Day 3

Day Three – Thursday 17^th April

Town Square

Town Square Las Vegas is a shopping centre which sells itself as a being in the mould of a European town square, with the shops and restaurants built around a town green.

(Town Square Las Vegas)

As you can see from the picture, architecturally the buildings do look European; this particular shop looks Venetian in style, with others looking distinctly Spanish and Parisian, but much like Las Vegas itself they are fabricated. Using the knock test to examine the buildings further reveals more use of plaster board to shape this illusion of European life, even the grass on the green was fake, and while they attempt to mesh the different styles of architecture together, as has happened naturally over time in Europe, it all feels forced and orchestrated. Town Square is indicative of Las Vegas, in that it’s trying so hard to be a perfect replica of something, in this case a European town that it ends up feeling hollow and empty.

(english’s Quintessentially British gastropub menu)

While exploring Town Square I happened upon this restaurant, called english’s, which as an Englishman was a distinctly bizarre situation, and serves as a case study of fabrication. After all this is a restaurant which sells itself as being quintessentially British but the menu seems to be offering meals which an American thinks British people actually eat, especially the appetizers. Who would ever have chips and curry or a plate of Yorkshire puddings as a starter?

           

(Chair in the Mandalay Bay)

            The games floor of the Mandalay Bay appeared to be aimed at a much more masculine audience, for example the above chair with the skulls and makeshift appearance giving it a rock and roll feel, there was also a tattoo parlour and a House of Blues music venue. This may simply be because the Mandalay Bay Event Centre is home to UFC and therefore perhaps attracts a more masculine customer base, or it could be because the casino believes that it will make more money on the games floor from male customers, while their partners and children are more likely to spend money in the restaurants and luxury shops that the casino has to offer. However this could simply all be by accident and not design, they might not have intended the games floor to feel more masculine.