David M. Schwarz has been tapped to design Las Vegas’ cultural palace. What will he do with the centerpiece of 61 acres?

By Kristen Peterson (contact)

Sunday, June 25, 2006 | 6 a.m.

Forget slick modernism. Architect David M. Schwarz borrows from hundreds of years of history and has a resume heavy with brick-and-limestone references to Europe.

But don't call him a classicist. Traditionalist is OK. Neo-eclectic hits the mark.

He has designed such projects as the Bass Performance Hall in Fort Worth, Texas, the Ballpark in Arlington and Nashville's new Schermerhorn Symphony Hall.

Now, he has been selected as architect for the Smith Center for the Performing Arts, a concert hall and theater complex envisioned as the cultural hub of Las Vegas.

He's the second big-name architect picked to put his stamp on the 61-acre redevelopment of the former downtown railyard. Frank Gehry, the architect of the Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles and Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, is designing the Ruvo Alzheimer's Center.

In a city where casinos spend billions to re-create the world's greatest architecture, Schwarz admits it's a challenge to make a high-impact design statement.

"You can't out-Bellagio the Bellagio," Schwarz says by telephone from his Washington, D.C., office. "It's as complete as can be. One of the facades on Paris is the Paris Opera House, so you've already quoted from the finest places in the world in Las Vegas."

It's particularly difficult for a performing arts center.

"There are acres and acres of marble floors in Las Vegas, miles and miles of chandelier - all of the things that make a performance hall special," he says.

His traditional approach, particularly Bass Hall, caught the eye of the Las Vegas Performing Arts Foundation, which selected Schwarz from a group of nearly two dozen candidates, including notable architect Cesar Pelli.

"David Schwarz buildings are timeless, elegant and look like they are built to last," says Myron Martin, president of the foundation. "Some (performing arts centers) built in the last 10 years look like shopping centers and airport terminals, rather than something important to the arts.

"We didn't want something that looked like it was built in the month of November 2006."

Schwarz has critics among his peers who call his style too traditional, kitschy, populist, even ersatz.

"Those styles aren't what Las Vegas is about," says Wade Simpson, president of the local chapter of the American Institute of Architects. "Las Vegas is about experimental, cutting-edge architecture.

"Are we doing something that says, 'Ah, this reminds me of where I was back East?' Are we doing something that is a conglomeration of everything American?"

A Bass Hall in Vegas would be "unfortunate," he says.

The foundation hoped to introduce Schwarz as the center's architect on Wednesday, but a snag in travel plans delayed it indefinitely.

Martin is sketchy about details, saying they still haven't signed contracts. He wouldn't reveal the names of the final candidates or of the 15-or-so members of the panel that selected the architect.

But even though Schwarz hasn't produced even a "napkin sketch" for the Smith Center, Martin is convinced the building will have "a wow factor" and look like a "building of importance."

Schwarz says he will be working with noted architectural acoustician Paul Scarbrough. They teamed on Bass Hall and the renovation of Cleveland's Severance Hall. Acoustics make or break concert halls, and both those draw raves from audiences and musicians.

Schwarz took an hour from his schedule to talk with the Las Vegas Sun about the project, modern architecture and working in Las Vegas.

Q: What drew you to Las Vegas?

I've spent time in Las Vegas before. I did the master plan for the 61-acre site a few years ago. This is not exactly new territory. We looked at mixed-use approach to the site.

Q: What are your ideas for the Smith Center?

We come to almost all of our projects with no preconceptions. We try to almost always give clients what they want. What exactly is this going to look like? I haven't a clue.

Q: How far along are you?

Skeletons and organs. We've begun to try to understand the problems: the budget, site, how this contributes to this neighborhood.

Q: What first came to mind when you thought about a performing arts center in Las Vegas?

It's hot. Las Vegas is an extreme climate. There are times when I was there and it was 110 at 11 o'clock at night.

Q: What does that tell you?

It certainly influences where you can put glass, where you can't put glass.

Also, in certain facilities, people stand outside for portions of the year during intermission.

Q: What first comes to mind from an aesthetic perspective?

It's hot.

Q: You've mentioned the high-profile architecture of the Strip; how will you respond to that?

Well, there are very few tall spaces, very little sequence of spaces.

One has to understand the Strip and Strip life to create something counterpoint.

Q: Do you have ideas for counterpoint?

No. I only know that's my only salvation.

Q: Is it an advantage or disadvantage that there is nothing on the 61 acres?

In some ways it's harder because I have no idea what to respond to. In some ways it's easier. You hope they respond to you.

We can certainly provide a framework for good future development.

Q: What are challenges of building a performing arts center here?

One of the major challenges is to create a sense of permanence in an environment where most of what's built is not geared for lasting generations. A facility like this can change a city's perception of itself. Nashville is known as a music center. The building makes Nashville understand its culture is much wider, much more diverse.

Q: Will the Smith Center help grow the arts in Las Vegas?

That is the idea. People need visual symbols of their success.

Q: You've been criticized by some of your peers for being too traditional and creating nothing new. What do you say to that?

They're not looking very hard. Style is an evolving process: Up until about 1910. I can show you examples of buildings that all draw from each other for 3,000 years.

Q: What are your thoughts on contemporary architecture?

Modernism is an interesting event. I don't believe in doing something new for the sake of doing something new. Novelty does not equate to quality.

Q: Why not a modern approach to a performing arts center?

When you're creating a scene for which an object was created, it's important to consider how it was perceived. In the United States we have very, very, very few traditional halls. Carnegie is one. Boston Symphony, Severance Hall in Cleveland.

Q: The committee is fond of Bass Hall. Will you be duplicating it in Las Vegas?

If we had that sense, we wouldn't be interested in the job. To simply re-create Bass Hall would be to not recognize the character of Las Vegas. However, many lessons we used in Bass Hall we will use in Las Vegas.

Q: Schermerhorn Symphony Hall in Nashville opens this fall. What will that be like?

It's going to cause a huge stir in the architecture world.

Q: Why?

It's a very, very traditional building. We built it because there is nothing like it in the United States.

Q: How will the natural environment influence the Smith Center?

We like to use nature. We're interested in using stones and light from that area. But will you see an adobe building with orange tile? No.

Kristen Peterson can be reached at 259-2317 or at kristen@lasvegassun.com.