detroit, its sleeve. The volcano wasn’t just a sidewalk MGM Macau, Sands Macau or the City of attention-getter. Suddenly, it was worth- Dreams on the Cotai Strip. while to walk along the Strip, even in the “You have to stand up and say what punishing heat of the summer. What began would Macau look like today if they were as a collection of properties built to serve building casinos and they did not have Las 6765 West Russell Road, #150 the cars of Highway 91 was evolving into a Vegas as a model?” Hess says. “I don’t think Las Vegas, NV 89118 pedestrian thoroughfare. Wynn duplicated Macau would have come up with what (702) 877-1760 | american-ins.com the effect with the Treasure Island pirate they have been building. It just shows the battle and fountains. Caesars piled influence of the Las Vegas model.” Professional Liability • General Liability • Disability Commercial Auto • 401k Plans • Workers’ Comp on with the Forum Shops. In Macau, Atlantic City, the Motor Property & Equipment • Group Health • Group Life This new pedestrianism took hold off City — and anywhere else a nickel goes in Personal Home • Personal Auto • Life the Strip as well, in (it should be noted, a . This ad was produced with support from the themed) projects like The District, Town —Jason Scavone Design Professional unit of XL Catlin, offering

Sands, International renderings courtesy UNLV Special Collections Library; Wynn rendering Resorts innovative professional liability programs for architects and engineers. Spruce Tree House, Mesa Verde National Park PAGE issue 10 / 2016 ARCHITECTURE LAS VEGAS 25 profile

Bright future in site: From generation left, Tina Wichmann, Craig Palacios, Dwayne next Eshenbaugh, Jason Strodl, Jenifer Panars, Rob These up-and-coming architectural talents Gurdison bode well for Las Vegas’ next iteration of itself — whatever that may be

The thinking was that the recession was a time to pause and reflect on lessons learned — about putting growth before community and design, about the perils of making a desert metropolis out of stucco and wood. Whether we’ve learned those lessons is an open question, but one thing is for sure: These seven architects — with seven distinct approaches and philosophies — are thinking and working hard to build a more intentional post-recession Southern Nevada. Photo: Christopher Smith

PAGE ARCHITECTURE LAS VEGAS issue 10 / 2016 26 BUNNYFiSH Studio try to combine two very different but Novus Architecture

interesting things that work together.” Tina Wichmann, AIA One of the first big projects was the Dwayne renovation of the Inspire Theater, which Eshenbaugh, aia Craig Palacios, aia they transformed from a drab, one-story ’50s storefront to a three-level mixed-used theater and venue complex. Wichmann Taking the slow lane Out with the old, and Palacios were interested neither in in with the renewed in a town where “fast making old walls look new or in distressing architecture” is the rule new walls to make them look old. BUNNYFiSH Studio is all “If it’s old and contextual, we want it Dwayne Eshenbaugh arrived about the creative collision of opposites. to look old and contextual,” says Palacios, in Las Vegas in 1984, as a carpenter in a U.S. The proof is in the DNA of partners Craig “but if we make an intervention, we want Air Force combat engineering squadron. Palacios and Tina Wichmann, who first you to say, ‘That’s new, that’s exciting.’” The Pittsburgh-area native was a talented met as grad students at UNLV in 2005. They’ve breathed new life into a artist who loved to build. When he left “My immediate attraction to Tina was she variety of spaces Downtown, from the the Air Force, he took a job building was very willing to go against the grain,” John E. Carson hotel building to the Gold townhomes and condos in Las Vegas, but Palacios explains. Wichmann had relocated Spike casino — a project that required knew he didn’t want to spend his whole to Las Vegas after many years living in Los them to rethink what a Vegas hotel might career framing up homes in the dead of Angeles. In Wichmann he found a business feel like without gaming. They realized summer. So he enrolled at the School of partner who wasn’t afraid to be pragmatic millennials didn’t necessarily want to Architecture at UNLV and began work as and who resisted fads. “It was refreshing for gamble, but they did want a particular a runner for Lucchesi, Galati Architects. me.” kind of social experience: “What can I He worked his way up the ranks, As for Palacios, Wichmann describes write about this? What can I post about designing the seminal Desert Living him as “an amazing designer. He thinks in this?” Supersized versions of games like Center at the , and a way most people don’t. He helped stretch Cornhole, Connect Four and Beer Pong eventually was made an owner at the my mind to make me a better designer.” transformed the former gaming spaces. firm in 2002. But in 2005, he branched Put another way: “He’s the balloon and I’m It was, says Wichmann, “a game-changer out to join a few other firms. “I had to kind of the person on the rooftop holding not just for Bunnyfish, but for a lot of have another experience,” Eshenbaugh the string. We’re both on the rooftop and what people are doing at night. They explains. we’re both being weird, but you can’t be don’t want to just sit in a bar and drown By the summer of 2009, he was one or the other.” in their beer. They want to be up. They planning to venture out on his own, and After graduation in 2007, the pair went want to be active.” not a moment too soon; he got laid off to different firms. Palacios eventually struck The job has helped springboard the that fall. Like others, it was a rough and out on his own, even working on a project studio’s career — they’re now being humbling stretch, but he gradually got or two from a table at The Beat coffee shop. invited by big operators such as the El Novus off the ground with commissions When work picked up, he reached out to Cortez to repurpose shrinking casinos. ranging from a coffee shop off 215, a local Wichmann in search of a “trusted equal.” They’ve also been tapped to complete a HQ for renowned photographer Peter “It was a no-brainer,” he says. “I had Renaissance by Marriott project in Reno. Lik, and a sleek HQ on the west side for always wanted to be partners with Tina.” And they’re completing three master plans an energy efficiency consulting company. When she agreed, Bunnyfish in the valley. When asked about the visual style of Las launched in January 2011, and its style For a firm that started at a coffee shop, Vegas, Eshenbaugh says he sees a fragmented has developed with projects the firm Bunnyfish runs with the informal energy vernacular. “The Strip has a certain set of has designed that are helping shape of a start up, and the firm’s small office in rules that are very open-ended,” he says. “It’s Downtown Las Vegas. “We don’t do the Carson building doesn’t permit much a place for insane creativity where insane historical preservation, although we can,” in the way of hierarchy. “The way our money is spent.” says Palacios. “We don’t do hyper modern business is running,” says Palacios, “is very But it also yields a fast-paced building, although I believe we can. We much a part of starting at the coffee shop development aesthetic that has shaped look at things that are contextual and and being in Downtown Las Vegas.” the look of everything in the valley from

PAGE issue 10 / 2016 ARCHITECTURE LAS VEGAS 27 profile

schools to homes to rec centers. “When of doing that in his hometown was more that could be folded over windows to you’re in that mode you don’t have time to compelling than in L.A. protect the home from sun and wind, as develop really, really strong architecture.” So he and his wife moved back at well as photovoltaic panels and a green But he sees the arrival of sophisticated the end of 2005 and bought a house. The roof. The house was also designed to large companies in the state like Tesla and recession was looming, and he considered gently rest on caissons slightly above the Switch as sign that architecture and design may putting the brakes on striking out on his desert to allow existing drainage and be ready to move forward. It’s a combination own, but as the architectural community in flora to co-exist with the house. of sophisticated clients, government, builders town entered a phase of catastrophic layoffs, When the recession hit, he also and designers working together, and willing he realized he had no option: No one experimented with a prefab design that to look at projects differently. was hiring. So, working for a while off his would allow homeowners to build houses “We have clients that don’t necessarily dining room table, he launched Jason Strodl on land owned by a municipality and then, really care or communicate in a sustainable Adapture in 2008, a design-build firm. as the economy improved, sell their homes way. They want something down and dirty. “Design doesn’t end when the plans — or literally pick them up and move them Other clients are really forward-thinking, get submitted to the building department,” to a new location. Adapture is also designing they really want to be innovative.” It’s not Strodl explains. “Design happens through a contemporary home with indoor-outdoor about making a statement, he adds, but about the course of the project. … It’s the process spaces facing Lone Mountain. Sliding glass being responsible. of making that is as intriguing to us as the walls will open onto outdoor living spaces Novus is located in a handsome process of doodling and sketching and protected by long, flat roof overhangs. storefront on Charleston and Main. Despite designing. We see design bridging both of Strodl believes the city’s architectural his years here, Eshenbaugh didn’t know a those activities.” community embraced commercial work at lot about Downtown, but he knew he and Strodl is also a licensed general the expense of residential work during the his wife, an art consultant, wanted to be part contractor, so his firm’s approach allows city’s long late 20th century boom. For a of a more urban culture, and they live close him to make adjustments to a building as moment, Las Vegas’ residential vernacular had to Downtown as well. “There’s truly a great it’s being built. “I like getting my hands grown alongside the legendary Mid-century sense of community down here with other dirty. I like being out in the field.” Modern homes of another fabled desert design firms, cultural creatives, and like- Adapture focuses much of its community, Palm Springs. But Palm Springs minded business owners.” work on the residential side. From the was more successful at staying the course. It’s beginning of his career, Strodl has felt left a vacuum of quality residential work in a connection to designing and building town that Strodl aims to fill. Adapture Architecture homes. “I kind of fell in love with the “Our architectural past (and present) home and what the home can mean to may be a mixed bag of good and bad Jason Strodl, aia a private individual or a family. We’re intentions, but to be a city known for more capable of creating better lives out there.” than its weekend binges, the future of our One of his first projects was for a architectural identity is at stake.” Dedicated to building young family that had bought a piece homes with heart of land and wanted to build a house on (and soul) it. They came to Strodl with a “dream Tate Snyder Kimsey Architects house” plan they had purchased from Though Las Vegas native the site’s previous owner. That plan Jenifer Panars, aia Jason Strodl began his architecture was typical Las Vegas — a big and career in Las Vegas with local firm Welles flashy “Mediterranean”-style home. Pugsley Simpson (now Pugsley Simpson Strodl coaxed them toward a much Coulter Architects), when he left to more modern design that embraces the Her passion for complete a master’s degree at UCLA desert environs, which the couple fell architecture literally in the early aughts, he had no plans to in love with. began at home return home. Instead, he went to work One of his most striking designs is Jenifer Panars did not grow for prominent Los Angeles Firm Marmol an unbuilt home for empty-nesters in up dreaming of being an architect. Radziner. Still, he knew he wanted to Blue Diamond called the Armadillo But the writing may have been on the start his own company, and the prospect House, which features laser-cut screens wall for the 2015 AIA Nevada Young

PAGE ARCHITECTURE LAS VEGAS issue 10 / 2016 28 Architect of the Year winner, anyway: to work for TSKA, and began a full-time that would be intuitive to use. High Her stepmother was an artist, and her courseload at UNLV to complete her windows stretching along the curving dad was an engineer. master’s degree. roof will bring in natural light to the When her family bought land in Her hard work has certainly paid central area, making it easy for visitors Las Vegas to build a home on, Panars off: She’s quickly risen through the to orient themselves. watched as her folks pored over the ranks at TSKA. As a project manager, With a colleague, she also entered evolving plans. Intrigued, she decided she coordinates work among architects, a design competition in Reno, which to take a drafting class and eventually clients and contractors. The 30-year- asked designers to take an up-and- entered the prestigious design school at old has put her design and managerial coming industrial site with two metal the University of Michigan. stamp on a variety of projects. One buildings and reimagine them as housing Panars got to know Las Vegas during of these is a new DMV service center and mixed-used spaces for a younger summer vacations. She also got to know on East , a challenging generation. Panars and her design powerhouse local firm Tate Snyder project given the opinion most people partner converted one of the buildings Kimsey Architects: first during a spring have of the DMV. into a food market hall, then designed break internship, then as a summer “You’re designing a building no various housing solutions around it, intern. When she graduated in 2007, she one wants to go to,” says Panars. “The including live-work and communal spent a summer working with a small whole idea is to reduce stress.” Panars living spaces. The plan also called for a architectural firm in Croatia on a school and her colleagues studied circulation bike repair shop and community garden. project, then moved to Las Vegas, went diagrams for months to design a space Their design finished second.

PUGSLEY SIMPSON COULTER ARCHITECTS www.pscarchitects.com

PAGE issue 10 / 2016 ARCHITECTURE LAS VEGAS 29 profile

Maybe Panars’ most satisfying job designs, and philosophies, architectures step — which is programming.” to date was the John Miller School, a that really inform the built environment” Gurdison hopes to turn Make into a school for kids and young adults with that it was possible to think of a Vegas complete solution — identifying projects physical and mental handicaps. The vernacular as a singular idea. to develop, finding partners, designing school is classified as an elementary That appreciation for diversity them and building them. It’s a spirited school, but students range in age from helped propel him into the unknown entrepreneurialism that may represent 3 to 22, though they may only be at the a few years ago, when he left respected the true vernacular of Las Vegas. developmental level of a 3- to 4-year old. firm Carpenter Sellers Del Gatto and “This is kind of the middle of the The school features wider hallways, large struck out on his own. “I’ve always desert, no-man’s land,” he says. “You can doors and natural light, along with a wanted to do something like this, but I come out here and try whatever you health center to cater to students’ needs. knew if I didn’t do it then, I would have want to try. If you can talk to someone In addition to helping others, she’s never done it.” He asked himself, “Do I who has the money and you can get also helping the profession by taking really want to have money dictate my them to believe in your philosophy and a leadership role in the architectural love for architecture?” design, you’re doing it. You can build it.” community. She was elected to the So, with three other partners in the AIA Las Vegas chapter’s board as its summer of 2015, he started a pair of Emerging Professionals Director. There architect-led design-build firms, Make Atlas Architecture she leads Hard Hat Tours to introduce Design and Make Studios. “I was always young architects to the intricacies of very fascinated with doing things hands- BRETT actual construction sites. She also runs on. The first 20 years of my career was Memoir Mondays, which connects very theoretical: Draw it, someone else ROBILLARD, AIA young professionals with experienced builds. When someone else gets your architects. She sees her involvement as drawing they shake their head and say, an investment in the future of her home. ‘No, you have to do it this way.’” In a city that feels fleeting “We’re starting to gain some ground Make is about balancing the needs of and temporary, his as a city with some decent buildings in the client, the feasibility of the project architecture embraces it. It takes time.” and a space where the firm can “build, the moment experiment and have fun and have the client part of that journey.” Gurdison has When architect Brett Make Studios worked on a variety of local projects, from Robillard moved to Las Vegas in 2006, his Atomic Liquors to the funky Madhouse assignment for architectural firm Carlos Rob Gurdison, aia Coffee shop on the west side, to the hip Zapata Studio was breathtaking: Design Skinny Fats restaurant in the southwest the mammoth Fontainebleau Hotel. For valley. He’s working on a bar project in an architect who had cut his teeth in His entrepreneurial the Arts District and is a partner in a architectural capitals such as New York, approach speaks the cannabis testing lab. He also served as a and Chicago, he was confident language of Vegas design consultant in a micro greenhouse he could show Vegas a thing or to about and wound up as a part owner. It’s part of great design. Rob Gurdison used to think the thrill of not just designing a building, The recession had other ideas. By Las Vegas would be better if everything but having a stake in it as well. “I love late 2008, the project was looking shaky, looked like Mid-century Modern, but getting paid for risk,” he says. “I love but everyone assumed the hotel was exposure to a variety of styles, whether making money on risk.” simply too big too fail. By 2009, that Mission Revival, Mediterranean, even He’s also worked on projects with optimism was gone. Now it was just a Victorian, changed his mind. The older developer Steven Molasky. Learning the question of how high the Fontainebleau styles, he says, had much to teach, like development ropes is the next step in would rise before the money ran out. rhythm and scale, repetition, proportion, Make’s evolution. “If an architect can be “It was a heartbreaker for me,” the nature of materials. exposed to understanding development, Robillard, AIA, recalls. “I’d put so much Growing up in Las Vegas meant or economy, or business models, then I into it. In retrospect, living here in the seeing so “many different types of styles, think that’s the best prelude to the next valley and looking out at the building, and

PAGE ARCHITECTURE LAS VEGAS issue 10 / 2016 30 seeing the critique of it has been kind of people don’t want to just go to work in a the moment. I learned that being here a learning process for me, and humbling.” drab industrial space. “They want a sense and nowhere else.” But the Boston-area native decided of joy and uplift and they deserve it.” Architecture, he says, has to the to stay in Las Vegas, and took a job with He’s working on a small cycling power to be nothing less than “a industry powerhouse Gensler. Despite a fitness studio in Summerlin, a few home memory-making engine,” to imbue a brief return to Boston after the recession, projects in The Ridges — including one place with the capacity for memory. he eventually became design director of whose client is interested in “creating a He wants architecture in Vegas to take Gensler’s Las Vegas office. But all along house that dissolves into the landscape.” itself seriously enough so that it doesn’t he had harbored the dream of starting He’s also working on a mixed-use become a caricature, a mere seduction his own firm. He wanted to get back to project in the Arts District, as well as a designed to take tourists’ money. But the basics — the craft — of design. So home in the new Summit development there’s a place to let some of the Strip’s Robillard left Gensler in October and south of The Ridges. sense of unabashed spectacle influence opened Atlas. Despite stints in some of the most architects into having some fun. One of his first projects on his own fascinating architectural cities in the “I don’t think you want to live in is a tilt-up concrete warehouse enlivened world, Vegas had its own lessons to Las Vegas to turn your back on the thing with a patterned, multi-colored façade impart, about what Robillard calls that made it what it is,” he says. “I think and a perforated metal skin over the “this idea of the temporary. I think it’s OK to have a little glitz and a little entrance. He says the project is already architecture and architects in general glam in your life.” 50 percent leased, an indication that too often don’t recognize the power of — T.R. Witcher

SOUTHWEST GAS Switch to new high-efficiency commercial equipment and Save replace old inefficient models usingSmarter Greener Better® Money & Energy rebates!

With High-Efficiency Natural COMMERCIAL EQUIPMENT REBATES Gas Commercial Equipment Condensing and non-condensing boilers, modulating burner controls, steam traps, tankless water heaters, air curtains, commercial foodservice equipment, and more.

Up to 50% on qualifying equipment costs

ENERGY AUDIT REBATE Learn how and where to cut costs with an ASHRAE Level II energy audit.

50% $5,000 per facility Up to swgas.com/efficiency CUSTOM REBATES* Business owners may be eligible to receive rebates on the installation of energy saving measures. Please review the rebate application for additional requirements. For a copy $1/ up to 50% of the incremental cost of the rebate application and to learn more, visit swgas.com/efficiency therm *Requires pre-approval or call 1-800-654-2765.

PAGE issue 10 / 2016 ARCHITECTURE LAS VEGAS 31 Tours de force From snazzy mid-mod homes to significant buildings on the Strip, we have a tour to match your architectural passion

Aria Resort & Casino

PAGE ARCHITECTURE LAS VEGAS issue 10 / 2016 32 pool of electric-blue water. The made a cameo in the 1964 Peppermill was featured in Elvis film Viva Las Vegas. It’s THE STRIP Martin Scorsese’s 1995 film listed on the National Register The Las Vegas Strip has Casino. 2985 Las Vegas Blvd. S. of Historic Places. 4617 Las been blown-up and Vegas Blvd. S. remade more often Caesars Palace than Wile E. Coyote, Developer Jay Sarno’s $25 The Mirage but adaptation and million, 700-room Caesars The Mirage is the original constant reinvention Palace established a new era of mack-daddy megaresort. have long been at the hotel-casino decadence when it Designed by Joel Bergman (a core of the city’s famed opened in 1966, using classical Martin Stern Jr. protégé), the resort corridor. statuary, marble-white columns 3,044-room, Polynesian- and toga-outfitted employees to themed hotel and casino set a

establish its Romanesque new Strip standard for luxury Caesars Palace Aria Resort & Casino fantasy theme. The entry is when it opened in 1989. At the Aria is a modernist visual treat marked by a long axis of time, the $630 million Steve inside and out, comprising two fountains, pools and statues, Wynn property was the most counterpoising, crescent-shaped, immortalized by Evel Knievel’s expensive resort ever built, and fritted blue-glass towers that unsuccessful motorcycle jump the first done so with Wall join to form an open center in 1967. Initially, Caesars had a Street money. The hotel towers bound by a podium. Designed dazzling white exterior of are sheathed in gold, while the by super-architect Cesar Pelli, its scalloped blocks and column entrance consists of four acres continuous membrane features pedestals, with a vast, low, of lagoons and lush subtle ridges that create recesses windowless casino and a landscaping, with a 40-foot for added texture and scale. shallow dome over the gaming waterfall and erupting volcano Visitors enter under a faceted pit. Although little of the centerpiece. It’s seductive, canopy into glossy spaces, many original hotel still exists after immediately transporting designed by Peter Marino. At years of additions and remodels, guests visually and emotionally more than six million square it’s still worth a visit to pay into a tropical paradise. 3400 feet, Aria makes a big statement: tribute to this 50-year-old Strip Las Vegas Blvd. S. It’s CityCenter’s largest structure empire. 3570 Las Vegas Blvd. S. and the embodiment of its Westgate Las Vegas Peppermill Fireside Lounge architectural ambition. 3730 Las Little Church Resort & Casino Vegas Blvd. S. of the West Before it was the Westgate, Opened in 1942, this late LVH or Las Vegas Hilton, it was Peppermill Gothic revival-style church, Kirk Kerkorian’s $60 million, Fireside Lounge designed by architect William J. 1,519-room International — The classic Vegas haunt remains Moore, is the Strip’s oldest the largest, most lavish resort of true to its 1970s swagger. It has standing building. The 42-foot- its day when it opened in 1969. only been renovated once in long by 19-foot-wide The tri-wing tower complex

44 years, when the new owners California redwood structure had white marble floors, The Mirage incorporated more muted replicates a pioneer town chandeliers and a 2,000-seat colors, with deep mauves and church with an open-beamed, showroom. The design by blues. This standalone vaulted ceiling, 10 pine pews, architect Martin Stern Jr. took throwback lounge is dark and stained-glass windows and a into account traffic flow and intimate, accented by bands of spire. Moved twice to escape the complex items needed for purple and blue light, with the wrecking ball, the church an aesthetically engaging, fully large tables and deep, plush remains intact. It's hosted functioning campus that couches. Its signature element several weddings of celebrities, became a self-sufficient mini- is a sunken, circular, crushed- including , city. It’s the same playbook in velvet couch encircling a fire Dudley Moore, Zsa Zsa Gabor use today. 3000 Paradise Road

Aria: Christopher Smith; Peppermill: Brent Holmes; Caesars Palace, Westgate, Mirage: courtesy images pit with flames dancing atop a and Richard Gere. It even — Tony Illia

PAGE issue 10 / 2016 ARCHITECTURE LAS VEGAS 33 header space

Guardian Angel Cathedral

PAGE ARCHITECTURE LAS VEGAS issue 10 / 2016 34 La Concha Lobby/Neon Museum MIDCENTURY MODERN

In a parallel Las Vegas, one where the financial boom of the 1990s never took place, this tour would have included the Sands, the Landmark, the original Flamingo, the original Riviera and the original Convention Center. Fortunately, a few midcentury survivors remain, in styles ranging from Googie to Brutalist.

Guardian Angel Cathedral dwellings with patterned block ing was cut into pieces, hoisted with its distinctive boomerang Architect Paul Revere Williams walls, clerestory windows and onto trucks and moved nearly roof, still serving up Moons Over was a busy man throughout trimming the colors of sherbet four miles to the north, where My Hammy — but this Denny’s, the 1950s and ’60s; he de- — you can easily pretend that we it now functions as the Neon a block north of the Stratosphere signed houses for stars such as do. Developed in the early 1960s Museum’s lobby. And if you Tower, is doing just that. Unfor- Frank Sinatra and Lucille Ball, by , with an assist look around the Museum’s tunately, it doesn’t look like much and helped create Los Angeles from gangster/philanthropist Boneyard, hey, whaddya know? from the road — inexplicably, its International Airport’s iconic , was The La Concha’s sign survived, back door faces the road, obscur- Theme Building. That said, home to everyone from Debbie too. 770 Las Vegas Blvd. N. ing its shape — and the interior Guardian Angel Cathedral — Reynolds to Jay Sarno to Juan looks like it’s been remodeled built in 1963 on land donated Garcia Esquivel; today, it’s home Flora Dungan several times. But at least it’s still by then-Desert Inn owner Moe to Generation X types who Humanities Building a diner, which can’t be said for Dalitz — is one of his most wear suits to visit Disneyland. UNLV’s tallest building was Armét & Davis’s 1960 Bob’s spectacular designs: a towering And they’re doing a nice job designed by the firm of Big Boy, a short distance to the A-frame with a zigzag roof keeping up the place. Pawnee (Walter) Zick & (Harris) Sharp north. It’s now A Wedding Chap- and triangular windows. And Drive, south of East and opened in 1972. Prior to el — seriously, that’s its legal name its interior, with seating for that, Zick & Sharp created — with only its softly bowed 1,100 congregants, is every bit as La Concha Lobby/Neon such iconic buildings as the roof and spire sign to tell you impressive: Those windows look Museum Moulin Rouge (1955), The what it was. 1826 Las Vegas Blvd. even larger than they do from The Neon Museum is ground Mint (1957) and the original S., 1431 Las Vegas Blvd. N. the outside, admitting natural zero of the Las Vegas historic Clark County Courthouse — Geoff Carter light through tall, sharp recesses preservation effort: When this city (1961) — every one of which in the ceiling. 302 Cathedral Way throws away its classic neon is now gone. The Dungan signs, this institution saves them. building is one of Zick & Flora Dungan Humanities Paradise Palms And in 2005, it managed to Sharp’s few surviving designs, Las Vegas doesn’t have a fraction save an entire building: Paul and its white-and-copper of the historic preservation Revere Williams’ 1961 lobby for façade has aged well. Be sure protections that Palm Springs the , formerly to steal a look at its cathedral- has in place, but when you located south of the Riviera on like, two-story foyer. 4505 S. drive through this neighborhood Las Vegas Boulevard. The curvi- Maryland Parkway — a wonderland of ranch-style linear, seashell-inspired build- Denny’s/A Wedding Chapel Two classic pieces of 1950s Paradise Palms coffee-shop architecture, designed by the firm of (Louis) Armét & (Eldon) Davis, sit within blocks of each other on a less fashionable stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard. It’s rare to see one of Armét & Da-

Guardian Angel, La Concha: Christopher Smith; Paradise Palms, Brent Holmes, Flora Dungan Humanities: Aaron Mayes/UNLV Photo Services vis’s circa-1958 Denny’s designs,

PAGE issue 10 / 2016 ARCHITECTURE LAS VEGAS 35

Inspire Theater

ADAPTIVE REUSE

The timeworn Emergency Arts truism goes that Vegas implodes its past with the relish adaptive reuse is as much as of a mad bomber, about preserving as altering: This adaptive reuse project by but we deserve more Admirably, Zappos has cleaned historic preservation architects credit than that. This and repaired the exterior, Westlake Reed Leskosky is Downtown tour of adding only a modest neon thematically pitch-perfect: The adaptive reuse projects sign to announce the new former courthouse actually — that is, old buildings tenant. It’s a study in the spirit hosted the infamous Kefauver given fresh, innovative of adaptive reuse: knowing hearings from 1950-1951, a new life — proves that when to leave well enough government inquiry into the our yen for reinvention alone. 400 Stewart Ave. mob. On the outside, the involves more than building’s stately, sober civic explosive charges. INSPIRE THEATER design remains. Inside, historic This project by Bunnyfish Stu- elements — such as the dio seems like a complete trans- courtroom — live next to ZAPPOS formation of the 1952 building innovative, interactive

The modernist wedge, on the southeast corner of Fre- exhibits. 300 Stewart Ave. The Mob Museum designed by Daniel Mann mont and Las Vegas Boulevard, Johnson and Mendenhall, that from a single-story cornershop EMERGENCY ARTS served as City Hall since 1973 to a labyrinthine, three-level bar/ And now for a completely floor, you’ll find a foot spa doesn’t look like it’s changed cafe/theater/speakeasy. But con- different adaptive reuse project. down the hall from a CPA much since Zappos moved sider what lies beneath: The Rather than a wholly down the hall from a web into the building in 2012. original concrete walls and dra- conceived, unified project, design company; on the third Where’s the adaptive reuse? matic bow-truss ceiling remain. Emergency Arts has turned a floor are the El Cortez’ Step inside, where former In its new life, it functions as former J.C. Penney (and, after administrative offices. Its claustrophobic office warrens both an impulse stop (the cafe) that, a medical clinic) into an ad everything-to-everyone have been swept out for and destination (its theater and hoc, patchwork hive of galleries, approach has made Emergency Zappos’ open-office regime. bars), reflecting the diverse ener- shops, offices, services and Arts the nerve center for much (You can book a tour gies of the new Downtown. hangouts. The Beat anchors the of Downtown’s moving and at zapposinsights.com.) But 107 S. Las Vegas Blvd. ground level; on the second shaking. 520 Fremont St. Zappos, John E. Carson: Brent Holmes; Inspire Theater, Emergency Arts: Scott Lien

PAGE ARCHITECTURE LAS VEGAS issue 10 / 2016 36 John E. Carson Hotel JOHN E. CARSON HOTEL interior parking lot has been It’s hard to believe this home to transformed into a surprisingly hot spots such as Carson spacious courtyard. Amid the Kitchen and Bocho Downtown anchor restaurants, small Sushi was once a dive hotel. As businesses and micro-offices re-envisioned by Bunnyfish take up former living spaces. Studio, it’s become a bustling Keeping the original blue-and- electron swarm of urban white color palette maintains activity, encouraged by the building’s tie with pre-hip intelligently restrained Downtown. 24 S. Sixth St. reinvention. For instance, the — Andrew Kiraly Mob Museum: Christopher Smith

PAGE issue 10 / 2016 ARCHITECTURE LAS VEGAS 37 header space

SITE- SPECIFIC How a building uses its The building, with its red from its original location at framed all around by glass setting contributes to its sandstone façade and carved the Desert Inn Country Club panels, is an invitation to success not only as a Indian petroglyphs, is meant to to the corner of Ninth Street come inside and step back in building, but as an evoke the natural landscapes of and Bridger Avenue in 2001. time. 861 E. Bridger Ave. element of the Red Rock or Valley of Fire. And And, man, does it hold that community. Here are six it works on the site because it corner — the former home Greenspun Hall that do it right. uses the site. The building reads of Sands Hotel house One of the ongoing missed as a series of moments and orchestra conductor Antonio opportunities of urban Las places that draw you in: the Morelli is angled at 45 Vegas is the pitiful stretch of Clark County funky pyramid at the corner, degrees, the better to show Maryland Parkway around Government Center the curving green amphitheater off its long and lean Mid- UNLV, between Trop and The Clark County Government framing the building’s main century lines. The desert Flamingo. But UNLV’s Center, completed in 1995, was cylindrical atrium, the office landscaping is light on its feet, Greenspun Hall shows what the first major building in the floors recessed behind two- and the light blue door, that street could be. The Clark County Government Center, Morelli, Desert Living Center: courtesy images wasteland stretch of Downtown story columns. The steady between the Union Pacific train proportions keep the building tracks and Interstate 15. It proved from feeling one-note, and a strong enough anchor to they communicate a sense that attract a hodgepodge of buildings the county is, by and large, a that operate at totally different responsible steward of the people. scales and seem to have no 500 S. Grand Central Parkway relationship to each other. But it’s testament to the coolly dazzling The Morelli House home for the county HQ that Originally built in 1959, the there is a there there now. Morelli House was moved

The Morelli House Greenspun Hall

PAGE ARCHITECTURE LAS VEGAS issue 10 / 2016 38 Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health

Clark County Government Center Desert Living Center

handsome building, which Las Vegas Academy its ochre color and even frame of steel. It is naked in its grab opened in 2008, comes right There are a handful of hold the site, claim the site, to be an icon. It’s guileless up to the edge of Maryland, buildings in Downtown Las own the site in a way that few starchitecture for a guileless and it’s capped by a tall Vegas that use their sites well. other buildings in Las Vegas town, and it works. 888 W. sandstone plinth, on which The Fifth Street School and can match. Yet it fits in Bonneville Ave. the letters UNLV are the Lloyd George Federal perfectly well on just a embossed in an elegant serif Courthouse both play off of portion of an ordinary city Desert Living Center typeface (the sans-serif-y each other across Las Vegas block. It asserts both its own The Desert Living Center, typography around the Boulevard. But the Art Deco strength and the strength of the centerpiece of the Las campus is underwhelming). It Las Vegas Academy, built in the urban grid without Vegas Springs Preserve, gives a moment of powerful 1930, offers a simple object lording it over neighboring which opened in 2008, re- definition and identity to a lesson in the power of buildings. 315 S. Seventh St. conceptualizes the idea of street in need of both. 4505 symmetry to make a site. Go what a site can be in Las Ve- S. Maryland Parkway down there and walk around; Lou Ruvo Center for gas. Too often we think of Ruvo Center, Las Vegas Academy: Brent Holmes Brain Health the desert as something to ’s 2010 building, either transform with lush Las Vegas Academy situated across the street from lawns and palm trees or to the government center, pulls keep at bay with our walls. the opposite trick. Instead of The Living Center welcomes receding off the intersection the desert, plays with it and to establish a graceful embodies the beauty of approach to the building, it working within its con- meets the northeast corner straints. aggressively, flamboyantly 333 S. Valley View Blvd. showing off its curling ribbons — T.R. Witcher

Greenspun Hall

PAGE issue 10 / 2016 ARCHITECTURE LAS VEGAS 39 header space PUBLIC BUILDINGS Public architecture can be tricky — should it opt for a bland cube that signals to taxpayers “efficient use of your dollars here!” (the cop shop on Alta Drive) or should it try, possibly too hard, to convey an uplifting community message (the glassy prosperity gospel of the )? Fortunately for our streetscapes, some public buildings take place-making as one of their duties.

Fire Station 18 landmarks, namely Antoine funnel in light), it’s a glorious Its charms may be relatively Predock’s Las Vegas Library and example of the way public modest, in purely objective the curvy La Concha lobby architecture can create vital terms. But consider the fronting the Neon Museum. community spaces. 9600 W. context. The site: sandwiched But in declining to pull smug, Sahara Ave. between a concrete parking modern rank on the garage and a solar array-slash- ramshackle historical site it Red Rock parking lot on a street full of commemorates, Assemblage Visitors Center strip malls. The expectations: Studio's design turns restraint The spacious main building probably pretty low, into a plus for a public holds few surprises — it considering that it’s a firehouse structure: a lovely building that required no particular genius — most would agree that knows its place. 500 E. to frame the view of Red simple functionality would’ve Washington Ave. Rock in a massive window. But been fine. Now look at the the informational kiosks out building: the stately rising glass, Sahara West Library back? Now those are a lot of the roofline’s playfully stylized Beginning with the 1990 fun. Themed after fire, water, echoes of the surrounding opening of the Las Vegas air and earth, they utilize clever desert mountains. Without Library, the library district visual iconography (swirly trying to be a gaudy statement, embarked on a building spree blue pipes denote air, it does what few enough that’s been called “one of the undulating orange ones for fire) government-issue buildings most far-reaching and and nimble sheltering structures attempt: aesthetically enliven its significant architectural to ease you through the site. 575 E. Flamingo Road programs in the country.” playfully concepted edu- These were architecturally tainment dioramas. Because Mormon Fort sophisticated buildings, too, you’re outdoors, you’re never Visitors Center not mere book shacks. Perhaps not aware of the area’s natural A gem, this one — from the its jewel is the Sahara West grandeur, but these small cantilevered roof jutting out in Library, designed by installations remind you that eager welcome, to its site- Minneapolis-based MSR quality design — in this case, by appropriate scale, to some Design. From its large gestures Tucson-based Line and Space canny material selections that (a spacious entry courtyard) to — can articulate a site to echo the fort’s heritage. It may its small details (the clear improve your experience of it. lack the statement-making plastic rods that pierce the 1000 Scenic Loop Drive bravado of some nearby barrel-like main structure to — Scott Dickensheets Fire station, Sahara West Library : Brent Holmes; Mormon Fort: Scott Lien; Lied Library: Aaron Mayes/UNLV Photo Services

Fire Station 18 Mormon Fort Visitor's Center

Sahara West Library

PAGE ARCHITECTURE LAS VEGAS issue 10 / 2016 40 Lied Library While UNLV’s campus is too much of an architectural patchwork for some — it lacks that idealized, unified “higher-ed” feel — this pastiche approach does create leeway for a big dog like this award- winning campus library, opened in 2001 and designed by Leo A. Daley and Welles Pugsley Architects (now Pugsley. Simpson. Coulter. Architects). Visually, its mass, barrel ceiling and zinc-alloy skin establish it as a campus anchor, and the huge windows looking into the vast interior lend it a becoming lightness and transparency. 4505 S. Maryland Parkway

PAGE issue 10 / 2016 ARCHITECTURE LAS VEGAS 41 60

Yearsin a bright, bright city From its start as a dusty railroad stop to the global tourism destination it is today, Las Vegas has always had design on its mind. Our neon signs, Strip architecture, sleek homes and civic buildings – not to mention our desert’s stark beauty – have attracted countless visitors and residents. In celebration of the AIA Las Vegas Chapter’s 60th anniversary, here are 60 places, people and moments in design and architecture that define our vibrant city. Andrew Kiraly

1956 passers-by. The The Las Vegas Hacienda opened Chapter of the in 1956 with the AIA launches, largest on the with noted Las Strip, in the shape Vegas architect of a Z. Walter F. Zick elected as its first 1958 president. The Stardust Founding hotel opens, member George Vegas' first Tate recalled, 1,000-room hotel. “AIA meetings Fronted by an were interesting enormous, iconic in those days — sign, the box-like usually more hotel structure social than sparks a wave of business." competitive hotel expansion. The swimming pool Before gambling “Welcome to was Vegas' Fabulous Las signature Vegas” sign: attraction, one of Betty Willis’ the city's main iconic 1959 sign draws was the — jaunty, classy pool. Casinos and stylish — were often quickly becomes designed with the emblematic of pool out front to the Vegas vibe. attract parched

PAGE ARCHITECTURE LAS VEGAS issue 10 42 1959 The distinctly Space Age-style Las Vegas Convention Center opens, reinforcing the Vegas aesthetic and marking our big bet on the convention

business. Caesars Palace George Tate

Ocean’s 11 This 1960 film, Morelli Paul Revere treatment in pulsing with Vegas house Williams 1966 to 1973’s verve, raises the Sands Pioneering outsized version city’s cool quotient bandleader African-American at the original architect designs and brings Antonio MGM Grand, such iconic spaces attention to Sin Morelli marking the as the Guardian City style. oversees point where the Angel Cathedral construction porte cochère George Tate (1963) and the La of this ultra- eclipsed the sign The longtime Concha (1961), swank home, as casino's main architect, working notable for their visual attraction. for Zick & Sharp, designed by dramatic, kinetic architect Hugh designed the forms. 1966 original Clark Taylor, in 1959. Reflecting Las Howard Hughes County Courthouse 1964 arrives in Las Vegas’ Seminal New on Bridger Avenue, Vegas, opening among other local preservation Journalist Tom the door for buildings. ethos, it’s Wolfe publishes corporate moved from his famous essay, ownership of Jim McDaniels the Desert Inn “Las Vegas (What?) Paul Revere Williams casinos, igniting a He gave a fledgling Country Club Las Vegas (Can't new era of UNLV much of its Estates to hear you! Too Viva Las Vegas art form, from investment in original look, with Ninth and noisy) Las Elvis’ 1964 film the Aladdin’s casino develop- the original UNLV Bridger Vegas!!!!” in manages to elaborate ment and design. library, the student Avenue in Esquire, marveling celebrate the union and Artemus September at our city's larger- city’s freewheel-

Welcome sign, Caesars Palace: UNLV Special Collections Library, Morelli House: Christopher Smith; Tate, Williams, Zick, Sharp: AIA Las Vegas Ham Hall. 2001. than-life ethos. Zick & Sharp ing spirit in The celebrated wholesome architectural fashion. duo, mostly associated with Jay Sarno the aesthetics Jay Sarno opens of the ’60s, Caesars in 1966, design dozens notable for its of local dedicated theme schools, banks, civic buildings, — a Vegas homes in obsession well mid-mod style, through the ’90s. from Hyde Park Middle The porte cochère School to Vegas has turned UNLV’s the covered Humanities structure into an building. Morelli House

PAGE issue 10 / 2016 ARCHITECTURE LAS VEGAS 43 Paradise Palms

pirate battles — America — the Vegas’ themes only commercial have attracted sign to ever millions of appear on the tourists, and also cover of the made Vegas a publication. place where the concept of place Julio Lucchesi itself is playfully The longtime local questioned. architect led the efforts to Learning from establish a school Las Vegas of architecture at Long dismissed UNLV, which was Sunset Park 1968 as gaudy, the originally housed Purchased by the The Boulevard signage and in the home of J. county in 1967, it Mall opens, architecture of the Kell Houssels, continues to be sparking the Strip received known as one of Las Vegas’ suburbanization studied Houssels House. most popular and of Las Vegas, but consideration by well-designed also making it architects Robert Neon green spaces. the commercial Venturi, Denise Though it was anchor for Scott Brown, and developed in 1910, neighborhoods 1967-68 Steven Izenour in the neon sign The Las Vegas such as Paradise this seminal 1972 came to define Country Club is Palms. book, arguing for Las Vegas’ visual completed. Its look Vegas as the iconography is notable for its Martin Stern birthplace of — useful for its attempt to create a The architect of postmodernism. brightness, of decidedly Vegas Kirk Kerkorian’s course, but also design vernacular International neighborhood in Homer 1972 for its long life, suited for a desert (1969) innovated central Las Vegas Rissman The Stardust sign making it lifestyle. standard reflects many Helping define appears on the attractive and hotel-casino facets of Vegas’ brash, cover of Art in affordable. Paradise Palms: Clay Heximer; Sands: UNLV Special Collections Library; Risman: AIA Las Vegas; : courtesy Resort The Rat Pack features such as Mid-century nowhere-else- In 1960, The Rat the Y-style hotel Modern design. but-here Pack performs a design, later architectural The M Resort three-week run at adopted by the Hugh Taylor aesthetic, the Sands, Mirage, Mandalay An unsung figure Rissman was cementing Vegas Bay, Venetian and in Las Vegas responsible for as coolsville. others. architecture, Circus Circus’ iconic circus- 1968 Taylor came the Fear and Loathing tent design and With Las Vegas closest to in Las Vegas other notable growing, the city establishing a Published in Strip sights, such taps AIA Las Vegas native Vegas 1971, Hunter S. as the riverboat to develop a master design Thompson’s dark, vocabulary. He’s on the Strip’s plan for Downtown, Holiday Casino. cartoonish vision which foresaw a known mostly for of Vegas only green area and his stylish homes adds to our city’s government center. in Paradise strange Palms, the mystique. Paradise Palms Desert Inn Developed in the Estates and Themes 1960s, the Downtown’s Pyramids, Paradise Palms Beverly Green. Parisian streets,

PAGE ARCHITECTURE LAS VEGAS issue 10 / 2016 44 YESCO, founded in 1920 in Ogden, Utah, but heavily associated with Vegas, designs and builds icons from to the Circus Circus clown to classic signage for the Sahara and the Rio.

1980 to educate the The MGM fire public about happens on Nov. adaptive desert 21, 1980, killing living. 87. The tragedy leads to code Summerlin and safety Announced in reforms for all 1988 and still high-occupancy under Tony Marnell buildings in development, the The architect and the U.S. sprawling, developer of master-planned hotels such as The Kiwanis community The Rio and M Water defines the Resort introduces Conservation suburban the design-build Park and Desert experience in practice, allowing Garden Southern properties to save This educational Nevada, from on costs and open park opened in custom sooner. 1980 at Alta and mansions to Valley View, and stucco 1993 was the kernel subdivisions. Marking the start for what would of the Vegas later become the The Mirage boom years with Springs Preserve, Opened in 1989, the implosion of YESCO: UNLV Special Collections Library; Flashlight: Photo Services which continues the upscale the , this casino signals year sees the the modern The M Resort opening of gaming resort, Treasure Island, and marks the the Luxor and the start of a Strip new MGM Grand. building boom that would last 20 years. The Claes Oldenburg Contemporary flashlight Arts Center Installed in Opened in 1989 as 1981, UNLV’s the Contemporary famous Arts Collective, flashlight the UNLV- remains one affiliated gallery of the most and exhibit space long-standing remains on the and revered pieces of vanguard of visual public art in arts in Southern Las Vegas. Nevada.

PAGE issue 10 / 2016 ARCHITECTURE LAS VEGAS 45 2009: CityCenter — designed by a veritable dream team of starchitects — opens, making art and design part of the visitor experience.

AIA National 2012 Convention in Las Terminal 3, Vegas, cementing designed by PGAL our city as a locus LLC, opens at of dialogue about McCarran design and International architecture. Airport. Its sleek but functional 2007 design earns The Fremont East accolades. Entertainment District completes a $5.5 million beautification, aiming to recast Downtown as a

New York-New York place for arts, culture and entertainment. The 1997 2007 With its signature The New AIA Las Vegas Art Moderne York-New York publishes tower, Huntridge opens, bringing “Blueprint for Theater is placed the Strip's love of Nevada,” a guide on the National theming to a new for sustainability Register of peak. adopted by City of Historic places in Las Vegas and City 1993. 1999 of Henderson as a Another boom part of their future Jack Miller Terminal 3 Prominent year that sees the planning. Las Vegas local architect Academy opening of three Jack Miller Stratosphere Converted to an 1994 casinos: The 2010 (founder of Opened in 1996, arts academy in Randy Lavigne Venetian, Paris With an emphasis what would 1993, the Las becomes executive the tower is one Las Vegas and on design and art, later be JMA Vegas Academy director of AIA Las of Vegas’ most . The Cosmopolitan Architecture Studios) dies remains a Vegas, dedicated to high-profile opens in the midst at age 84 on promoting the landmarks, and First Friday of the recession. high-profile March 24, example of architecture and continues to give First Friday starts in 2002, bringing Lou Ruvo Center 1999. He adaptive reuse. architects of Las our skyline a designed broader public for Brain Health Vegas. sense of identity. buildings such awareness to arts, Opened in 2010, as Basic High culture and design the center was School, in the valley. designed by housing at 1995 Designed by Jon Jerde, the Fremont architect Frank Nellis and 2005 Gehry. It draws Downtown’s Street Experience opens; the canopy-covered AIA Las Vegas sets added attention to Centel pedestrian mall and light show transform a a record for the revival of building. significant segment of Downtown. hosting the largest Downtown. New York-New York, CityCenter: MGM Resorts International; Miller: AIA Las Vegas

PAGE ARCHITECTURE LAS VEGAS issue 10 / 2016 46 CityCenter

The Cosmopolitan

The Smith Center SLS

The Smith Center 2012, as a 2016 Opened in 2012, museum exploring AIA Las Vegas the David Vegas’ mobbed-up celebrates 60 years Schwarz-designed past and a as a Chapter of the Smith Center hallmark example American Institute stands as a piece of adaptive reuse. of Architects, of “serious” promoting the architecture 2014 architecture and geared for locals. Formerly the design of Las Sahara, the SLS Vegas, raising Mob Museum opens on the awareness of The former south Strip in quality architecture, courthouse and August, aiming to and promoting post office cash in on classic progressive growth reopens Feb. 14, Vegas allure. in our communities. The Smith Center: courtesy Center; SLS: SLS Las Vegas; The Cosmopolitan: courtesy Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas

PAGE issue 10 / 2016 ARCHITECTURE LAS VEGAS 47 2015 Design awards

Design2015 Awards Presented each year by the Nevada Chapter of the AIA, the AIA Excellence in Design Awards honor and celebrate the state’s best architectural projects. The criteria include not only the quality of the design, but also the project’s sustainability and community impact. The awards aim to elevate the quality of architectural practice by establishing a standard of excellence, and to promote a greater public awareness of the architectural profession and its relevance and value to the lives of everyone.

The jurors for the 2015 awards were: James Trahan, AIA: Principal, 180 Degrees, Phoenix, Ariz. Sarah Semple Brown, AIA: Principal, Semple Brown Design, Denver, Colo. Doug Jackson: Professor of Architecture, Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, Calif.

PAGE ARCHITECTURE LAS VEGAS issue 10 / 2016 48 CITATION AWARD BUILT CATEGORY

PRESENTED TO Hawkins & Associates

For Bancroft Retreat

This cozy home never lets you forget that beauty is all around you. Sited 6,600 feet up in the gorgeous northern Sierra Nevada mountains, Jack Hawkins’ spare, window-filled design makes the most of the view — and a large slider lets the family mingle indoors and outdoors, weather permitting. It works with the landscape, too. Stepping down the hill in a graceful sequence of lines and planes rather than a blunt mass, it “successfully integrates a rustic quality with a Mid-century Modern sensibility,” the juror notes. Plenty of family spaces nestle within the open, exposed-structure interior — three dining areas, for example, from cozy to formal — and the overall aesthetic is spare, yet warm and inviting. Crucially, Hawkins paid extra attention to the family’s autistic triplets, designing the children’s area for special tutoring and play, both inside and out.

PAGE issue 10 / 2016 ARCHITECTURE LAS VEGAS 49 2015 Design awards

CITATION AWARD BUILT CATEGORY

PRESENTED TO Youngblood Architecture Ltd.

For Kaplan Residence

If you’re designing a house that’ll sit face-to-face with a dramatic escarpment of Red Rock Canyon, you know one thing for sure: Order a lot of windows. And so it is that face of the 5,460-square-foot Kaplan residence offers a lot of glass. You also know the house’s eastern side will be blasted by the sun. Thus the distinctive louvered windows on that relatively blank face. But mostly you know you’d better roll with the site’s grandeur rather than try to one-up it with an overly aggressive design. Thus, your entry through the modest east side settles you for the sudden reveal of the landscape when you step into the central atrium. Within, the unfussy living spaces are arranged linearly to maximize the arid beauty from every room. That certainly caught the juror’s eye: “This project is commendable in its formal and material restraint, offering a clearly organized and minimal structure that defers to the majestic landscape to the west.”

PAGE ARCHITECTURE LAS VEGAS issue 10 / 2016 50 MERIT AWARD Built Category

PRESENTED TO J.P. Copoulos Architect / Nichols booth Architects

FOR Bently Farmer’s Bank

Old and new not only coexist but work together well in this renovated Farmer’s Bank building in Minden, Nevada. Architect J.P. Copoulos was able to give his client a thoroughly modern office space without manhandling the old structure. “We felt that its original early 20th-century grandeur was too beautiful to lose completely,” he says. His team adapted some of the bank’s existing features in novel ways — a bank vault became a meeting room, for example — while opening up a large social space downstairs and a second-floor patio that was an instant hit with employees. This century is represented by the solar array on the roof and the 300-foot tubes sunk into the ground that regulate the temperature without an HVAC system. (The building earned LEED Platinum status, rare in a renovation.) The client isn’t the only one impressed: This “admirable renovation,” says the juror, “maintains the stateliness of the existing structure while introducing new spatial and atmospheric qualities that make the building lighter, more open and more sustainable.”

PAGE issue 10 / 2016 ARCHITECTURE LAS VEGAS 51 2015 Design awards

“Balances a dramatic monumentality with an approachable humanism.” That’s the juror’s admiring assessment of J. Windom Kimsey’s design for Chico, California’s North Butte County Courthouse. It also sounds like the right mix of qualities for a building that houses a community’s justice system. The monumentality begins at the top, with the elegant roofline, punctuated by the raised lobby atrium (its shape inspired by nearby buttes), and continues with the raised plinth, grand entry staircase and monumental columns. And the humanism? It’s embodied in the locally sourced materials, sustainability features and soothing natural light: “Its framed window seating, extensive use of natural daylight, use of warm wood paneling and thoughtful interior detailing give the building a human scale.” Can you imagine a better riposte to the stereotypical dreariness of TV-depicted courtrooms than these calming, sun-filled judicial chambers?

PAGE ARCHITECTURE LAS VEGAS issue 10 / 2016 52 HONOR AWARD BUILT CATEGORY

PRESENTED TO J. Windom Kimsey, Tate Snyder Kimsey Architects

For North Butte County Courthouse

PAGE issue 10 / 2016 ARCHITECTURE LAS VEGAS 53 2015 Design awards

HONOR AWARD UNBUILT CATEGORY

PRESENTED TO Gensler of Nevada

For Cashman Battery

CITATION AWARD UNBUILT CATEGORY

PRESENTED TO Pugsley Simpson Coulter Architects

For Bamiyan Valley Cultural Center

Building a cultural center in an area that’s both history-rich and war-torn requires the nimblest of touches. Which is precisely what designers Sean Coulter and Anthony Yue bring to this proposal for a multiuse facility in Afghanistan’s Bamiyan Province. Recognizable to Western ears as the place where the Taliban notoriously destroyed a pair of giant sandstone Buddha sculptures, Bamiyan is now a World Heritage Site. Coulter’s spread-out design — from a descending entryway to an underground tunnel to a main structure and several out-buildings — maximizes the visitor’s engagement with those historical elements through an emphasis on progression. The facility’s main gallery is cut into a hillside, reminiscent of the niches left by the destroyed Buddhas. Natural light abounds. And there are several gabion walls filled with sandstone, which will erode over time, revealing the granite beneath, thus continuing the site’s sense of evolution. Such touches dial back the sense of capital-A architecture to let the site’s attributes take center stage, a point the juror praised: “The project suggests formal, material and temporal means by which the architecture can facilitate a greater consciousness of the landscape.” Mission truly accomplished.

PAGE ARCHITECTURE LAS VEGAS issue 10 / 2016 54 This epic reimagining of Cashman Center thinks big on so many fronts it’s hard to know where to begin. Revolving around a central ring-like structure, Cashman Battery proposes a massive campus — almost 4 million square feet worth — of super-efficient, net-zero buildings. The skin of The Ring, as it’s called, would light up with displays chronicling the campus’ energy usage, making public the kind of structural information usually hidden. There would be office space for technologically innovative businesses, acres of new retail, entertainment, sports and restaurant offerings (drawing brisk new patronage to an often-neglected stretch of town) and, get this, residential buildings, the better to knit the concept into the surrounding community. Says the contest juror, “This project is incredibly broad-based in its scope of consideration, and it offers well-considered propositions on all fronts”; in particular, it’s “exemplary in its demonstration of sustainable building principles at scales ranging from overall planning to material and technological innovations.” And it even manages to save the baseball field.

PAGE ARCHITECTURE LAS VEGAS 55 2015 Design awards

PAGE ARCHITECTURE LAS VEGAS issue 10 / 2016 56 CITATION AWARD BUILT CATEOGRY

Presented to Hawkins & Associates

For Eureka Gymnasium

A rugged hillside in the mining town of Eureka, Nevada may not be the first place you’d look for award-winning architecture. Or the second place, or the 50th. But then Jack Hawkins designed a gymnasium for the local high school, and changed that equation. The site, described as “derelict, almost unbuildable,” turned out to be ideal for a design modeled after a stamp mill, with part of the building dug into the hillside. Energy efficiency is paramount in this project. A perimeter running track around the top lets in almost all of the necessary light during the day, and burying part of the building in the hillside creates a thermal buffer. The use of Douglas fir inside nods to the environment. All of this, by the way, on the budget afforded by a rural school district. “This project stretches the limits of architectural design with a minimal budget,” the juror writes. “The selection of minimal materials creates a durable, easily maintainable facility for the school district.”

PAGE issue 10 / 2016 ARCHITECTURE LAS VEGAS 57 2015 Design awards

CITATION AWARD UNBUILT CATEGORY

Presented to ASSEMBLAGE STUDIO

For FARBER HOUSE

“This project is commendable in the way that it dramatizes the occupants’ relationship to the surrounding landscape,” the juror says of Eric Strain’s clean, modern design for a home in Norwalk, Connecticut, “which it does by multiplying the number of distinct relationships one can have with it.” On top of making the most of the views (wetlands in one direction, Long Island Sound in the other), the Farber house will have a dramatic second-story, green-lined open space that maintains an intimacy with nature; and, to quote the juror, “the dramatic cantilever of the third level extends the occupants’ experiences out toward the distant horizon.” The linear structure and Big Ass Fans (yes, a real brand of fan) would pull ventilation through the structure. The interior, both public (the living room) and private (the bath) will be alive with a muted drama that would pleasantly articulate daily life in the home.

PAGE ARCHITECTURE LAS VEGAS issue 10 / 2016 58 PAGE issue 10 / 2016 ARCHITECTURE LAS VEGAS 59 aia news + notes

2015 AIA Nevada Distinguished Service Awards

Allied Member Award The AIA Nevada Allied Member Award is presented to the Allied Member who has contributed significantly to the profession of architecture through their membership and participation in their local Chapter of the American Institute of Architects. Gary Indiano is an Allied Member with the AIA Northern Nevada Chapter and a representative of Baselite. His sup- port, participation and contributions to the profession and his community are impres- sive. He is a great supporter of philanthrop- ic efforts that benefit the less fortunate and his commitment to technical education is so important to the profession. Gary has a “doing what it takes” attitude, ensuring that Nevada architects are successful in both work and volunteer endeavors. Anna Peltier is a devoted and tal-

ented landscape architect who is a won- bunnyfish studio derful advocate of the AIA, encouraging membership and engagement. Anna is al- ways willing to volunteer for efforts that beautiful profession of which she is so hap- raise awareness of architecture and design py to be a part. The jury was impressed in the community. She has demonstrated with the breadth of community organiza- leadership in sustainability and through the tions she has impacted. She is also a Jason Green Our Planet program that encourag- Pettigrew Scholarship winner. es young minds to understand the relation- Nate Hudson, Assoc. AIA promotes the ship between space and food. AIA to associate members, encouraging membership and participation. Nate is a hudson Associate Member Award skilled teacher and was one of the youngest The AIA Nevada Associate Member Award instructors in the New School of Architec- is presented to the Associate member who ture recognized for its innovative approach has contributed significantly to the profes- to architecture. Nate has a passion for ex- sion of architecture through their mem- panding architectural education opportu- bership and participation in their local nities to youth. His Perioscope project was Chapter of the AIA. included in the 2012 Venice Biennale – a Esther Garcia, Assoc. AIA is strong on very impressive accomplishment. community service. She has worked very hard to find a successful path in the pro- Young Architect Award fession. Esther gives her mind and heart The AIA Nevada Young Architect Award is to better her community and advance the given to the architect who in the first 10 Garcia

PAGE ARCHITECTURE LAS VEGAS issue 10 / 2016 60 years of licensure has shown exceptional of leadership, professionalism and techni- vada Chapter of the American Institute of Ar- leadership in design, education and service cal expertise the Young Architect Award chitects can bestow on an architecture firm. It to the profession. Lance Kirk, AIA is a very represents. She passed the licensing exams is awarded to recognize a firm that has consis- impressive young architect whose quality of in one year and the quality of her work tently produced distinguished architecture and work is outstanding and who has contributed is outstanding. Jenifer is heavily involved has shown a commitment to the AIA and the significantly to the AIA. He supports young in the community through service to the profession of architecture, and has been of ser- AIA, programs for emerging professionals vice to the community it calls home. and high school mentoring. Jeni has made Bunnyfish StudiO is a young firm with an impact, remarkable considering she’s an impressive portfolio of work and an en- only beginning her career in architecture. thusiastic passion for architecture. Their fo- cus has been on adaptive reuse projects and Leadership Award they have designed many projects for Tony The Leadership Award was established to Hsieh and Zappos in reshaping Downtown recognize those persons both inside or Las Vegas. They have a strong commitment outside the architecture profession who to emerging professionals, the community are leaders and whose actions have helped and academia and have already been widely to elevate and improve their communities. recognized through design awards and pub- It is awarded to the individual who has lications. One of the judges put it best: “The shown an exceptional dedication and com- public sees their work and smiles.” mitment to the betterment of their com- munity or who has championed a cause, AIA Nevada Silver Medal issue or idea that has helped to create a For members of AIA Nevada, there is no better community. greater honor than to be awarded the AIA Mercedes De La Garza, AIA has an ex- Nevada Silver Medal. It recognizes a life- ceptional commitment to her specialty of time of distinguished service to the profes- historic preservation and vernacular archi- sion. But sometimes the contributions are tecture. She is a recognized leader, demon- so great that recognition is due even when roberts strating how architects make a difference the recipient is young and is still in the pro- in their communities; not just through ar- cess of contributing a lifetime of achieve- chitecture, but through service, passion and ments. So is the case this year. education. Mercedes has brought to the Eric M. Roberts, AIA has an impressive public’s awareness the importance of his- commitment to the profession and to his toric structures. family. He is a champion for architecture Glenn Nowak, AIA has expanded the and architects. His political voice is a great focus of architectural education at the value to architects in raising the visibility UNLV School of Architecture, identifying of the value of architects and architecture. opportunities to align students’ academic Eric’s accumulation of awards and accolades hudson panars pursuits with paths toward licensure and over the course of his career is very impres- AIA membership. Glenn pushes for great- sive and indicative of why he is awarded the architects to become leaders in their firms er integration of professionals and stu- AIA Nevada 2015 Silver Medal. and community. He is a “citizen architect” dents. He also reaches out to high schools One other impressive accomplishment himself and founded AIA Las Vegas Commit- to promote the option of an architectur- for Eric this year is that he is also the re- tee on the Environment, and co-founded the al education. Our academic institutions cipient of the AIA Nevada Service Award, Nevada chapter of the USGBC. He has an need more people like Glenn to preserve making him the first architect ever to be extraordinary list of achievements, including the future of our profession. awarded both awards in the same year. The being a “green leader.” He has a contagious AIA Nevada Service Award is presented to passion for architecture. Architecture Firm of the Year the individual AIA member who has con- Jenifer Panars, AIA is a driven archi- The AIA Nevada Architecture Firm of the tributed significantly to the profession of tect who embodies all the characteristics Year Award is the highest honor that the Ne- architecture through service to the Institute.

PAGE issue 10 / 2016 ARCHITECTURE LAS VEGAS 61 aia news + notes

Looking back — and ahead

Throughout 2016, AIA Las n through april n July 20 Vegas will be celebrating our 60th An- Art, Architecture Creating a World-Class niversary as a chapter of the American and Design Month City - 1986-2001 Institute of Architects. Our organization Mayor Carolyn Goodman has pro- The building of The Mirage defined the was established on January 6, 1956, and claimed April to be Art, Architecture modern gaming resort and launched for the past 60 years, our members have and Design Month in Las Vegas. This our city into the international arena. been dedicated to upholding the Code of celebration is highlighted by lectures, The population was growing and tour- Ethics and Professional Conduct, elevat- meetings, exhibits and events that are ism was bringing record numbers of ing the profession, raising the quality of designed to engage the community visitors to our city. The highlights of architecture and design and safeguarding and generate a greater understanding this era will be discussed by our panel the health, safety and welfare of the public. and appreciation of the importance of of architects and design professionals Through their vision, their ideas, quality design on all levels in our city. who were changing Las Vegas through their imagination and their dedication, A kick-off celebration reception for their designs. 5:30p, location TBA AIA member architects have transformed the month is being hosted by the Las our once-small desert town of 26,000 Vegas Design Center and AIA Las Ve- n September 21 residents in 1956 into an internation- gas on March 31, 5:30p at the World The Legal Side of Design al tourist destination and a world-class Market Center. This mock trial in a courtroom setting city of more than 2.3 million residents Visit the aialasvegas.org website for will provide a real-life experience and and over 60 million visitors each year. a listing of all the events and activities lessons in how to manage your day in The history of this transformation is fas- and to RSVP. court when it comes to the legal as- cinating and is due in large part to the pects of the architecture and design dynamic growth and development of the n May 25 business. Presented by the law firm of hotels, casinos and entertainment venues “The Sign” 1971-1986 Weil and Drage. 5:30p, location TBA that make up the Las Vegas Strip. The neon sign has long been recog- The City of Las Vegas and Clark nized as the beacon that signals ex- n October 19 County grew and flourished as a direct citement, entertainment and fun. It is “Learn About / Turn About” result of the development of the Las Vegas the accepted icon of Las Vegas. In May, Product Show Strip. As resorts were added and expanded, YESCO Sign Company will host a This annual one-day product show is jobs were created and the population of special reception and tour of their fa- open to the public and all are invited. the valley exploded. The need for housing, cilities and will present the history of It begins with Continuing Education schools, amenities and services followed in YESCO and the importance of “The Classes on a variety of subjects offered step, and the architects went to work cre- Sign” to the Las Vegas Strip. 5:30p. from 8a-3p. Product Show opens at 4p. ating our wonderful communities. RSVPs required. Forty-one exhibitors showcase the lat- In commemorating our 60th Anni- est technology, products and services, versary, AIA Las Vegas will celebrate the n June 6 with complimentary snacks and bever- architectural chronology of the growth 43rd Annual AIA LV golf ages, $3,000 in cash prizes and a variety and transformations of the Strip, and the tournament of door prizes will be given away. Ex- role that AIA architects have played in Get your team together and join us hibitors can also take advantage of the designing this one-of-a-kind community. on the private course at TPC Country opportunity to meet face-to-face with We invite you to join us by attending Club. Register your team (or single firm principals and key decision-makers the meetings, lectures and events that we player) online at aialasvegas.org. $300 during a special lunch networking meet- have planned. You must RSVP online for per player/$1,200 per team. Shotgun ing, a great chance to introduce your each event at aialasvegas.org. start 8a. company or service.

PAGE ARCHITECTURE LAS VEGAS issue 10 / 2016 62 n October 26 “The Fastest Growing City in the Country” - 2001-2016 Jim Murren, Chairman and CEO of MGM Resorts International, will be the special guest speaker for an ex- citing look at the Strip from 2001- 2016. During this period, Las Vegas had 6,000 new residents each month and tourism brought more than 60 million visitors each year. AIA host- ed the National Convention, archi- tects were designing and building six to seven new schools per year, the Blueprint for Nevada was published and CityCenter, the largest con- struction project in the world, was completed. Murren will discuss the lasting impact of this unprecedented period of growth. 5:30p, Aria resort. n November 16 “Visions for the Future” This program will provide a fresh perspective on the AIA and the Strip, Coming up in the October issue with a look at where we are and of Architecture Las Vegas: where we are going. What does the future hold for Las Vegas and for the architects and design professionals n A look ahead at the future who practice here? How can they of architecture in the valley leverage the unique characteristics of Las Vegas to better prepare for that fu- n creating more livable communities ture, and what are the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead? 5:30p, n delicious design: creating great location TBA eating places n December 14 n Considering the future “AIA Las Vegas Holiday of the Strip Celebration & Awards Gala” This end-of-the-year gala will be the n Continuing the celebration final celebration of our 60th Anniver- of design in Southern Nevada sary year, featuring a review of the im- portant highlights of our history and the recognition of the award recipi- ents for the AIA Nevada Excellence In Design and Distinguished Service Awards, which celebrate the best of the architectural profession from all across the state. 5:30p, location TBA

PAGE issue 10 / 2016 ARCHITECTURE LAS VEGAS 63 perspective

greatness by design Architects help make cities. But how can we help make this particular city great?

Great cities have certain things in common making good decisions for our city pays off in the long run — even — things like an active citizenry, an engaged architectural commu- if those decisions seem risky today. Our city needs architects to nity and a signature skyline. Well, we’ve got one out of three. fight the public works bureaucracies and take a stand for people Don’t get me wrong. I love Las Vegas, but for Las Vegas to be- instead of cars. Our city needs to focus on good planning solutions come a truly great city — a city that has a connected and strong now — with our help and guidance. sense of place for all of us who call it home — architects must get We can look as close as Seattle for inspiration. It’s a great architec- more deeply involved in the city-making process. tural city, and has three architects and several planners on its planning To be sure, we do a great job of making buildings. But commission. Or take Denver, which has three architects and three ur- what about making a city? By city-making, I ban planners on its planning board. There’s little wonder that both mean creating a great place that has three crucial places are considered progressive cities with a strong focus on qual- components: context, cultural integration and ity of life and thoughtful design. ease of use. Context means you know where you When I consider both recent local history and current events, I are. Cultural integration means you identify with can confidently say getting involved pays dividends. For instance, I the place and attach meaning to it. And ease of use is sat on the City of Las Vegas Planning Commission from 1997 exactly what it sounds like: It’s inclusive and has no to 2003, and I felt I made a difference. I was chairman barriers to access. when we approved the Fremont East District and What makes architects suited for this tall formed a Downtown design review committee. order of city-making? Well, architects un- I was also chairman during the creation of the derstand better than most people both Centennial Hills Master Plan, where I the social and physical aspects that make worked to keep quality of life a priority in up a great city. We see the big picture as one of the area’s fastest-growing suburbs. more than just a sum of its parts. We’re If you have no taste for politics, there students of great cities and understand are other ways of getting involved. Eric the traits that make those cities great — Strain from Assemblage Studio is a vocal traits such as walkability, open space, a community design advocate and, given the sense of excitement, public places, and opportunity, weighs in honestly and intelli- beautiful skylines. gently on design issues. Windom Kimsey of Tate So why aren’t architects involved in the Snyder Kimsey is doing some great things in Hen- city-making process in Las Vegas? A number of rea- derson, and has put his money where his mouth is by sons. One, we’re too busy. There’s nothing wrong with being developing TSK’s new office on Water Street, providing a catalyst busy in itself — particularly as we’ve been busy struggling with the for other downtown Henderson redevelopment. Actions such as these demands of the recent recession and we’ve needed to use all of our elevate the profile of architects not just as designers of buildings, but as energy to survive. But as the economy recovers, we need to shed ambassadors of design who bring issues such as livability, beauty and the survival mindset and transition to a thrive mindset. We need to function into the ongoing conversation about what our city should be. get involved in community organizations that are focused on build- When I look at the work that local architects produce, I’m ing a better community. We need to sit on local town boards, our impressed by the quality. The work demonstrates that architects care homeowner’s associations, planning commissions, and run for offic- deeply about their work and its impact on the community. So let’s es. We can make a difference. take some of that energy and apply it beyond our particular proj- Politics also puts a damper on our involvement. The solution: ects. Let’s step out of our offices and take on a bigger and more Again, getting involved. Our city needs architects and planners on vital project: designing the community we all live in. our planning commissions, city council and county commission. — craig galati, AIA

We need to make city-making important, and demonstrate that Craig Galati is principal of LGA. Illustration: Scott Lien

PAGE ARCHITECTURE LAS VEGAS issue 10 / 2016 64 jbace.com |

A few of our favorite recent projects...

GRAND BAZAAR SHOPS SLS LAS VEGAS

OMNIA NIGHTCLUB HAKKASAN LAS VEGAS NIGHTCLUB

5155 W PATRICK LANE  LAS VEGAS, NV 89118  702.362.9200

ATLANTA | HO CHI MINH CITY | HONG KONG | IRVINE | LAS VEGAS | LOS ANGELES | MACAU | NEW ORLEANS | PHOENIX | SHANGHAI establiSHed

30 YEARS OF ARCHITECTURE IN LAS VEGAS

SH-ARCHITECTURE.COM LAS VEGAS | SALT LAKE CITY