And so it begins. MGM Mirage’s 67-acre, 18 million square foot, $7.8 billion CityCenter, one of the biggest developments in the history of mankind, officially opened today. It includes buildings by Cesar Pelli, Daniel Libeskind, Rafael Viñoly, Helmut Jahn, KPF and Norman Foster. We can’t wait to put together our commentary. Here are some initial thoughts after our first day here:
The Pros:
-It’s a great accomplishment for Las Vegas to finally highlight contemporary architecture instead of theme-based pastiche (Paris, Venice, Luxor, etc. etc) or high end luxury (Bellagio, Wynn, etc). This place doesn’t have a theme, but the closest two are architecture and urbanism. Who knew? Whether they pulled this off is another question.
-There are some architectural gems. All the buildings have their strong points: Jahn’s Veer towers are the most ambitious, with their off-kilter forms, intricate and colorful facades, and tension between lightness and monumentality. Pelli’s Aria, the epicenter of the development, is strongest at night when its facade glows thanks to fantastic lighting that brings out the brightness in the glassy building’s aluminum mesh sunshades. Inside its highlight is the collection of large windows that open to Libeskind’s Crystals, and to natural light. More critique to come..
-The collection of buildings does create a feeling of urbanity, particularly from certain perspectives. For example the view toward the Aria from the entance road, when framed by the rows of buildings on either side, is a powerful moment, particularly at night. In fact like most things in Vegas, everything is better here at night, when more people are activating the place and lights and excitement cover up any flaws.
-Most of the buildings have achieved LEED Gold certification, and many even incorporate natural light and views of the (gasp) outside, a rarity for Las Vegas, where experience is tightly controlled to suck you in and even confuse you into spending money.
-Perhaps the biggest pro is that this thing actually got done in such troubled economic times. A bailout from Infinity World Development Corp, a subsidiary of (we’re not joking here) Dubai World is what gave it the last push when things were looking bleak.
The Cons
-While it’s admirable that the development is seeking to be more urban than the self-contained megastructures of Las Vegas, it’s not really a city center. A diversity of styles and a grouping of self-contained buildings is certainly a start. But there’s very little diversity of uses, little connection to the street (or to the realities of everyday life) and to the rest of Las Vegas, very few pedestrian friendly spaces that aren’t intended to suck out your money, and a chance for a real public plaza in the center of the development has been wasted in favor of a giant traffic circle.
-It’s great that CityCenter went for a diversity of styles, but it would have been nice if they fit together in a more logical way. Right now it’s sort of an architectural petting zoo; a collection of pretty objects with limited relation to one another.
-While the buildings are all solid the architecture for the most part is pretty conservative and not breaking any new ground. There’s only so far that a large public corporation like MGM will go in its taste for experiment. The exception is Jahn’s, which while a formal spectacle (perfect for Vegas!) doesn’t feel gimmicky. Libeskind’s is very edgy as well, but not much different from what we’ve seen him do elsewhere.
Time for us to digest some more and get back to you. But here are some pictures taken by yours truly to enjoy.
