www.fastcompany.com: Gallons of digital ink have been spilled to describe the glowing exterior of Las Vegas’s Sphere, the orb-shaped entertainment venue on the Las Vegas Strip that opened on September 29 with a performance by U2. And how could it not? With a 580,000-square-foot surface consisting of 1.2 million LED discs showcasing everything from blinking eyeballs and a mesmerizing AI-art piece by Refik Anadol to hyper-produced ads for upcoming shows, the largest spherical building ever constructed is one of the world’s unique structures.
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I have been fascinated by the outside of structure this past week, so I am glad to find this article detailing what's inside. When looking at the photos of the outside, it looks alien-ish, like a blob was plopped down in the middle of a city. It was so cool to see that there was a performance space with the same stunning LED wall within the sphere as well. It reminds me of those IMax theaters I went to as a child where the screen was so big it engulfed you in the story and space. It looks so fun to go to a concert in that space where the sky above you is also part of the performance. I wonder what it would be like to put a traditional theatre in such a versatile, immersive space. I also appreciated how they brought the motif of LEDs into the lobby spaces with the lighting fixtures and entryways. The uniformity of this new structure creates a cohesive whole that is unique, exploratory, and exciting.
One quote by designer Lionel Ohayon that particularly stood up to me in this article read, “The promise of technology is that it’s invisible. It’s here to support the experience. That’s the magic.” While as an individual super interested in the concert and live event industry, the Sphere is super fascinating, I worry how much the drive for technology will corrupt the connection aspect of live events. While the outside and corridors are cool, I’m particularly interested in how the “sky” aspect of the venue can be used to aid concerts. Anecdotally, it reminds me of the planetarium in the best way possible. Inevitably, it will change how concerts are run as a longer tech is needed at this venue, however, I believe this will help bridge the theatre and concert experiences. While I agree that Las Vegas is a “restless, nonstop, glittering shit show,” as stated by the author, the Sphere makes me slightly more inclined to pay a visit.
I’ve read multiple articles about The Las Vegas Sphere, and I am so fascinated by it. This completely revolutionizes the live entertainment industry and that is so cool. What I love about this is that the AI-art is not just shown on the inside of the sphere, but it is also shown on the outside of the architecture itself. A quote that was said in the article really resonated with me. Lionel Ohayon, founder and CEO of Icrave said “The experience doesn’t begin at the theater,” he says. “As soon as you pass the threshold of the Sphere, you are in the show.” Delaney explained it best when she said that The Las Vegas Sphere reminded her of a planetarium. I remember as a kid, the magical experience of sitting in a planetarium with projections of the night sky around me, and I just know that entering the sphere would give me that same feeling.
One last Sphere article and then I’m never writing about the Sphere again. This article explains its purpose quite clearly: people talk a lot about the sphere. People talk a lot about the outside, people talk a lot about the concerts, but there’s a slight journalism void for everything between the Exosphere and U2. It was really interesting to read about the interior design of the lobby and audience spaces within the building, and some of the photos shown look pretty cool. I am a big fan of the lighting fixtures by the elevator that are balls with a sort of geometric spherical cage around them. They look really neat. What I was left thinking about was how much I really want to see some detailed floor plans and blueprints of this place. I would love to get a better idea of the general layout, but I’m sure that information is under lockdown so that people can’t plan heists or something like that.
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