On first seeing Las Vegas in 1965, I felt a shiver. Was it hate or love? The sprawling city, its polychrome signs etched against desert and so-blue sky, engendered both emotions. And the Strip, apotheosis of neon, archetype of suburban commerce, cried out to be studied. So in 1968, we launched our Learning from Las Vegas studio at Yale University [published in 1972 as Learning from Las Vegas, by Robert Venturi, Denise Scott Brown, and Steven Izenour].
In 1997, when we revisited the city, Steven Wynn, the Las Vegas casino and resort developer, was removing neon, replacing signs with scenography, altering the balance between cars and transit, and converting parking forecourts into pedestrian parterres. Change was probably needed to help Las Vegas grow beyond a single industry, but ousting its signage gutted the city’s communication system, obliterated much of its history, and sapped its vitality. The new Las Vegas had little to teach us. We left feeling depressed.
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