This book takes architects and designers on a worldwide journey to discover the most stylish and appealing spots, from an urban getaway in Europe to a resort on a South Pacific island, providing a serene ...
CityCenter’s sizzling interiors reset the bar for Sin City chic.
By Matthew Hall
“The house always wins.” That gambling adage is being put to the ultimate test by MGM Mirage and Infinity World Development Corp. Together, they’re wagering that their $8.5 billion CityCenter complex will bring a new wave of sophisticated world travelers to Las Vegas.
To improve their odds, they hired big-name architectural firms to design the seven buildings within the 67-acre complex: Pelli Clarke Pelli (ARIA Resort & Casino), Kohn Pedersen Fox (Mandarin Oriental), Helmut Jahn (the twin Veer Towers), RV Architecture LLC led by Rafael Viñoly (Vdara Hotel & Spa), Foster + Partners (Harmon Hotel and Spa), Studio Daniel Libeskind and Rockwell Group (the Crystals retail
and entertainment district) and Gensler (executive architect). But CityCenter’s true ace in the hole may well be the cadre of more than 90 top-flight interior designers brought in to create the sumptuous lobbies, suites, restaurants and casino (yes, there is only one gaming floor within the complex) that populate the insides of the CityCenter’s spectacular buildings.
Though getting less press than the architectural firms that worked on the project, the interior designers/design firms—including Adam D. Tihany, BBGM, Karim Rashid and Remedios Siembieda—were instrumental in creating a destination that “won’t be surpassed in scope and grandeur for decades,” says MGM Mirage chairman and ceo Jim Murren.
The accompanying slideshow offers a visual sampling of some notable interior spaces in the three hotels now open in CityCenter that we’re betting you’ll want to see on your next sojourn to the Strip. (The fourth hotel on the site, the Harmon, will open late this year.) First up is the massive, 61-story ARIA Resort & Casino, whose noteworthy interiors include a 150,000-sq.-ft. gaming floor by Remedios Siembieda that features lots of natural light and a foliage-like ceiling décor; followed by the stately Mandarin Oriental and its ornate lower lobby by Tihany; and finishing with the Vdara Hotel & Spa, with its distinct crescent shape on the outside and Rashid’s Silk Road restaurant inside.