| rev:text
| - In another lifetime, if I am reincarnated as a millionaire, I might shop buy a shirt or necklace from Crystals at City Center. In this time I use the circular walkways as a climate controlled public space between the Las Vegas Strip and the Aria in addition to the public art and Christmas Wonderland displays. In the past I would hang out in the Todd English Pub at the Aria entrance.
Crystals at City Center is the jewel of the City Center development which in recent times has been referred to as the Gateway to the Aria. Crystals was built in 2009 when a good portion of the developer's energy on the Las Vegas Strip was focused on the topper most of high income earners and the highest of the high rollers known as whales. The themed properties were going to the wayside and extravagant luxury was in. Even though in reality it was a movement that alienated the majority of the people that travel to the Las Vegas Strip to have a good time.
Crystals at City Center is the quintessential mall focused on the topper most of the rich. In all honesty, the majority of shops come across as stuffy and boring to the majority of Strip visitors. The shops include Prada, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Stella McCartney, and Versace. Everytime, I pass by the shops, they seem to be empty of customers. In hindsight, it is a comical thought that this upscale mall was supposed to be the home of the first supermarket on the Strip.
What I like about Crystals aside from Todd English Pub and Starbuck's is that the two mall levels are circular layout. Because both levels have a circular layout, you are guaranteed to see the whole mall. Crystals reminds me more of an art gallery and airport terminal than a mall. The 50,000 square foot public space is a bright white LEED gold certified property interspersed with contemporary art. When I walk the wide corridors bordered by the dead shops, I take in elaborate ice and water displays, flowers, wooden tree sculptures, and a 70 foot-tall tree house.
During the Holidays Crystals unintentionally sold me something that cannot be purchased in one of their shops: the gift of Christmas. During Christmas, Crystals comes to life when it transitions into a Winter Wonderland. Crystals would be a Merry stop on my Las Vegas Strip Christmas hikes. Crystals is in the Christmas tree cluster of the Las Vegas Strip where the properties go all out for the Holidays. It is directly south of the Cosmopolitan ice skating rink and the World famous Bellagio Conservatory Winter Wonderland display. The focal point of the Crystals Winter Wonderland is what I truly believe has to be the largest Christmas tree in Las Vegas. This is a fifty foot tall Olympia pine Christmas tree dressed in red and white builds reaching to the ceiling of the three story mall and capped with a large star. This magnificent Christmas tree reminds me of the legendary one in Rockefeller Center New York City. The supporting scenery was throughout the mall. At the main entrances, I set eyes on pink and white poinsettias with Christmas boxes. Up above, the ceiling was decorated with decorations that resembled candy twists. Interestingly the dead shops did not seem to have a heart beating with the Christmas spirit. Just like patrons, there seemed to be an infinitesimal amount of Christmas decorations. Several uninteresting shops south of the Christmas tree on the street level, I'd sit by a bench overlooking public art called Hoto, 2008. This looked like an electronic tree. It was unique and drew in my curiosity with its 3,827 LEDs and six colors. The preceding pictures include Hoto, 2008.
In this lifetime I will pass over the material spirit and savor the Christmas and Holidays spirit of Crystals. Possibly next lifetime, I might buy a necklace from Prada. In this life, I rate Crystals three stars with the magnificent Christmas and Holidays Winter Wonderland being an added one star redemption.
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)