THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE STRIP OF LAS VEGAS

The architecture of the Strip of Las Vegas

The architecture of the Strip of Las Vegas

Introduction

The considerable difficulty of managing this unwieldy structure of distributed expertise, and controlling its costs, is what finally renders Las Vegas themed architecture the less well executed counterpart to anything designed and built by Disney Imagineering. A definite disjunction in Las Vegas design is the fact that the success of a corporate entertainment superstore is measured by its profitability alone, while the execution of the theme design that serves that profit motive is measured by its overall, physical seamlessness (Illia 2005). The two measures are not directly tied to each other. In fact, the seamlessness of the theme design can diminish considerably, without having a demonstrative effect on the superstore's profitability. Therefore, the interesting question to ask is: What degree of themed seamlessness did Circus Circus the client determine it would need to produce the Monte Carlo as a profitable resort?

As this account of its construction reveals, the answer became apparent to Circus Circus— and was controlled by them—only as the design and construction process unfolded. Designers and the Circus Circus Managers No single individual among the Monte Carlo managers (casino, hotel, retail, food and beverage, entertainment, VIP services, pool and spa, or general manager) could be considered to have the greatest or most pivotal effect on the facility's design. Within each manager's domain, discipline-specific new research and previously successful planning models influence the overall plan (Broverman 2008). The managers—experts in their own fields as well as holders of MBAs—work with an individual designer from Dougall Design, who develops full-colour renderings, historical reference material, and the design intent drawings specific to each area. Each manager's area must work well for itself and within the larger whole. Dougall Design mainly contributes to this on formal terms.

Discussion

The designers are concerned that each space be modelled on a variation of the overarching belle époque theme. However coherently these variations on the theme come together, the design still only amounts to a small portion of the expertise that goes into the successful corporate entertainment superstore plan (Reid 2010). Each space must also work within the construction schedule and budget controlled by the Circus Circus Construction Department. The designers are not responsible for the facility's overall functional coherence. They contribute ideas to a planning process that the Circus Circus managers and Construction Department ultimately control. A unique way the Monte Carlo planning process was controlled was through offers of radically increased pay checks made to many people with project management experience in the general contractor's (MJ Dean Construction), the architect's (Gaskin & Bezanski Architects and Engineers), the designer's (Dougall Design), and various consultants' offices. Many were lured away to manage construction from the client's point-of-view while the Monte Carlo was still being built. Thus Circus Circus created the in-house Circus Circus Construction Department during this time, placed under the direction of vice president and construction expert Bill ...