Text 2: Learning From Las Vegas

1. BACHELOR OF SCIENCE (HONOURS) IN ARCHITECTURE
THEORIES OF ARCHITECTURE AND URBANISM
(ARC61303/ARC2224)
SYNOPSIS: REACTION PAPER (MARCH 2017)
Name: ONG EUXUAN ID No.: 0319050
Lecturer: AR. PRINCE FAVIS ISIP Tutorial Time:
Reader/Text Title: Learning From Las Vegas: The
Forgotten Symbolism of Architectural Form”, (1977)
Synopsis No: 2
Author: ROBERT VENTURI
In ‘Learning from Las Vegas’, author Robert Venturi deals with the urban experience that the city’s
commercial strip has resulted. In this case, billboard-filled Las Vegas is compared to modern architecture,
which discourages commercial vernacular, and rejects popular symbols of the era.
Venturi notes that many believed that architecture should be simple with little message, and shunned
upon symbolisms that reflect the past. In the case of Las Vegas, signboards that express pop culture
suggest eye-catching communication. Venturi implies that these bold signs would also typically suggest
persuasion towards the passersby of the strip, attracting them into the commercial sphere of Las Vegas.
He compares Las Vegas to Rome, two cities with countless parallels yet stark contrasts can be seen: On
local fabrics, one is a religious capital and the other an entertainment capital.
The author implies that the maps of Las Vegas show different scales in movement between the main
Fremont Street and the strip. While the Strip offers a systematic order that shows a sequential and
consistent circulation, the buildings and signs are unmanaged and disorganized. Architecturally, the
buildings along the strip are arranged far apart from one another, and these buildings suggest a certain
type of style, with glamorous facades facing visitors, these buildings are typically faceless on their back,
chapels are not form-specific, and motels are heavily covered in neon signs to attract consumers. Venturi
argues that a city like Las Vegas, the imagery of the city is heated by the need to compete with one
another.
The interior spaces shows enclosure, subspaces and intimate scale within the building. The lack of
windows in certain rooms may cause visitors to lose track of the time due to the darkness. Venturi notes
that the casino space of Las Vegas has a large volume, but a low ceiling. Nonetheless, artificial light
source within the space portrays a monumentality of its own. The space is also composed of the
accummulated eclectism of different architectural styles. The iconic sign of Las Vegas is strongly used
for symbolism and persuasion towards customers.
In a nutshell, depite criticisms that the Las Vegas Strip received over the decades, Venturi argued that
the architectural representation are shown beautifully in such a rapid, spacious city. In my opinion, Las
Vegas is everchanging. And eventhough its fast pace causes the architecture of the city to become
obsolete too quick, the symbolism of the City of Lights continues to lie within its layers of architecture.
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