CATALYST
FOR IDEAS
Design leadership takes a vision and makes it real. MGM
MIRAGE saw the need—the opportunity—to reinvent
Las Vegas as a world-class city, with CityCenter as the
catalyst. What was envisioned was much bigger than
anything the company had done before. A master plan
established its initial scope. Design leadership orchestrated
the rest. Gensler helped MGM MIRAGE identify
leading designers around the world, meet them and
see their work, explore the potential for sustainability
in every aspect of the new development, and—once a
short list of global talent was identified—engage them
in a uniquely collaborative, idea-generating introduction
to CityCenter.
Leading designers usually focus on individual signature
projects. Only rarely are they called on to work together
to create a city. There are famous instances of forced
marriages that produced acrimony and mediocrity.
To counter this, Gensler’s Andy Cohen proposed a design
charrette that would spur collaboration and innovation.
Invited teams spent time in Las Vegas understanding
the plan and vision for CityCenter. They returned to their
home cities, came back a second time to collaborate
and learn, left again, and then reconvened to present
to the CityCenter design leadership team and each
other. The energy and synergy the charrette process
generated resulted in a rich and seamless set of overall
design ideas for CityCenter that transcended any one
building concept.