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Context 1
... the early resort-makers, Prell and his partners chose to build on land south of the city line at San Francisco Street (today's Sahara Avenue) where they could escape the city's tax on slot ma- chines and its ad valorem tax on property, both of which cut into casino profits. With the city of Las Vegas permanently blocked from annexing the Strip (by a 1949 law that required county approval for any municipal annexation of an unincorporated township), con- struction began on the Sahara Hotel in 1951. For the project, Prell secured the services of noted Los Angeles architect Max Meltzmann and interior designer Ragnar Qvale. Together, they built a resort that departed from the western and Caribbean themes of Hull and Siegel and from the southwestern-spa look of the newly-opened Desert Inn (1950) and Sands (1952). The owners decided upon a clever vari- ation on the Sands oasis theme by adopting a North African desert motif, and nicknamed their new resort, "the jewel in the desert." 3 The Sahara's architecture imitated the standard motel form of the El Rancho and its successors with low-rise motel wings forming a quadrangle around the Olympic-sized pool in the middle. Each room in the two-story structure contained a balcony or patio, which contributed to the Sahara's resort atmosphere. Inside, free-form sof- fits and wood paneling framed the casino's space. Flagstone floors, indoor-outdoor planters, and contemporary lounge chairs and sofas added a touch of elegance to the hotel lobby. The resort's architec- ture, however, did little to convey the African theme. There were no horseshoe arches or geometric patterns gracing the casino facade or Islamic domes on the roof ( fig. 1). In fact, the port cochere and brick pylon sign in front vaguely resembled the Los Angeles modern look of the Sands and Desert Inn entrances, which themselves were an architectural tribute to that city's car culture. The only outdoor indication of the Sahara's motif came in the form of plastic camels and Arab nomads lounging among the palms in front. The scene gave the impression of a caravan resting at an oasis. 4 Inside, designer Ragnar Qvale extended the theme with statues of Arab guards armed with swords standing like sentinels outside the showroom and others lounging within. The names of the resort's big rooms carried the theme further. The Casbar (deliberately mis- spelled) Theatre, and Caravan dining room both fronted the pool and their decor imparted North African images. But the owners broadened the resort's theme to include central Africa, too, when they named their main entertainment theater the Congo Room. Qvale adorned the walls of this venue with murals of African war- riors that resembled the paintings of Indian warriors at the Thunder- bird Hotel down the street. Along with a later snack bar near the pool built in the form of an African straw hut, this was the only effort at creating a central African theme in the resort. In fact, as one architect has commented, the Congo Room's floating ceiling sof- fit with recessed lighting and the proscenium's akimbo angles gave the room a distinctly modern, non-African look. But, mixed themes would be a prevailing feature at the Sahara throughout its history. 5 Within a year, the rising popularity of gambling in Las Vegas encouraged Prell and his associates to expand the resort by adding another hotel wing. A number of external factors spurred the growth of Las Vegas tourism. These included the growth of the serv- ice sector economy with its better-paying white collar jobs linked to a dramatic national increase in college graduations, an unprecedent- ed migration of Americans to the Sunbelt (the southern tier of states from Virginia to California) that comprised Las Vegas' prime cus- tomer base, and a substantial increase in Cold War defense spending that particularly benefited California and other Sunbelt states. These, along with other factors all contributed to the growth of Americans' discretionary income. Never before did families and single adults have so much money left over after basic expenses. This was money that an increasingly affluent society could spend on leisure, and Las Vegas casino operators pursued every dollar of it. 6 All of these events helped boost Las Vegas in the 1950s. They would not only encourage expansion of the Sahara and other hotels, but also the building of such new resorts as the Stardust, Dunes, and Hacienda. At the Sahara, plans were drawn immediately in 1953 for a new low-rise addition just south of Meltzmann's quadrangle. For this, the owners turned to Martin Stern, a young Los Angeles archi- tect whose growing reputation for innovative nightclub and restaur- ant designs brought him to Prell's attention. Stern responded by designing a two-story, E-shaped wing south of Meltzmann's quad- rangle. This was Stern's first project in Las Vegas, but one that would lead to many more. 7 Indeed, Prell turned to Stern again in 1959 to design the hotel's 14-story high-rise. This tower, along with a new, 127-foot, free-standing sign on the Strip (designed by the innovative Young Electric Sign Company) gave the Sahara a distinc- tively modern look as it entered the 1960s ( fig. ...
Context 2
... addition to influential targeting of various senses a constant adjustment of the buildings is carried out. The preliminary examina- tions are brought to completion using a trial and error method in which the actual behavior of the visitors is observed and from which modifications in the design are undertaken. Older hotel casinos like the Dunes, the Sands und the Hacienda are publicly demolished in order to create more space for new buildings. Within the span of several years' renovations take place and extensions like shopping malls, concert halls and leisure parks are built. Casino rooms are successively rebuilt whereby the position of the games tables and slot machines are arranged according to visitor behavior. The Jerde Partnership Inc. architecture office goes over the top of scheduled adaption by conceiving of the Bellagio's conservatory as a room that should be redesigned quarterly. The interior, consisting of garden pavilions, sculptures, plants, lighting, decoration etc., can be 138 according to the momentary taste and expectations of the guests and their need for variety ( fig. 2, ...
