Fugly Architecture Thursday - Hot Hot Hot Las Vegas Style!

Today's spotlight isn't on the form of the building (we al know Vegas sure has some fugly "winners" in that category), but more so a particular building's "effects" on its visitors.

The Vdara hotel in Las Vegas is a brand spanking new luxury Hotel that is a center piece of the Vegas CityCenter.  Its actually a very sleek, simple looking building, covered entirely in glass curtain walls.

(source)

But in an unfortunate case of an architect not paying attention to context (the fact that this building is in Las Vegas) and conditions (once again, that this building is in Las Vegas) the design has been found to have a major flaw.  Luxury does abound at this hotel... unless you make the fateful decision to relax by the pool.

Apparently guests have complained of receiving severe burns from a 'death ray' of sunlight caused by the unique concave design of the building.

'It felt like I had a chemical burn. I couldn't imagine why my head was burning,Within 30 seconds, the back of my legs were burning. My first though was, 'Jesus, they destroyed the ozone layer!" - guest Bill Pintas (source) 

This illustration does a great job of explaining the issue:

(source)

Not only does the insanely hot Nevada sun cook the guests "bathing" next to the pool, but it also moves as the sun moves -- There's no escape from the most luxurious "death ray" ever!

The article I first read about this design "dilemma" mentions that the designers, RV Architecture, LLC & Leo A. Daly (AOR) knew about the problem before anything was built, but figured that a "protective film" on the glass wall would help fix the problem.  Ummm, I may not be a licensed architect, but maybe flipping the building so the concave side didnt face south OR not designing a building entirely clad in glass in NEVADA would have fixed the problem.

Architects are taught in school and reminded regularly that their designs should always keep the "health, saftey and welfare" of the people occupying their buildings first and foremost in any design.  I'm guessing that doesn't  really apply to those outside of their buildings.  A HUGE Tsk Tsk designers.  Lesson: Cool design isn't always the most safety conscious