Jon Jerde: Building Urban Legends

Elitists may sneer, but California architect Jon Jerde has captured the public imagination in his designs.

1 minute read

May 13, 2001, 8:00 AM PDT

Jon Jerde's "sketches have come to life as some of the most innovative and controversial public spaces around the world. In mass-culture meccas like Universal CityWalk in Los Angeles and the Bellagio hotel-casino in Las Vegas, Jerde has fused the twin addictions of shopping and entertainment to provide what he calls "urban glue." His designs are fueled by the belief that the consumer public, though scattered by sprawl, still hungers for the crowds and energy of cities. Critics sneer that he is a slave to commercial interests, but during the 1990s the Jerde formula proved to be an economic panacea for burned-out urban districts from Rotterdam to Osaka."

Thanks to Chris Steins

FULL STORY: Urban Legend

Tuesday, May 15, 2001 in USC Trojan Family Magazine

Architecture California

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