120 Vegas February 2008

THEATRICALSPACES

MEET THE MOGULS

rchitect David Rockwell’s first project in Las Vegas wasfor visionary Steve Wynn; the colorful Samba Grill still

stands as a Brazilian-themed eatery at the Mirage.Since then, his 200-person Rockwell Group has

designed Nobu (Hard Rock Hotel & Casino), Emer-il’s (MGM Grand), Mesa Grill (Caesars Palace),

Cherry (Red Rock Casino Resort Spa), StripHouse (Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino) and

the chandelier for Phantom—The Las VegasSpectacular (The Venetian). David’s vibrant

and quirky stamp will next be seen onspaces such as Payard Patisserie & Bistro

(Caesars Palace), Dos Caminos (ThePalazzo), Simon at Palms Place, BLT

Burger (Mirage) and the Crystals at CityCenter, its retail-entertainment compo-nent, a task he shares with famed architect Daniel Libeskind. (Cesar Pelli and Hel-mut Jahn are also involved with the impressive 76-acre CityCenter complex.) Withhis extensive knowledge of Las Vegas, Rockwell hopes to fashion the “connectivetissue” of CityCenter into a stage where raw elements and bold features (think amodern tree house) inspire people to eat, shop and truly interact.

It’s no surprise that David is drawing on his theater background for theCrystals. After all, Rockwell was immersed in the arts almost from infancy. Hismother was a vaudeville performer and choreographer who often cast her sonin roles in community theater. Although he gave up acting for an architecturedegree at Syracuse University in New York State, his love of the stage has onlyincreased and serves as his underlying muse. He has constructed sets for Broad-way musicals such as Hairspray, Legally Blonde and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.Overall, his work has a cinematic quality to it with elements of light, choreogra-phy and whimsy. While he is renowned for his commissions for staples such asNobu, W Hotels, Rosa Mexicano, the Kodak Theatre and the upcoming TrumpSoHo, Rockwell is also enamored with the notion of public spaces and city life. InLas Vegas, he has the opportunity to explore and mold all his creative urges.

VVEEGGAASS:: DDeessccrriibbee tthhee CCrryyssttaallss pprroojjeecctt yyoouu aarree ddeessiiggnniinngg aatt CCiittyyCCeenntteerr..DDAAVVIIDD RROOCCKKWWEELLLL: We’ve created this natural and electronic landscape. It’s anabstracted 21st-century park with many wonderful live elements. There’s a big wel-coming carpet of flowers that changes seasonally and sweeps through the project.

With new projects including Payard and CityCenter, David Rockwell draws on his love for the stage to inspire how people eat, shop and interact

BY JACQUELYNN D. POWERS PORTRAIT BY JONATHAN LEVINE

AArchitect David Rockwell finds a greaterwillingness to experiment in Las Vegas.“There is an invitation to really createplaces that amaze people,” he says.

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There’s a three-story wood structure that’s a series of simple horizontal slabs thatcreate a form that works like a tree house, but in a modern vocabulary. It’s anabstract, graceful wood structure. We are also doing the grand stair, which is a bigflowing stair that goes up 24 feet. It’s our nod to the Spanish Steps in Rome. It willoverlook the amazing spectacle of people having fun. Vegas is full of people, and weare creating theatrical spaces. One of the attractions of Vegas is the amazing conflu-ence of people and the drama of public theater. So much of what I’m interested inwith design is the power of live experiences and shared space. Vegas is the ultimateexample of this in a world where people are so into on-line communities. WWhhaatt mmaatteerriiaallss aarree yyoouu uussiinngg?? We are using natural materials that will feel good to the touch, so that itengages all of the senses. We are using every possible wood: epay, mahoganyand maple. We are using agate, which is pieces of crystal cut in slices that we’rebacklighting. We have these columns that go from the floor to the ceiling thathave a trellis above with beautiful hanging plants. It’s like being in an updatedidea of a gazebo. Vegas has gone from a place where people didn’t want you toknow what time of day it was—or what season it was—to a place that really cel-ebrates the time and the season.

CCiittyyCCeenntteerr iiss aa ccoollllaabboorraattiioonn wwiitthh ootthheerr ffaammoouuss aarrcchhiitteeccttss.. IIss tthheerree aa sseennssee ooffccoohheessiioonn??There’s a sense of the same kind of dynamic transitions you get in New York City.MGM has put a sense of collaboration into place. They got all of the architects towork together to kick off the project. Everyone wasn’t working in their ownworld. They were collaborating on a shared vision, and then everyone devel-oped their own piece. YYoouu hhaavvee jjuusstt ffiinniisshheedd ddeessiiggnniinngg PPaayyaarrdd PPaattiisssseerriiee && BBiissttrroo aatt CCaaeessaarrss PPaallaaccee.. WWhhaattwwaass tthhaatt lliikkee??We wanted François Payard’s food to be center stage. There’s an open, filigree, deep-chocolate-covered structure that you just move through. You are seduced into theplace. The main dining room has a dramatic, circular expo kitchen in the center withthis spectacular animated structure that uses real chocolate.LLiikkee CChhaarrlliiee aanndd tthhee CChhooccoollaattee FFaaccttoorryy??It’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory if he were French and had great taste.HHooww mmuucchh ddiidd yyoouu ccoollllaabboorraattee wwiitthh PPaayyaarrdd??François is a very involved client. We even developed custom plaster based on hiscreamed butter. It’s a wonderful, creamy plaster. The light fixtures are inspired by

A rendering of Rockwell’s organic shopping complex at CityCenter.

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some of the tools he uses to cook with. As someone who loves theater and does oneor two Broadway shows a year as a set designer, when we do a restaurant like Payardor a project like CityCenter, we try to develop the script from the client. You don’t geta written script like you do when you do Hairspray. The personality is the script; themore specifics and idiosyncrasies, the richer the experience.YYoouu aarree ccuurrrreennttllyy wwoorrkkiinngg oonn KKeerrrryy SSiimmoonn’’ss nneeww eeaatteerryy aatt PPaallmmss PPllaaccee.. HHooww iiss hhiissppeerrssoonnaalliittyy sshhiinniinngg tthhrroouugghh??Kerry wanted a place that related to his use of fresh ingredients. He was interest-ed in the design being natural, eco-friendly and sustainable. We merged mid-cen-tury American design with materials that are natural and tactile. We have beauti-ful wide-plank reclaimed-bamboo flooring. We built a custom greenhouse intothe kitchen wall where Kerry will be displaying microgreens that he will be grow-ing. The main restaurant has an 18-foot ceiling that cantilevers out over the pool.There are retractable doors so that theentire restaurant can open up to theoutside when the weather permits. Itlooks over the pool toward the Strip. Weare up-lighting the pool so that it trans-forms in the evening. It will have thatfeeling of sitting on reflective water.BBLLTT BBuurrggeerr aatt tthhee MMiirraaggee ssoouunnddss lliikkee aa hhiippbbuurrggeerr jjooiinntt..It focuses on the activity of making theburger. There’s a picnic area in the frontwhere we used butcher-block wood onthe floors, walls and ceiling. From the out-side, you have this wood wrapper withchangeable LED lighting in it. There’s adifferent glow for day and for night. Wewant the restaurant to be able to evolveover the day. When you come in, LaurentTourondel will be making these wonder-ful custom milk shakes. On the other side,there’s a place where he’s developinghome-brewed beer. We are flanking theentrance with two live activity areas ofpeople making things. In the center ofthe space, up a series of steps, is a roundburger grill that has a beautiful red-

glazed brick wall that surrounds it. Behind that is a floor-to-ceiling, 80-foot-long pho-tograph of the Nevada desert. TThheerree iiss aallssoo DDooss CCaammiinnooss aatt TThhee PPaallaazzzzoo.. IIss tthhiiss aauutthheennttiiccaallllyy MMeexxiiccaann??You are talking to someone who lived in Mexico for six years. I have a real feel forMexico. It’s a vast space; it seats 500 people. The entrance of the restaurant is linedwith 250 backlit large-scale jugs. Roadside taco stands in Mexico have these largeglass jugs filled with watermelon water or pineapple water. We have angled thejugs out from the wall and water goes from one glass jug to the other. That waterwall takes you into the bar, which is a snake lounge. There are long, curved uphol-stered banquettes in snakeskin leather with mohair pillows. Behind the bar there isa backlit glass custom art piece that we designed, which has a beautiful misty viewof the Day of the Dead in Mexico where you can see glowing houses as far as theeye can see. It’s an infinite image behind the bar that is glowing. The main dining

room is taken from markets in Mexico. Thewalls are collaged in hot-pink street art. Theback wall is thousands of small candlesbehind glass. It’s an energetic space. SSttrriipp HHoouussee aatt PPllaanneett HHoollllyywwoooodd iiss oonnee ooffmmyy ffaavvoorriittee rreessttaauurraannttss.. That was very fun to do. Strip House camevery naturally, based on a playful take onthe name. I loved the idea of doing a steak-house that is as female-friendly as it is male-friendly. It’s really sexy and rich.YYoouu hhaavvee aann eexxtteennssiivvee tthheeaatteerr bbaacckkggrroouunndd..WWhhaatt wwaass iitt lliikkee ddeessiiggnniinngg aa sshhooww iinn VVeeggaass,,nnaammeellyy PPhhaannttoomm??I had seen the original Phantom of theOpera in New York. I thought it was oneof the best-designed shows I had everseen. It was designed by Maria Bjornson.When Hal Prince approached us abouthelping him create the show in Las Vegas,I was thrilled that he wanted to keepMaria’s design on-stage. We did the spe-cial effects for the theater, including thechandelier. It was a daunting task to cre-ate a chandelier that did what we wantedit to do. The chandelier starts out in four R

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DAVID ROCKWELL

Rockwell with Todd English at the opening of Bobby Flay’s Bar Americain in NewYork, which Rockwell designed; he also created the sets for the Broadway hit DirtyRotten Scoundrels (here with Joan Rivers on the show’s opening night).

From left: Strip House restaurant at Planet Hollywood; the new PayardPatisserie & Bistro at Caesars Palace was inspired by French pastries and chocolate. “It’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory if he were French and had great taste,” Rockwell says.

“More and more interesting creativepeople are getting turned on by the

possibility in Vegas.”

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fragments. The whole theater is draped in beigedrop cloth. When you come in, the theater lookslike it’s dusty and the chandelier is in broken frag-ments. During the overture, the dust cloths whiskoff and the Paris Opera House comes to life. Theceiling lights up and glows. The chandelier, on 32separate winches, circles the room and assemblesin front of the audience. You don’t get to do thattoo often in life. It was a huge amount of fun. WWaass tthhiiss aa bbiiggggeerr bbuuddggeett tthhaann BBrrooaaddwwaayy??It was not even close. The chandelier was morethan almost any Broadway show’s set budget. Itcost $3 million.AArree yyoouurr LLaass VVeeggaass pprroojjeeccttss tthhee bbiiggggeesstt--bbuuddggeett pprroo--jjeeccttss yyoouu uunnddeerrttaakkee??We are working on the Jets/Giants stadium, which is a huge budget. But inVegas, there’s this great invitation to dream. Vegas’ most interesting days areahead of it. Going to the theater for two and a half hours isn’t what peoplewant to do. Just going to a restaurant isn’t enough. They are here for the netsum of all of these experiences. For a designer, there is an invitation to reallycreate places that amaze people.WWhhaatt ddoo yyoouu tthhiinnkk ooff tthhee tthheemmee hhootteellss——tthhee iiddeeaa tthhaatt tthheerree iiss aa ppyyrraammiidd oonn tthhee SSttrriippaanndd tthhee EEiiffffeell TToowweerr??The challenge is that they don’t leave a lot to the imagination. I’m interested indesign that leaves something for the viewer to bring to it. Once you’ve created apyramid then forever you have this one very fixed, literal notion. What’s more inter-esting is collage and not being limited.

HHooww hhaavvee yyoouu sseeeenn VVeeggaass eevvoollvvee??There is a greater interest in quality in all cate-gories. There’s a greater willingness to experi-ment. Traditional forms of entertainment thatwork elsewhere, like Broadway shows, don’t workin Vegas. Nightclubs have emerged as an art form,unlike anywhere else in the world. The high-endand the low-end of the market are merging. Themiddle market is interesting.IIss tthhee ffuuttuurree ooff VVeeggaass iinn CCiittyyCCeenntteerr ttyyppeess ooff pprroojjeeccttss??There are some amazing people working inVegas. Steve Wynn has redefined Vegas in manyways. Cirque du Soleil sets the bar for what ispossible technically in theater. More and more

interesting creative people—chefs, artists, architects, interior designers, sto-rytellers and craftsmen—are getting turned on by the possibility in Vegas.The future is going to be things that can evolve like a city, things that aren’tall homogenous and hermetically sealed. WWhhaatt aabboouutt ppuubblliicc ssppaacceess iinn LLaass VVeeggaass?? TThheerree aarree ssoommee pprreettttyy rraannddoomm ssttrreettcchheessooff tthhee SSttrriipp..Public space needs work. It’s one of the things that excited me about CityCen-ter. It’s not a public space, but we conceived the retail piece as a park. One ofthe things about Las Vegas that is unsatisfying is the railings along the streets.There is only one way to go. The vast number of people are largely directed inone direction. CityCenter has multiple places you can go and you can explorethat. It’s not a single circulation loop. The future of Vegas is going to have moreemphasis on the public realm. �

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“The chandelier, on 32separate winches, circlesthe room and assembles in front of the audience.You don’t get to do that

too often in life.”

The Rockwell Group created the impressive$3 million chandelier for Phantom—The Las

Vegas Spectacular at the Venetian.

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