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photo: Carol M. Highsmith
Proof that the American public never tires of opulent hotels is the Tuscan-inspired Bellagio. Waters from the “Fountains of Bellagio” stream choreographed to classical music. The building’s lobby features 2,000 hand-blown, Dale Chihuly glass flowers. The hotel also has botanical gardens, a gallery of art, and, of course, acres and acres of casino floor.
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This page contains a single entry from the blog posted on February 5, 2007 5:55 PM.
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Comments (14)
Hey I won 1,700 bucks the last time I stayed there.
Posted by John Q. Public | February 1, 2007 5:12 PM
Posted on February 1, 2007 17:12
How appalling. The Bellagio is a monument to tastelessness and wretched excess. Of course Americans love it. . .
Posted by Nathaniel Martin | February 7, 2007 11:06 AM
Posted on February 7, 2007 11:06
But it's more fun to stand in front of the Belllagio when the fountains are playing than just about any other building on this list. I've never applauded in front of these other buildings.
Posted by Don Zeiter | February 8, 2007 8:30 PM
Posted on February 8, 2007 20:30
How on earth can this be construed as good architecture?! It shouldn't be on the list with the other great buildings on here.
Posted by Matthew D. Emerson | February 9, 2007 8:35 AM
Posted on February 9, 2007 08:35
This is architecture? HAHAHAHAHA.
I will give the hotel credit for helping to redevelope a declining city but it's not worthy of making this list.
Posted by Ryan Whitacre | February 9, 2007 2:27 PM
Posted on February 9, 2007 14:27
How can the Bellagio be in the same company as the other great architecture on this list? I'm not only appalled that this wretched building made the final cut, but who was the dunderhead that put it on the list of 248 in the first place. Was it the building's own architect?
Posted by Gregory M. Richard | February 9, 2007 4:09 PM
Posted on February 9, 2007 16:09
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I am appauled that so many blind people commented about this building with their negative comments.
Posted by Ihor Makuch | February 9, 2007 11:12 PM
Posted on February 9, 2007 23:12
While it's a unabashedly modern building, the classical styling and gentle curve bring a class and subtlety of style to a city that at the time was in desperate need of such commodities. I think it, and the technical details (like the fountains), together more than make it deserving of being on this list. Voted into the top 25 no less!
Anyway, we need more buildings we can all show up and applaud in front of. ;-)
Posted by Max Izod | February 11, 2007 2:19 PM
Posted on February 11, 2007 14:19
Sure, it's ugly, but:
Let's remember what Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown said about Las Vegas.
Also, give the public a break. They did cite Henry Hobson Richardson 6 times, and included 17 buildings from Chicago (including 2 Louis Sullivan classics).
Posted by Douglas Hough | February 11, 2007 8:49 PM
Posted on February 11, 2007 20:49
You've got to be kidding. Vetruvius must be rolling over in his grave.
Posted by Stuart Kurtz | March 1, 2007 7:22 PM
Posted on March 1, 2007 19:22
Actually the outside of the building is not nearly as bad as the Interiors. I happen to like the excesses of Las Vegas, but all I could think of the interiors of the Bellagio was "Frumpy" (except of course for the small smattering of Chihuly Glass Scultures at the entry lobby)
Posted by Gary Smith | March 9, 2007 1:55 PM
Posted on March 9, 2007 13:55
although I think the Bellagio is rather garish now, I think that if Las Vegas can restrain itself from tearing it down, that the building has the potential to "mellow" over time. When I first visited the hotel I thought "I'd like to see this 100 years from now."
Posted by Paul | March 14, 2007 6:55 PM
Posted on March 14, 2007 18:55
Lots of people oooh and aahhh at the fountains in front of Bellagio, yet few discuss the irony of millions of gallons of water being thrown up into the desert sky. It is understandable but very unfortunate that there are few buildings on the top 150 list that speak to environmental design ideals. Unless we figure out how to make designing with climate, culture, and context OOO and AAAHHH the 'society' that pays us to work... more 'Bellagios' simply will not scare people into change.
Posted by From UNLV Architecture Studies Blog | March 23, 2007 2:30 PM
Posted on March 23, 2007 14:30
I am in no way supporting excessive water use, but at least wanted to acknowledge some recycling water measures implemented by MGM...The Treasure Island supposedly reclaims water from shower & sinks in their massive pond. Most casinos, if not all, do not tap into Lake Mead's water supply, but use water from their own aquifiers. In the case of the Bellagio that was built on the old Dunes site and golf course, it is using up a pre-exisitng well. All this said, you still have to wonder when the wells will go dry.
Posted by From UNLV Architecture Studies Blog | March 23, 2007 2:31 PM
Posted on March 23, 2007 14:31