How Being Less Abstract and More Obvious Made Las Vegas The “It” City

While we initially planned our visit to Las Vegas for the iconic Sphere, we made sure to include an extra day for everything else that Sin City would have to offer. Not only is this modern-day Sodom and Gomorrah (phrase borrowed from a gentleman privy to our plans beforehand) one of the biggest attractions the United States holds, it also brings out a kind of hedonism that takes one by surprise. Are cheap replicas of monuments around the world a little too garish? Yes. Is it normal to have massive signs flashing in your face round the clock? No. Is the display of illusory happiness and down-the-rabbit-hole entertainment an evil looking to rob? Absolutely.

But do we still prefer indulging ourselves in the alternate reality of Vegas? Even the high and mighty would have a hard time saying no to that one. The manner in which the city has been designed has proven to be a surprisingly efficient model for human interaction; the Venturis dedicated an entire publication to the more obscure viewpoints often missed by designers and cast off prudently. While they might have attracted attention of all sorts – from some academics for elevating a city known for its unethical practices – they did set apart Vegas from other cities in the way that it operates: it is unapologetically loud, and people want to hear it. The Strip, one of the most famous parts of the city, does not suffer from narrow, winding streets where people struggle to drive through, nor do tourists ever find themselves stuck with wayfinding. The signs and neon lights that make sure Vegas is truly the only city in the world that never sleeps also help visitors locate, congregate, and explore safely. One can walk along the road and mark clearly where it is they want to go.

Vegas also differentiates itself from other places in how it embraces it all. Venturi drew comparisons between Vegas and Disneyland; the existence of worlds within worlds, fantasies within fantasies. You can choose to enter into another realm of your own choosing – even if you do not gamble, you can step into what has been termed as the “Disneyfication” of the city. There is the Luxor Hotel, with its pyramid and the Sphinx, the New York New York Hotel, the Florida replica, the Venetian, the Arc de Triomphe – being from Pakistan, I joked about how Vegas was the Bahria Town of the US. While most Pakistanis do not appreciate the creation of Bahria Town, there are few who would not take on the offer of a house in the residential society.

When I speak of Vegas embracing everything, I do not mean to criticize. In many ways, I think it has a kind of bold courage that is lacking in other places. It is not scared to sin – the existence of Halal restaurants on the Strip, where we found many religiously garbed families enjoying the bright lights, was comical to me. The fact that there were unclothed people on the street and on the large billboards, or showgirls asking for a picture, or illusionists performing tricks for cash, was not something that diminished the allure of the city for them. Quite the opposite; people of all kinds flock to the city because they like seeing it. They enjoy imagining a world that is so removed from their realities, and then getting to experience it. They look forward to going home and talking about the wild things they came across.

The Disneyfication of Vegas, however, has recently taken a backseat to a more modern looking architecture. While hotel culture has always dominated Vegas – you need to have a place to stay if you’re looking to abandon yourself to a serious game of blackjack – it has gone through significantly distinct phases, especially with how the city keeps looking to reinvent itself to keep up with the pace of the world. Hotels such as the Cosmopolitan, the Horseshoe, the Circa Resort, have all attempted to become the Walmart of Vegas life – you have a pool, a casino, a celebrity chef, rooms to envy, and a shiny exterior that catches your eye. It is the epitome of Viva Las Vegas. The city keeps up with the pace of the world. If postmodernism has taken a backseat to the superficially more conservative, then Vegas makes sure it builds on the idea and stacks the needed elements into its structure. In many buildings, the planning of these spaces reaches an efficiency that took me by surprise. Not only is each individual hotel planned to host these varied luxury amenities, it also caters to a large number of crowds at all times. The lights never dim – everything keeps running twenty-four hours a day.

Vegas, from its outset, encouraged a form of automotive architecture. While many movements today discourage planning with cars at the forefront, the massiveness of the USA makes me wonder if a more pedestrianized version would have hindered the sort of accelerated growth that the country has experienced over its comparatively shorter timeline. I do not aim to criticize the walkability ideal, or to glorify the use of a car with the attached environmental baggage, but I find that there exist many nuances in American infrastructure that many people seem to cast off.

Another experimentation that Vegas toyed with was its fascination with the seven deadly sins. You do not go to Vegas to gamble because you are greedy for a chance to win – you find yourself on a poker table with a woman massaging your neck, another fetching you a drink, and one marking your money as she hands out you chips. You have Gordon Ramsay’s restaurant outside, next to which you can witness the dancing fountains. You can walk a few steps and find yourself intimidated by the otherworldly structure of the Sphere, calling you to experience a futuristic, yet somewhat dystopian form of entertainment, a religious way of captivating all of your senses, following the Vegas way. And while I am missing some of the sins that the list originally includes, what really pulls one to this indulgence is the fact that you can partake in all of this at the same time, and nobody bats an eye.

The city lives up to its hype; it is not just another destination travelers tick off their lists. Vegas offers the kind of dopamine that we receive when we constantly attach ourselves to social media – you think you’re getting a solid deal, but once it has slowly sucked out the life from under your eyes, you realize it’s too late and you’ve run out of the resources you started out with. Oh, where did the time go!