Dreaming Of Italy
Subtitle: Las Vegas And The Virtual Grand Tour
Contributors: Jose Gamez (Foreword)
Publisher: University of Nevada Press
Published: May 2005
Language: eng
Format: Paperback
Number of pages: 157
ISBN-13: 9780874176100
Subjects: U.S. Architecture - General; Popular Culture - General; Architecture; Public, Commercial, or Industrial Buildings; Architectural & Industrial; General; Photoessays & Documentaries
First sentence: The term "Grand Tour" usually means "travels taken between the sixteenth and the nineteenth centuries, first by generations of European aristocrats and bourgeois, and then by Americans."
Description: Giovanna Franci compares three Las Vegas Italian-themed resorts - Caesars Palace, Bellagio, and The Venetian - to their Italian counterparts: the ancient Forum in Rome, the breathtaking Lake Como resort town of Bellagio, and eternal Venice, jewel of the Adriatic. Franci not only examines architectural format and decorative details but considers how the mystique of these Italian sites has been transplanted to the Nevada desert. In the process, she addresses the compelling phenomena of modern mass tourism and post-modern travelers to whom the distinction between the "real" and the "fake" is often far less important than the appeal of a destination that allows a visitor to make a "virtual Grand Tour" within the confines of a single city. Federico Zignani's photographs bring to life the physical details and ambiance of both the Las Vegas resorts and their Italian inspirations.