Full disclosure: I’ve never really been to Las Vegas.
I say “really” because I did pass through it as a kid. But I’ve never been during a time in my life when I could actually remember it and, to be honest, I’ve never had a huge desire. Though, I was interested in the work that Tony Hsieh was doing in downtown Vegas. And I have had people try to tempt me with the lure of good electronic music (and by good I mean not EDM).
Then all of a sudden, Refik Anadol revealed this enormous sphere that shows happy faces. And now I really want to go to Vegas. So at some point, I will endeavor to do that. But the other thought that came to mind when I first learned about the sphere was “this seems to be working, which means other cities will likely copy it and want their own version of Vegas’ sphere.”
This is, of course, an understandable desire. And today I learned that Los Angeles is working on a “tiny Las Vegas sphere replica” for Sunset Boulevard. Despite being “tiny”, I’m sure it’ll be pretty cool too. But in the end, who wants to be a replica? The aim should never be to recreate some version of what another city has already done (see “Two very different beans“).
The aim should be to create something new and truly remarkable. And Las Vegas did exactly that with its sphere. So much so that, one day, I may actually visit the place.
BRANDON DONNELLY 
2 Comments:
1. I once stopped in Las Vegas during a road trip across America and it’s a concentrate of the worst that America has to offer. Bling and extreme commercialism. It’s a city designed to separate you from your hard-earned cash. Not for me. It’s crass.
2. You’re right on the money. Once a city has done something unique (Eiffel tower, Sydney opera house, the bean, etc.) the last thing other cities should want to do is to get their own version of it. Just come up with something else equally unique, but that’s the hard part, so shortcuts are often taken.
Bonus comment: Like you, experiencing the sphere is actually one of the few reasons I would consider going back because it seems like it has so much potential to create unique experiences. Paradoxically, Vegas has built its reputation on facsimiles of other cities (Paris, Venice) and now seems to have grown up enough to do something it can claim for itself.
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I’ve lived in Vegas and fell in love with it. Aside from the incredible beauty of the Mojave, the city is a very unique urban experiment. They have copied many things (New York, Paris, London, Venice, etc) but it’s perfectly honest about being dishonest. To say it’s crass is just a lack of understanding, I think. What developers, entrepreneurs, and artists in Vegas have done is actually pretty sophisticated. As a result, it has attracted (and will continue to attract, IMHO) people who want to do and build outrageous things that you probably couldn’t get away with elsewhere. In a world of cities that balk at the idea of building even the least offensive buildings, and in a world of architecture that’s dishonest about being dishonest, Vegas is a rare outlier and deserves more credit than it gets. Brightline will likely complete the high-speed rail connection to LA this decade and I don’t think the Sphere is the last fascinating project we will see built in Vegas. An aside- would love to get a peak at MSG’s pro forma on this one! How do you value art?
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