After the previous small presentations on
Monday of what each person had
researched and discovered, I took the opportunity to better refine my previous
transportation boards as seen on the right. I was able to take the major transportation means like bike, bus, and SHIFT, then map them out accordingly allowing an appropriate visual representation of means to access each site.
As we prepare for our journey to Las Vegas this Friday, our boards outlining the basic information surrounding the Downtown area can still be expounded on, specifically addressing the individual sites we are considering and critically analyzing for this studio class. We were able to divide the additional topics and work together to better inform the rest of the class on the following topics, as this is what was learned.
The Victory Hotel
Options
Because the Victory Hotel was one of the first original hotels constructed in the early development of Las Vegas, and as it is the last remaining hotel with its original Mission-Style façade still intact it should be at the very least considered for preservation within each project program. The structure currently remains vacant, but the energy that once encompassed the stucco building can easily be imagined if not reinvented. In order to keep the historic structure five options, as outlined by the Secretary Interior of Standards, could be pursued; these options include reconstruction, preservation, restoration, rehabilitation, and re-location. Depending on the desired effect each individual or team can choose which would be to their liking by which would be most appropriate for their vision of the Victory Hotel.
Charrette
In order to determine the best possible way to address the physical structure of the Victory Hotel, it is beneficial to have an interior program in mind as to describe its potential success. The Las Vegas Department of Planning had a quick charrette practice to get some ideas established with what could be done with the Victory Hotel. Mainly what was suggested was a multi-programmed site that would include a garden, restaurant, bar, museum, lobby, parking, drug store, meeting rooms, micro-apartments, conference hotel, or even a boutique hotel. Ultimately the interior rooms would need to go through major modifications as they are quite small in comparison to today’s standards for room sizes. But overall the study produced some of the very many potential ideas that could create a once again profitable space housed by the Victory Hotel without demolishing it entirely
Veteran’s Village
The complex focused on giving the remarkably large amount of homeless veterans in the Las Vegas area a place to call home. The property owner, Arnie, purchased the former two-story motel with the intention of remodeling the structure’s units into mini-apartments as to provide homeless veterans with a community and home until they can get back on their own feet. It is an intriguing element of the Las Vegas demographics that is so easily overlooked and an opportunity for program design that I have not yet seen in previous studios.
These new additions, and the revisions to previous research boards in the class have added some information that was unknown previously. I will leave excited to see what the big city has in store for our studio, especially to see how the notes, thoughts, and design suggestions will compare to the real thing. Until I see Iowa again, off to Nevada!
-kp