The book argues that the urbanism of the Las Vegas Strip should be valued for its richness of

communication, its representation of everyday consumer values, and its example as a truly
representative American urbanism. The book showcases various aspects of the city, including
the commercial vernacular, lighting, patterns, styles, and symbolism in the architecture. They
created a taxonomy for the forms, signs, and symbols they encountered. The authors were
inspired by the emphasis on signs and symbols they found on the Las Vegas strip. The result
was a critique of Modern architecture, demonstrated most famously in the comparison between
the "duck" and "decorated shed". The "duck" represents a large part of modernist architecture,
which was expressive in form and volume. In contrast, the "decorated shed" relies on imagery
and signs. Virtually all architecture before the Modern Movement used decoration to convey
meaning, often profound but sometimes simply perfunctory, such as the signage on medieval
shop fronts. Only Modernist architecture eschewed such ornament, relying only on corporeal or
structural elements to convey meaning. As such, argued the authors, Modern buildings became
mute and vacuous, especially when built for corporate or government clients.

Modern architects, influenced by theorists like Wright and Le Corbusier, have emphasized
space as the defining element of architecture, rejecting the picturesque and eclectic styles of the
19th century. The rejection of iconology led to a separation of architecture from painting,
sculpture, and graphics. Modern architects, while acknowledging the integration of arts as
positive, often used art objects merely to reinforce architectural space, neglecting their content.
The literature suggests a departure from this trend and a reconsideration of the rich symbolism
present in historical architectural elements.

Commercial spaces employ diverse communication methods. The bazaar emphasizes proximity
and oral persuasion, while Main Street balances displays for pedestrians and signs for
motorists. The commercial strip relies on large signs and billboards due to concealed buildings.
Supermarkets, such as A&P, blend oral persuasion with graphic packaging, while shopping
centers reintroduce personalized experiences in pedestrian malls, resembling medieval streets.
Each setting adapts communication to architecture, visibility, and consumer dynamics.

Las Vegas, echoing Versailles, utilizes vast open spaces, emphasizing symbols like signs over
architectural forms. The town's desert setting enhances communication along highways, with
the Strip serving as a focal point. The stark dichotomy between extravagant front signs and
modest rear buildings underscores the primacy of signage.

The concept of order on the commercial strip of Las Vegas, challenged the initial perception of
chaos. It identifies the order in the continuous highway system, emphasizing consistent features
like U-turns, median strips, curbing, and street lights.

Las Vegas gambling rooms deliberately lack windows, creating a disorienting, timeless
atmosphere. Anti-architectural lighting with dark walls enhances the effect, contrasting with
oasis-like motel patios featuring water and greenery.

Overall The architecture itself has become overshadowed, and less important, buildings
covered by decoration, Signs itself become architecture.

Sign defines Las Vegas, without a sign, it is nothing and nowhere.

The significance of A&P parking lots, or learning from Las Vegas has been an eye opener for
the world of modernist ideologies back then introduction to the contemporary world, and a new
insight for me myself. Robert Venturi Pritzker’s Price Winner pinpoints the soul-less nature of
modern architecture and urbanism which focus on expressionism, minimalism, and industrial
vernacular. As is known the avoidance of ornamentation and decoration in modernist ideologies
brings dullness more over even though the pioneers of modern architecture: Wright and Le
Corbusier speak about the sacred nature of space they were cursing it with other art forms like
paintings and sculpture without any relation to the particular space lacking historical attachment
and critical regionalism. Some of the classifications I have identified are “decorated shade” and
“Duck” the former being updated of the latter and decoration applied indirectly and later
overwhelmed with symbolic form giving dry expression.

The early post-modernists tried to give sense meaning of to architecture and urbanism but they
lacked context, camp, and exhibit shallowness. The Las Vegas strip challenges minimalist
urbanism by tackling the modernist ideology as Robert Venturi famously said “Less is a bore”.

As known in different regions across the globe even in our country the architecture of persuation
is related to subtle symbols, frontages for example if there is a bakery passing through the road
can act as persuasion and could provoke the act of entering the shop. But when we come to the
Vegas Strip the southern part of Las Vegas, Nevada filled with gaming, entertainment, and
nightlife exhibits architecture as a symbol, it is dominated by symbolism, architecture is
overshadowed by the sign, the signage is more visible and also sometimes expensive and
attractive than the architecture itself. So it can be said it is an architecture of communication
over space. In my opinion, even though it gives well-designed and attractive urban the hiding
and limiting of architecture and giving life of lights and signs kills architecture although giving it
unity in the strip.

As mentioned above the attractive urban, commercial strip gives a feeling of chaos at first sight
but the order gives emphasis on consistent features like u-turns, median strips, and curbing.. in
the continuous highway. The chaotic elements of the civic as mentioned above and the private
buildings and signs create a dynamic interplay between continuity and discontinuity clarity and
ambiguity tackling the very soul-less nature of modernism. The overall architecture of the strip
shows complex casino designs, translation zones, signage as architecture, night illumination,
artistic names, and styles that give uniqueness and add value to the strip. In Las Vegas, the
gambling rooms are intentionally dark and enclosed, lacking windows for privacy, protection,
concentration, and control. This disorients occupants in space and time, creating an atmosphere
where time seems limitless, and space is both enclosed and boundless. Las Vegas casinos
represent a departure from traditional architectural monumentality, emphasizing economic and
mechanical constraints with low ceilings. The phenomenon showcases the influence of
architecture and urban design to create a feeling of place and character.

In conclusion, turning away from symbolism and ornament created “the duck” building a new
ornament it is all right to decorate construction but never construct decoration, need to persuade
decorated shed, is much more responsible cheaper, and flexible, it was a need to re-evaluate
modern architecture distortion.