I was in Las Vegas this past weekend for a friend's wedding, and made it a point to visit the new City Center project. The architecture is very modern and innovative with a flair for the dramatic that includes leaning towers, tons of glass, and angular retail spaces.

At just under 17,000,000 Sq.Ft on 73 Acres this massive city within a city was conceived by MGM Resorts International. With a total cost of approximately $11 billion, City Center is the largest privately financed development in the United States. The original cost estimate was $4 billion, but it was continually pushed up by rising construction costs and design changes. The concept was designed by Ehrenkrantz Eckstut & Kuhn Architects. Amazingly, the "smaller" blueish glass building seen in the first picture and last on the right was originally supposed to be 100 stories, but due to an engineering mistake in the foundation the property could only safely be built to 50 stories. Now that is a mistake!

My beautiful Fiance makes her debut on the blog in front of high end luxury retail stores within City Center.

Still Growing

With the economy down, it may not be making economic sense at the moment, but it is definitely an evolving work of art to be appreciated architecturally, and one that is definitely re-shaping the Las Vegas Strip.