Las Vegas influenced by Detroit?

**wirt** · March-01-10, 02:52 PM

Here is a new building in Las Vegas that looks a lot like some of the buildings being demolished in Detroit.
[[Attachment 5339

Attachment 5340

Attachment 5341Lou Ruvo Brain Institute, Frank Gehry)

**Jimaz** · March-01-10, 03:37 PM

It reminds me of the experiments determining what effects various drugs have on spiders and their webs.

**Detroitnerd** · March-01-10, 03:56 PM

Best cartoon I ever saw about Frank Gehry had him walking by a Dumpster and saying, "Hmmm. That pile of rubbish gives me an idea."

If there were justice in the world, buildings like the Lafayette would be rehabbed with materials from a demolished Frank Gehry building.

Retroit · March-01-10, 04:10 PM

Is that the Salvador Dali Institute of Architecture?

**d.mcc** · March-01-10, 04:13 PM

Originally Posted by Detroitnerd

Best cartoon I ever saw about Frank Gehry had him walking by a Dumpster and saying, "Hmmm. That pile of rubbish gives me an idea."

If there were justice in the world, buildings like the Lafayette would be rehabbed with materials from a demolished Frank Gehry building.

There was a Simpsons episode where Marge wrote him a letter asking him design a new concert hall for Springfield. He rejected the idea, until he crumpled up the paper and threw it away. The paper was glowing and he says, "Frank Ghery, you're a genius!"

I hate Frank Ghery...

**wirt** · March-01-10, 04:25 PM

It also looks like the images coming out of Chile or Haiti - or even the World Trade Center.

DC48080 · March-01-10, 04:46 PM

That thing is an abomination. It reminds me of the debris pile from 9/11.

**iheartthed** · March-01-10, 05:06 PM

That's why Vegas is broke.

**mikeg19** · March-01-10, 05:12 PM

Originally Posted by DC48080

That thing is an abomination. It reminds me of the debris pile from 9/11.

Thank you for saying that. That kinda shit belongs in Dubai, not a major American city. When they announced that Cadillac Place expansion downtown it reminded me of some crap Gehry threw together in 20 minutes. THANK GOD that monstrosity didn't get built. Why can't they build buildings the way they used to? The Guardian, Penobscot, MCS. THAT is what a building is supposed to look like.

When you crumple up pieces of paper and fashion a building out of it, I don't consider that architecture. I consider that something my 5 year old nephew can come up with.

Dabirch · March-01-10, 05:20 PM

And my 5 year old could come up with this...but he didn't.

**Thruster315** · March-01-10, 05:21 PM

I for one like experimental architecture but some of Gehry's stuff is just not at all that visually appealing. Try something nutty, shoot for the moon, try a new way of thinking, be bold and innovative but I'm just not seeing the appeal of his stuff. I'm sure it must drive contractors insane.

**Thruster315** · March-01-10, 05:23 PM

Originally Posted by mikeg19

I consider that something my 5 year old nephew can come up with.

It's not who came up with it, it's who came up with it first and got it to market. Hell, I'm willing to bet you I use the same #2 pencil as Picasso and couldn't come up with the stuff he did. It also begs the question of - then why didn't you 5 year old make a fortune off of it?

**eno** · March-01-10, 05:41 PM

what a bunch of Philistines.

usu. philistine) a person who is hostile or indifferent to culture and the arts, or who has no understanding of them

**Detroitnerd** · March-01-10, 05:47 PM

Originally Posted by eno

what a bunch of Philistines.

usu. philistine) a person who is hostile or indifferent to culture and the arts, or who has no understanding of them

I call bullshit. Calling people who disagree with you philistines is an old game of brainwashed art-school types too lazy to debate art on its merits.

**eno** · March-01-10, 07:07 PM

"brainwashed art-school types too lazy to debate art on its merits."

I guess that fragment would qualify as hostility. Thank you for defining yourself.

**Patrick** · March-01-10, 07:10 PM

Why can't they build buildings the way they used to?

Most don't know how to design a neo-classical structure ala Kamper. Might be maybe 12 architects in the world who could properly pull it moff today.

**Jimaz** · March-01-10, 07:24 PM

When the building inevitably deteriorates, how would you even know?

Hmm. Maybe that's the plan. Pre-camouflaging for future neglect.

No, wait. This is in Las Vegas. Buildings are temporary there.

**DetroitPlanner** · March-01-10, 08:03 PM

I like deconstructivist architecture. Its eye catching and makes you think, those who view these pieces as being unsettling is axactly what the architect has in mind. The idea is to make someone pause and look at it. Granted it takes a huge ego, but it also takes quite a bit of talent. Its a lot more inspiring than anything built around here lately. Well maybe the Rouge Plant is inspiring, but its hardly a work of art.

Brutalist architecture on the other hand I find ugly.

**lo_to_d** · March-01-10, 08:21 PM

given the fact that none of you could pull something like this off, it's interesting to keep hearing the crumpled paper analogy. And given the fact that people will come from all around the world to see it, Detroit would be so lucky to have a piece of progressive architecture. Better yet, take one of the abandoned buildings slated for demolition and let a proven creative mind renovate progressively. Quicken? Their about the only ones that might be building on that scale in the next few years.

**gnome** · March-01-10, 08:41 PM

sure do hope that Mr. Gehry has his act together since getting sued by MIT for building a leaky sieve,
http://www.macleans.ca/article.jsp?c...17_67230_67230

...tongues are also wagging in Boston, site of another highbrow tiff. In November, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology filed a negligence suit against Gehry [[and a contractor, Skanska USA Building Inc.). Gehry designed the university's Stata Center: a US$300-million series of banana-yellow, white and orange cubes and cones that house MIT's computer science and artificial intelligence labs, and office space. Celebrated as one of the boldest architectural projects of its era, Gehry said its sloping floors and dissonant angles looked as if "a party of drunken robots got together to celebrate." The party's now moved to the courthouse. ...

Of course, the MIT problems weren't quite the same as the overly reflective Disney Concert hall in LA that raised the temp on the surrounding buildings 30 degrees and burned retnas all the way to San Jose.

I like the funky future look, but the idea of dedicating this particular building in LV to Alzheimer care and research seems almost cruel.

**eno** · March-01-10, 10:58 PM

You like Frank Lloyd Wright? His Falling Water, that was built over a stream, is a classic example of his work if not his most well known project. It's also nicknamed Rising Mildew for problems with mold and other structural deficiencies.

**mikeg19** · March-01-10, 11:40 PM

Originally Posted by Thruster315

It's not who came up with it, it's who came up with it first and got it to market. Hell, I'm willing to bet you I use the same #2 pencil as Picasso and couldn't come up with the stuff he did. It also begs the question of - then why didn't you 5 year old make a fortune off of it?

Hey like you said, Gehry came up with it first. Give the guy credit, he did something that a very limited few ever had done and capitalized on it. At the same time I'm just not a fan of deconstructivist architecture. I like art deco buildings.

And as for the crumpled paper analogy, he ACTUALLY does it. I saw a documentary on Gehry in an architectural illustration class and he actually used that technique.

**Gistok** · March-01-10, 11:55 PM

Originally Posted by eno

You like Frank Lloyd Wright? His Falling Water, that was built over a stream, is a classic example of his work if not his most well known project. It's also nicknamed Rising Mildew for problems with mold and other structural deficiencies.

Eno, you pointed out the conundrum in the problems with "innovative" architecture. It often is eye catching and thought provoking... but it is also very expensive to keep maintained. The Sydney Opera House is another example of this. The maintenance on the building to date [[especially the steeply sloping roofs) has been more than the original estimated cost of the building [[which ironically was only 1/10 of its' actual cost!).

One DYES poster once boasted that Gehry's Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao Spain gets 6 million visitors a year. What he forgot to mention was that 5.0+ million of those were visitors on predetermined "packaged bus tours".... who wanted to see the famous Spanish pilgrimage routes [[of the Middle Ages) that had many old cathedral cities along the way [[Leon, Burgos and finally Santiago de Compostela)... and Bilbao was added to the route [[and yes, finally put it on the map).

I'm not against innovative architecture... but the people who are responsible with its' ownership/upkeep often end up with a "Maintenance Nightmare".

Michigan · March-02-10, 12:20 AM

Detroit would do well to add a building like this to its inventory. There is nothing like this within 1000 miles of the CBD, and it would be a tourism generator. Taking Detroit through all the fazes of great architecture. Open your eyes to rhe future or it woll run you over.