Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING | May 2010 34 Casino Design Elegance vs. Opulence Columnist David Kranes discusses the ‘wow ‘ factor in casino design W ith most areas which fascinate me—theater, art, music, sports—I can produce a long list of heroes. Finding a hero in the world of casino design is much harder. Jon Jerde comes close. David Rockwell comes close. But neither comes as close as Steve Wynn. When either Jon Jerde or David Rockwell designs a casino they’re essentially ghostwriters. You might say the Bellagio is Steve Wynn’s “story” as told to Jon Jerde. Steve Wynn doesn’t like being called a visionary, but he is one. A rough, raw man, he has amazing grace. He grows blind and yet he sees. Wynn’s a man with increasingly tunnel eyesight—yet broad vision. Charlie Rose, in his “The Man Who Helped Reinvent Las Vegas” interview withWynn on “60 Minutes” last April, asked him why it was he cared somuch about what a casino looks and feels like. AndWynn, who confesses to being a man who’s always loved the beautiful, said that his greatest pleasure would be for a visitor to walk into one of his casinos, look around and say, “Wow!” Wow’s a simple word: three letters only and an almost involuntary, primalexpressionof another simple three-letterword—awe.Youdon’t have to think “Wow!” It’s that basic. And yet what Wow encompasses is broad and profound. It expresses respect and admiration and humility and congratulations. It expresses reverence and surprise and delight. If any of us can elicit a “Wow”we feel pretty good about it. Wow comes from the heart. It’s pure. It’s not mucked up. There’s little that’s hotshot or phony about it. Scientists aren’t usually the first people who come to mind in discussions of beauty; but the truth is, scientists talk a lot about beauty. Mathematicians will talk about the beauty of an equation. And most of the time when a scientist means beauty he uses the word “elegance”. An extraordinary theory or mechanism is “elegant”. Elegant’s a good word; something that’s elegant makes you go Wynn Macau