LEARNING FROM LAS VEGAS , and Steven IZENOUR

Robert VENTURI Born June 25, 1925 in , PA Received M.F.A. at Princeton in 1950 Founded his firm in 1960 Awarded Pritzker Prize in Architecture in 1991

Denise SCOTT BROWN Born October 3, 1931 in Nkana, Norther Rhodesia Received degree at Architectural Association School of Architecture in 1955 Married Venturi in 1967 and joined his firm in 1969

Steven IZENOUR Born July 16,1940 in New Haven, CT (died August 21, 2001) Received master’s in architecture from Principle at Venturi Scott Brown and Associates

SYMBOLISM, SIGNS, AND SCALE

SYMBOLISM With Regards to Modernism: Modern architecture is dissatisfied with existing conditions Preferred to change the existing environment rather than enhance what is there Abandoned a tradition of iconology in which painting, sculpture and graphics were combined with architecture Learning from the existing landscape is a way of being revolutionary. We look backward at history and tradition to go forward. Creating the new may mean choosing the old or the existing. Pop artists have relearned this Acknowledgment of existing, commercial architecture at the scale of the highway is within this tradtition Caesars Palace is a combination of styles The front colonnade is San Pietro-Bernini in plan but Yamasaki in vocabulary and scale Blue and gold mosaic work is Early Christian tomb of Galla Placidia Five fountains in the “Piazza San Pietro” rather than two, Villa d’Este cypresses, statues of Venus and David and an Avis rent a car are all examples of the landscapes eclecticism The agglomeration of Caesars Palace and of the Strip as a whole approaches the spirit if not the style of the late Roman Foram with its eclectic accumulations The Strip shows the value of symbolism and allusion in an architecture of vast space and speed proves that people have fun with architecture that reminds them of something else

SIGNS The architecture of styles and signs is antispatial; it is an architecture of communication over space at the scale of the highway. Styles and signs make connections among many elements, far apart and seen fast In complex systems and programs, we rely on signs for guidance They make verbal and symbolic connections through space, communicating a complexity of meanings through hundreds of associations in few seconds from far away Symbol dominates space Because the spatial relationships are made by symbols more than by forms, architecture in this landscape becomes symbol in space rather than fro min space. At this scale, the sign is more important than the architecture The sign at the front is extravagant; the building at the back is a modest necessity Sometimes the building is the sign (the duck store in the shape of a duck, called “The Long Island Duckling”

SCALE Fremont Street is at the pedestrian scale Casinos/hotels have an immediacy to the street Casinos/hotels are close together Axis connects where the train depot used to be and the bus stop The Strip is at the scale of the highway Dictated by the speed of the car Hotel/Casinos are spread out which allows them to be comprehended at higher speeds A single photo of Fremont Street contains much more than a photo of the Strip Its enormous spaces must be scene as moving sequences Stepped bad from the road and have parking up front Side elevation is important because it is seen from further and longer by oncoming traffic Extravagant signage changes scale Important information larger to be noticed first and at the far away scale Secondary information smaller and at the close up scale