NEVADA VERNACULAR: PART 2, BUILDINGS
Though the structures don’t have to be old, vernacular design by definition must have a history; it can’t just spring up overnight. We understand this, but what is it about neon signs and motels that a patina of age improves them? The sign with broken cathodes so that a few letters flicker intermittently is better looking than one in proper working order, and we might not want to stay in the dingy motel if we have a choice but we have to agree its appearance has more atmosphere than the freshly painted place across the road. In the 1980s Reno underwent major renovation. Old motels were knocked down and sprawling, soulless looking, twenty five storey hotels went up in their place. Today, whatever remains of old Reno downtown is crumbling and dilapidated but it is also all that is left of our romantic illusions of the place. Like Vegas in the 1950s, Reno had its own glamour and style. Well, actually, it didn’t; the jet setters and Hollywood stars tended to avoid the place, though we like to think otherwise ...
Though the structures don’t have to be old, vernacular design by definition must have a history; it can’t just spring up overnight. We understand this, but what is it about neon signs and motels that a patina of age improves them? The sign with broken cathodes so that a few letters flicker intermittently is better looking than one in proper working order, and we might not want to stay in the dingy motel if we have a choice but we have to agree its appearance has more atmosphere than the freshly painted place across the road. In the 1980s Reno underwent major renovation. Old motels were knocked down and sprawling, soulless looking, twenty five storey hotels went up in their place. Today, whatever remains of old Reno downtown is crumbling and dilapidated but it is also all that is left of our romantic illusions of the place. Like Vegas in the 1950s, Reno had its own glamour and style. Well, actually, it didn’t; the jet setters and Hollywood stars tended to avoid the place, though we like to think otherwise ...
