LV hits and misses

Anne Hosier

Monday, Oct. 20, 1997 | 9:28 a.m.

Architects living in Las Vegas and in other areas agree that the newest series of buildings created by the library district are the greatest thing since the T-square.

Eric Strain, an adjunct professor at the UNLV School of Architecture, particularly likes the district's headquarters, located on Las Vegas Boulevard near Cashman Field, which architects often refer to as "The Predock Library" after its designer, New Mexico-based architect Antoine Predock. "He used (sandstone) in the sense of trying to relate to the color and texture of the mountains," Strain says. And since water was historically important in that area, once the site of the Mormon Fort, he used pathways of water to lead visitors into the foyer.

Here are a few of their other picks and pans:

* New York-New York hotel-casino: There was such unmitigated gushing over this project, it almost seemed suspicious. Suffice it to say, architects here and in other states gave it a resounding thumbs-up.

* Caesars Palace: "A brilliant piece of urban design," says Alan Hess, architecture critic for the San Jose Mercury News and author of "Viva Las Vegas: After-Hours Architecture," of this megaresort's interior. "It feels like an urban plaza, literally from ancient Rome."

* Luxor hotel-casino: This was popular for the way the megaresort's (Egyptian) theme was captured in the design of the building.

* The Household Credit building in Summerlin: "The lobby is very large and open and looks out into an enclosed courtyard," Strain says. "The worker spaces are quite nice and you don't see that in a lot of other spaces."

* The Department of Motor Vehicles building on West Flamingo Road: Though it is "sculptural" and "playful," the building features an unshaded outdoor plaza that seemingly has no use, says Jan Becker, professor of architecture at UNLV.

* Excalibur hotel-casino: "The turrets would've been wonderful suites or executive offices," Strain says. "(But) there's nothing in the turrets, from my understanding."

* Teller's house in Blue Diamond: This abode belonging to one half of the famous magic duo Penn & Teller could use some magic, according to one local architect who described it as "very, very bizarre ... There must be something like 60 different colors of paint used in the house."