by Matt Mortensen

Created on: November 28, 2007   Last Updated: December 03, 2007

According to Paul Virilio in City of Panic, the deterritorialization that is taking place in the world today is destroying man's sense of place. By globalizing the "territorial body," humanity has deprived itself of any feeling of belonging to any particular locality. Virilio calls this the "twilight of place." He also describes it as the "miniaturization of our terrestrial habitat's proportions." (pg. 113) This is not a good thing, says Virilio, because it weakens one of the major components, or "bodies," that makes up man's reality, thereby causing a "gravitational collapse," or a collapse of this reality in general.

In Learning From Las Vegas, Venturi and Brown criticize modernist "heroic and original" architecture as not relating to its specific environment or place. They regard much of modern-day architecture as "ugly and ordinary." It deprives people of their sense of belonging to a particular territory when it attempts to symbolize something other than what fits into a particular demographic.

Likewise, Tschumi criticizes modern architecture for attempting to achieve "permanence" and "transcend" the constraints of site as well as time. Taylor gives the example of the Luxor, which takes the form of an Egyptian pyramid. As Tschumi explains, the form of a pyramid attempts to bridge the gap between man and the Gods, thereby seeking immortality. He also explains that this bridge is nothing but illusion, however, and that man cannot escape from the "labyrinth" below because the labyrinth "entertains dreams that include the dream of the pyramid." (Hiding, pg. 241) Therefore, Tschumi, Venturi, and Brown all agree that such deterritorialization can be a bad thing.

The commercial megastructure of the Las Vegas Strip provides many examples of deterritorialization. It provides a locale to accommodate almost any nationality with French, Italian, Egyptian, African, Arabian, American, etc themed hotels and casinos. It is not clear whether or not the variety in the architecture of the Strip is attempting to achieve any particular theme, and this is precisely what deprives it of, and provides its identity. In terms of the city of Las Vegas, however, this takes away any possibility of having any definition as a territory itself (commercialism aside), other than as a capitol of hodgepodge.

According to Tschumi, this phenomenon of non-identity constitutes an "architecture of the signifier," in which the theme is nothing (Hiding, pg. 254). This allows individuals to ascertain a "plurality" of meanings which are neither right nor wrong. But does this provide a solution to the problem of deterritorialization in our globalized world?

The answer is yes, it does precisely this. By allowing individuals to choose their territorial identity for themselves, Las Vegas avoids Virilio's "twilight of place." The astounding conglomeration of territories that makes up the Strip (to include downtown Las Vegas in general) does not miniaturize "our terrestrial habitat's proportions," but actually accomplishes the opposite effect. It basically provides an identity (though temporary) for all who enter its domain. The "twilight of place" and "deterritorialization," therefore, in the light of an example such as Las Vegas, become arbitrary terms.

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