The Strip

Starred review from February 20, 2017
Al, a Dutch architect and professor of urban design at the University of Pennsylvania, provides a tour of the Las Vegas Strip that is erudite, entertaining, and impossible to conduct in person, given the breakneck pace of demolition, refurbishment, and replacement that has been that city’s only constant. These shifts, Al convincingly argues, aren’t an outlier but rather a physical chronology of the American leisure imagination, from the Wild West to the atomic age to corporate glitz to Disney to the age of “starchitecture.” When cultural trends percolate elsewhere, they are poured into foundations in Vegas. The argument is fascinating both in its larger sweep and in its particulars. Al is a droll observer of culture and design evolution. The city is a story of fripperies constantly being added and altered: Circus Circus, a circus-themed hotel and event venue, made a splash until its owners realized that aerialists were distracting gamblers. Casinos rapidly abandoned the ’90s theme park trend when they learned that families spent far less per capita than visitors without children. Al’s Las Vegas is a story of the American national identity, and once you’ve bought in, this compulsive read won’t lose you a dime. Color photos.

March 1, 2017

This book outlines the architectural trends on Nevada's Las Vegas Strip from 1941 to the present. Dutch architect Al (urban design, Univ. of Pennsylvania; Villages in the City; Mall City) encourages readers to take the structural design of the area seriously, because he believes it echoes American architectural movements found throughout the country. Making a chronological journey of the Strip from its beginnings as a false-front Western town in 1941 to the hot neon lights of the 1960s, the Disneyland-like entertainment of the 1980s, up to the serious architecture of today, Al reviews each era of development, naming key architects, influential artists, and notable exterior themes. The chapters include photographs (historic and contemporary, color and black and white) that document the general and specific architectural elements discussed. VERDICT Those interested in Las Vegas history will find this an enjoyable read. It will also appeal to undergraduate students of American building trends and Las Vegas architecture.--Valerie Nye, Coll. of Santa Fe, NM

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