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Las Vegas, Nevada is a city of simulacra. Why go all the way to Egypt, when you can simply go to Las Vegas?

The gambling capital of the world specializes in simulation. Each casino on the famous strip presents a different themed environment, recreated like an adult Disney World to provide a simulated experience of fantasy and wonder. The Luxor Hotel impossibly transports us in space and time, back to ancient Egypt. It allows us to step into a pyramid, to meet a Pharaoh in person, and to unravel the mysteries of this ancient culture. You can travel down the Nile without leaving your hotel. A motion simulator disguised as an elevator uses film images and special effects to create the illusion that participants are plunging into an archeological dig of a pre-Egyptian civilization, 1,000 feet below the the earth. Another simulator then makes it appear that they are flying back to the surface, dodging particle beams and other dangers along the way. Luxor uses all these special-effects in an attempt to elicit the unknowable mysteries that have always been attached to ancient Egypt, of transcending the mundane world and knowing what cannot be told. But the Luxor casino merely simulates magic and mysticism; in the end, the only mysteries it has to offer are special effects provided by technology. According to wikipedia, The Luxor is seen as one of the best examples of 1990s Postmodern architecture, and it was featured on the cover of renowned architecture scholar James Steele's book Architecture Today.

By Juliana Vegh

Labels: Las Vegas, postmodern architecture, simulacra