LAS VEGAS

DATABASE/INTERFACE

MATTHEW J MCGRANE

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This book is a compilation of a series of individual inquiries delving into Las

Vegas, but does not provide specific answers to the problems or successes

related to how the city has grown itself. While the introduction of the automobile

has led to a Las Vegas-ization of many cities, there is no doubt that this method

of creating viable, sustainable spaces of authenticity, as well as in building

neighborhoods that have a sense of place and context, has not been successful.

However, the point here is to uncover the experiential spirit of Vegas. There are

many explorations that involve experience, context, social intercourse, historical

context and what it means to address these issues. Although full resolution is not

the intention of this book, it is meant to stimulate the reader to respond in physical

project form, as a method of continuing dialogue.

Matthew McGrane, author

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 1 OPENING REMARKS

2 RHINO MODEL EXPERIMENT

TABLE OF CONTENTS 3 PRECEDENT STUDY

4 FILM STORYBOARD

5 FILM: SHIFT

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Las Vegas is a city that is almost as un-city like as one could imagine. It is built upon

fantasies and images of seduction and escapism. It has always been an anomaly,

first as an oasis-like valley in the desert, and today as a glowing network of lights and

spaces that fill the dark night sky. It was a stop-off point for travellers to the West Coast

region, some of whom stayed. Casino-style gambling became legal in the state in

the early 1900s, the first state to legalize such a vice, before it was outlawed in 1910.

OPENING REMARKS Underground speakeasy gambling was quickly established and flourished until 1931,

when the ban was lifted.

The casino building boom began in the late 1940s along a two-lane highway strip that is

today’s Las Vegas Boulevard, accelerating through the 1950s. Entertainment followed

closely, with celebrity acts lining up for a chance to perform at the glittering showrooms,

creating personalities that are deeply entrenched into the Las Vegas mystique.

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However, it is the mega-resort that is the building type and experience that most tourists

to the city flock to experience. Beginning with the construction of Circus Circus in the

late 1960s, these resorts specialize in amusements, water features, restaurants, spas, art

museums, celebrity acts, and beyond. They are the cruise ships of Las Vegas, monsters

that are sailing through the inhospitable waters of the desert sands and carrying

thousands of passengers who are not there to see the ocean (or the desert or the town,

in this case), but to get away from it all.

For this very reason, it is its own place fully detached from its context and from the town

itself, while the town is almost fully dependent on the revenue generated from it. One

might say that’s exactly what the strip actually is: a giant generator that powers the

city. In spite of its detachment from being a real place, its notions have saturated the

American culture.

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ADOPTING THE 1960s-ERA LANDMARK

“STARDUST” CASINO SIGNAGE, THIS FORM

BEGAN BY TRACING THE LETTERS AND

CONNECTING THEM TO THE SAME STAR SHAPE

TO CREATE A FOLDED VOLUME. THIS VOLUME

WAS THEN MANIPULATED AND STRETCHED,

RHINO MODEL EXPERIMENT THEN MIRRORED ON ITSELF TO FORM A

MODULE. THIS MODULE WAS REPEATED AT

RANDOM TO FORM AN INTERLOCKING

STRUCTURE--ONE WHOSE SHAPES ARE

REMINISCENT OF NEW LETTERS

ATTEMPTING TO SPELL SOMETHING NOT

FULLY COMPREHENSIBLE

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THIS MODULE WAS REPEATED AT
RANDOM TO FORM AN INTERLOCKIN
STRUCTURE--ONE WHOSE SHAPES
ARE REMINISCENT OF NEW LETTERS
ATTEMPTING TO SPELL SOMETHING
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THIS MODULE WAS REPEATED AT RA
TO FORM AN INTERLOCKING STRUCT
-ONE WHOSE SHAPES ARE REMINIS
OF NEW LETTERS ATTEMPTING TO S
SOMETHING NOT FULLY COMPREHEN
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AS A CITY LADEN WITH IMAGE, LAS VEGAS IS A QUINTESSENTIAL

MANUFACTURER OF DESIRE AND CONTROLLED EXPERIENCE.

THE PAMPHLET AND THE BROCHURE ARE MINIATURIZATIONS OF

A MARKETING SCHEME THAT BLANKETS THE VENUES, THE CITY,

AND THE COUNTRY ITSELF. IN A CITY THAT IS BUILT UPON SCALE-

BUSTING EXPERIENCES, THE INTIMACY OF THE BROCHURE IS

PRECEDENT STUDY COMPELLING.

THE BROCHURE AND THE PAMPHLET ARE AN EXTREMELY

PERVASIVE COMPONENT OF THE LAS VEGAS EXPERIENCE,

LITERALLY PAVING THE STREETS AS DISCARDED OBJECTS. BUT

THOSE OBJECTS ARE EMBEDDED WITH A SPECIFIC NOTION OF

TIME AND PLACE, AND COULD EASILY BECOME OBJECTS OF

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OF REVERENCE FOR VISITORS TO THE CITY--A SOUVENIR.

WHAT WAS ONCE CONSIDERED DISPOSABLE COULD

BECOME VENERATED.

THE IDEA OF LAS VEGAS AS A PLACE OF CONFUSED IDENTITIES

AND LAYERED PERSONAL EXPERIENCES MANIFESTS ITSELF

IN AN OBJECT OF FRACTURED IMAGES CONNECTING AND

TRANSFORMING AS THEY MOVE THROUGH SPACE.

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BUT THOSE OBJECTS ARE EMBEDDE
WITH A SPECIFIC NOTION OF TIME A
PLACE, AND COULD EASILY BECOME
OBJECTS OF REVERENCE FOR VISITO
TO THE CITY--A SOUVENIR. WHAT W
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SE OBJECTS ARE EMBEDDED WITH A
ION OF TIME AND PLACE, AND COULD
COME OBJECTS OF REVERENCE FOR
HE CITY--A SOUVENIR. WHAT WAS
ED DISPOSABLE COULD BECOME VEN
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THESE PANELS WERE GENERATED FOR A SHORT FILM

ABOUT PERSONAL INFRASTRUCTURE. RETURNING

ONCE AGAIN TO THE CONCEPT OF THE BROCURE,

THIS COLLECTION OF PLATES UTILIZES THE DISCARDED

PAHMPHLETS OF LAS VEGAS TO FORM A BACKDROP

TO A STORY. MOVING ACROSS SEVERAL SCALES, THE

FILM STORYBOARD FILM WAS INTENDED TO SHIFT FROM THE SWEEPING

IMAGE OF LAS VEGAS FROM A DISTANCE BEFORE

MOVING INTO LAS VEGAS AS A DISCARDED IMAGE

ON A SIDEWALK. THE POINT OF THE FILM BEING

INFRASTRUCTURE, THE SPLIT-SCREEN IMAGING

SEQUENCE WAS INTENDED TO EMPHASIZE THE ROLE OF

THESE OBJECTS IN SHAPING THE CITY.

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35
MOVING ACROSS SEVERAL SCALE
FILM WAS INTENDED TO SHIFT F
THE SWEEPING IMAGE OF LAS VE
FROM A DISTANCE BEFORE MOVI
LAS VEGAS AS A DISCARDED IMA
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 G ACROSS SEVERAL SCALES, THE
WAS INTENDED TO SHIFT FROM
WEEPING IMAGE OF LAS VEGAS
A DISTANCE BEFORE MOVING INTO
EGAS AS A DISCARDED IMAGE ON A
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MOVING ACROSS SEVERAL SCALES,
FILM WAS INTENDED TO SHIFT FRO
THE SWEEPING IMAGE OF LAS VEGA
FROM A DISTANCE BEFORE MOVING
LAS VEGAS AS A DISCARDED IMAGE
IMA
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 ACROSS SEVERAL SCALES, THE
S INTENDED TO SHIFT FROM
EEPING IMAGE OF LAS VEGAS
DISTANCE BEFORE MOVING INTO
AS AS A DISCARDED IMAGE ON A
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THE FINAL PROCESS OF CREATING A STORYBOARD WAS

TO CREATE A FILM, EVENTUALLY ENTITLED “SHIFT”. THE

SHIFT CONCEPT RELATED DIRECTLY TO THE IDEA THAT

LAS VEGAS HAS BECOME A PLACE OF STALLED IDEAS

AND STALLED PROJECTS, RESULTING IN HUGE PROPERTY

VACANCY RATES AND ABANDONED SKELETONS. WHILE

FILM: SHIFT NOT PROVIDING ANY SPECIFIC ANSWERS, THE FILM RUBS

THE CONCEPT OF THE CITY’S PAST WITH ITS FUTURE, IN THE

THE FORM OF A SPLIT SCREEN SHOWING A COMPONENT

OF ITS INFRASTRUCTURE ON ONE HALF, WITH AN IMAGE OF

STALLED DEVELOPMENT ON THE OTHER. HOW WILL THESE

TWO IMAGE ISSUES EVER RESOLVE THEMSELVES INTO A

COMPLETED WHOLE?

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author:

MATTHEW MCGRANE

mjmcgrane@gmail.com

www.spatialrealms.blogspot.com

MASTER OF INTERIOR DESIGN PROGRAM

HARRINGTON COLLEGE OF DESIGN

SPRING 2010

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 LAS VEGAS
DATABASE/INTERFACE

MATTHEW J MCGRANE

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