Contextual Architecture
In 2003 my family moved to a house in a newly built part of town in the neighborhood of Lamplight Village. Based on the Lamplight Village painting by Thomas Kinkade, it was beautiful. Not what you would expect from a Las Vegas home, but beautiful nonetheless. The facade of the two story home was light brown horizontal wood siding with big chocolate colored shutters, only for show of course. It had a spacious covered porch, a picturesque window seat and large leafy trees that lined the street every five feet or so. More than half the houses in the gated neighborhood had white picket fences and sprawling emerald lawns with landscaping that mirrored Thomas Kinkade’s paintings. Charming? Yes. Practical for Las Vegas? Absolutely not. And it began to show. The paintings by Thomas Kinkade, though beautiful, are not set in the desert scene, but rather in a lush green climate, perhaps the Northeast or Northwest portions of the United States. The fact that Lamplight Village and it’s siblings, Lamplight Estate, Lamplight Circle and Lamplight Glen, were built in Las Vegas in mirror image of a painting done in what looks to be Oregon shows the frequent issue of aesthetics over efficiency. Not even two years later, the picturesque siding and shutters had warped and discolored to the point of needing near constant repair. The severe lack of insulation made it freezing for the few weeks of winter and a near intolerable hot the remaining months. The manicured lawns and landscaping, with their superfluous use of water, needed constant upkeep and became a unnecessary drain in our drought-ridden valley. The large picture windows, all blasted with southern sunlight, forced the purchase of blackout curtains to prevent the cooling cost to skyrocket and, in turn, with little to no natural light from the heavy curtains, the lighting and energy bill was driven up. Was it built to be beautiful? Yes. Was it made to accommodate this climate? No. It was not efficient for this climate in various ways, from the design of the house itself, to the style and materials of the entire neighborhood. We moved in in 2003, but this pattern of careless design planning continued up until the completion of the final Lamplight neighborhood and still continues around the valley in much similar ways and on a much larger scale within the Vegas valley. This is not an issue of the past, but one ongoing and in need of drastic overhaul. Living in Las Vegas, the purely aesthetic nature of the architecture here is evident. …show more content…
Many designers are familiar with the phrase, “form follows function” but in this city, the built environment of Las Vegas would have you believe the the function and efficiency of the building are playing second fiddle to aesthetics. Our city is know for it’s “iconic” strip, a caricature of actual design. More recently decorated with towering structures wrapped completely in glass, evidently ignorant of our near constant heat, this is just a larger scaled version of the issues we faced living in Lamplight Village. As architecture students, we are taught to be thoughtful of site and just about every project starts with making sure there is a comprehensive knowledge of the location’s surroundings, the climate, and how to make a piece that fits in seamlessly. However, as a city, we have fallen into the unfortunate habit of allowing architecture that is not right for this environment and in turn becomes ineffective towards serving this community. So where does the disconnect lie? If we have a history of constantly tearing down and replacing casinos and hotels, on which our city runs, are they really designed for Las Vegas and built to last? If this city had been built more conscience of the environment in which they sit than on their aesthetics, they would stand a greater chance of lasting longer and operating as intended within Las Vegas. At the start of a project within the University of Nevada, Las Vegas’s School of Architecture there is an extensive amount of research regarding location and context before the actual concept of the building is formed. It is this research that informs how the building should be programmed and work with it’s site. Despite this, the Las Vegas valley is being built
In 2003 my family moved to a house in a newly built part of town in the neighborhood of Lamplight Village. Based on the Lamplight Village painting by Thomas Kinkade, it was beautiful. Not what you would expect from a Las Vegas home, but beautiful nonetheless. The facade of the two story home was light brown horizontal wood siding with big chocolate colored shutters, only for show of course. It had a spacious covered porch, a picturesque window seat and large leafy trees that lined the street every five feet or so. More than half the houses in the gated neighborhood had white picket fences and sprawling emerald lawns with landscaping that mirrored Thomas Kinkade’s paintings. Charming? Yes. Practical for Las Vegas? Absolutely not. And it began to show. The paintings by Thomas Kinkade, though beautiful, are not set in the desert scene, but rather in a lush green climate, perhaps the Northeast or Northwest portions of the United States. The fact that Lamplight Village and it’s siblings, Lamplight Estate, Lamplight Circle and Lamplight Glen, were built in Las Vegas in mirror image of a painting done in what looks to be Oregon shows the frequent issue of aesthetics over efficiency. Not even two years later, the picturesque siding and shutters had warped and discolored to the point of needing near constant repair. The severe lack of insulation made it freezing for the few weeks of winter and a near intolerable hot the remaining months. The manicured lawns and landscaping, with their superfluous use of water, needed constant upkeep and became a unnecessary drain in our drought-ridden valley. The large picture windows, all blasted with southern sunlight, forced the purchase of blackout curtains to prevent the cooling cost to skyrocket and, in turn, with little to no natural light from the heavy curtains, the lighting and energy bill was driven up. Was it built to be beautiful? Yes. Was it made to accommodate this climate? No. It was not efficient for this climate in various ways, from the design of the house itself, to the style and materials of the entire neighborhood. We moved in in 2003, but this pattern of careless design planning continued up until the completion of the final Lamplight neighborhood and still continues around the valley in much similar ways and on a much larger scale within the Vegas valley. This is not an issue of the past, but one ongoing and in need of drastic overhaul. Living in Las Vegas, the purely aesthetic nature of the architecture here is evident. …show more content…
Many designers are familiar with the phrase, “form follows function” but in this city, the built environment of Las Vegas would have you believe the the function and efficiency of the building are playing second fiddle to aesthetics. Our city is know for it’s “iconic” strip, a caricature of actual design. More recently decorated with towering structures wrapped completely in glass, evidently ignorant of our near constant heat, this is just a larger scaled version of the issues we faced living in Lamplight Village. As architecture students, we are taught to be thoughtful of site and just about every project starts with making sure there is a comprehensive knowledge of the location’s surroundings, the climate, and how to make a piece that fits in seamlessly. However, as a city, we have fallen into the unfortunate habit of allowing architecture that is not right for this environment and in turn becomes ineffective towards serving this community. So where does the disconnect lie? If we have a history of constantly tearing down and replacing casinos and hotels, on which our city runs, are they really designed for Las Vegas and built to last? If this city had been built more conscience of the environment in which they sit than on their aesthetics, they would stand a greater chance of lasting longer and operating as intended within Las Vegas. At the start of a project within the University of Nevada, Las Vegas’s School of Architecture there is an extensive amount of research regarding location and context before the actual concept of the building is formed. It is this research that informs how the building should be programmed and work with it’s site. Despite this, the Las Vegas valley is being built