Learning From Las Vegas : The Forgotten Symbolism of Architectural Form
- Robert Venturi, Denise Scott Brown, Steven Izenour -
Robert Venturi, Denise Scott Brown, his wife, and Steven Izenour are American architects that studied the Las Vegas Strip uncovering an abundant meaning of signage. Their book ‘Learning from Las Vegas’ influenced practitioners and thinkers as an innovative experiment as methods of architectural education and learning in postmodernism. Dating way back before the 21st century, there was no one walking the streets of Las Vegas. The strip shows the extravagant signs of well-known places as with isolated hotels and half-empty parking lots. An apparent difference between today’s strip compared to Venturi, Brown, and Izenour was its relationship with cars. In the early ’70s, they described the casino’s surrounded by ‘lakes of parking’ The Guardian (2015, para.14).
With complex programs, ‘complex combinations of media beyond the purer architectural triad of structure, form and light’ Venturi et al. (1972, p.9) are essential as a form of communication. The existence of words and symbols present in space are for commercial persuasion. People are guided by signs displayed along the roads that are distributed equally. These architects argued that a city like Las Vegas was able to communicate messages faster with the intensity and movement of light along the Strip. For example, the ‘Stardust’ sign is ‘communicated at multiple speeds and distances’ Al (2018, para. 7). It is designed to be visible from afar whereas it became a pure communication.
Both content and methodology were different in terms of architectural design including the ‘need for devising new techniques of visual representation for new urban forms’ Stierli (1968, para. 2). Venturi, Brown and Izenour and their research group used a range of visual media such as maps, photography, and film for their urban research. They mounted a camera on the hood of a car to record their drive along the Las Vegas Strip (inspired by Ed Ruscha’s technique).
Robert Venture and Denise Scott Brown (wife) taking a drive along the Las Vegas Strip
Mounting cameras on the hood of the car to record the street view
Also manipulating the media, I used google maps and my camera to document the city through photos and film. Broadway street was something inspiring to record since it had a lot of stuff happening at once. It had universities, mall, and also bars along the street. By strolling down the streets a couple of times, I started by outlining the street view with google maps with lines and filling it in with the visible signage in an A2 draft. I moved along with digital applications to present a clearer representation of different elements. With photos and videos recorded, I focused on the size, font, color, and orientation of signs to make it as similar as aligned on the streets. I used Indesign to draw in layers and categorized it as street lines, bossy signs, names of places, small writings (posters, ads, menus) indicating an updated occurrence. An overall view can be seen as a compact frame that imitates a particular view of the city by understanding the variety of color and unspoken writing. It also shows patterns and tells a story as a form of documentation on social behaviour and urban research. Following Ed Ruscha’s technique that inspired the architects, I included an elevation of the street from both sides by taking pictures and turning it into a collage with Photoshop.
Google maps as reference to drawing lines
A2 draft - drawing and noting down signage
Overall view of Broadway Street
Street lines
Bossy Signs - telling us what to do
Places including restaurant, university, malls, bar
Smaller writings indicating the daily occurrence - what's currently happening on the streets
Elevation of street - view 1
Elevation of street - view 2
Final Work
Documentation Process (photos and film)
Bibliography
Al, S. 2018, How Robert Venturi Helped Turn Las Vegas Into America’s Architecture, ART, Australia, viewed 30 April 2019, <https://www.vice.com/en_au/article/zm548j/how-robert-venturi-helped-turn-las-vegas-into-americas-architecture>.
Korody, N. 2016, Learning from 'Learning from Las Vegas' with Denise Scott Brown, Part I: The Foundation, Archinect Features, viewed 30 April 2019,<https://archinect.com/features/article/149970924/learning-from-learning-from-las-vegas-with-denise-scott-brown-part-i-the-foundation>.
Stierli, M. 1968, Denise Scott Brown and Robert Venturi “Learning from Las Vegas” at the Yale School of Architecture, New Haven CT and Las Vegas NV, USA, viewed 30 April 2019, < https://radical-pedagogies.com/search-cases/a15-las-vegas-yale-school-architecture/>.
The Guardian 2015, Learning from Las Vegas: what the Strip can teach us about urban planning, Australia, viewed 30 April 2019, <https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/feb/09/las-vegas-strip-learning-temple-excess>.
Venturi, R., Brown, D.S. & Izenour,S. 1972, LEARNING FROM LAS VEGAS: THE FORGOTTEN SYMBOLISM OF ARCHITECTURAL FORM, The MIT Press
Cambridge, Massachusetts, and London, England.
