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Glittery, But CityCenter is Not the Greatest Project in the World

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Via LV Lover
Speaking of Dubai-funded projects: Las Vegas is opening portions of its mammoth CityCenter project this week. The $8.5-billion, 67-acre retail, gaming, and residential neighborhood (including parks) has a retail component designed by architect Daniel Libeskind, who told the Los Angeles Times: "My first impression was, 'This was either completely crazy or the greatest project in the world'... It turned out to be the latter." (Hubris alert!)

You can argue with Libeskind's opinion, but you can't argue with the fact that CityCenter is being touted as the largest privately funded construction project in North America. Last week, USA Today wrote about CityCenter, describing it as "Xanadu" and talking up its cultural aspects, which include numerous art installations by people like Maya Lin (the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial) and Frank Stella. Oh, and there's a Cirque de Soleil production about Elvis. The project's first component, a 57-story residential, nongaming, nonsmoking tower called Vdara, opens tomorrow with an invitation-only Vanity Fair party.

And is that a Libeskind design below? Honestly, this thing is so big that we have no idea what we're looking at. More photos via flickr:


· Vegas Gambles on CityCenter [LA Times]
· Las Vegas' Big Gamble Prepares to Open [USA Today]