ARCHITECTURAL WEST
COVER STORY
JULY/AUGUST
1999
The Fountains of Bellagio
Design & Development of the Fountains at the New Bellagio
a Major Consideration
by Carolyn Nott, Vice President, WET Design
In the summer of 1995, Steven Wynn invited WET Design to participate in the design and development of the Bellagio resort in Las Vegas, Nevada. Wynn’s vision was to create a fountain located in a lake as the centerpiece of his hotel and casino complex, and to position the feature between the hotel and Las Vegas Boulevard. His objective was a work that would be large and commanding in scale, as well as a kinetic performance feature for visitors to the city. He wanted music to be a focal aspect of the feature’s interest. Above all, his purpose was to create a fountain that expressed the spirit of romance, one that would be associated with the resort, and the most ambitious feature of its kind ever imagined.
With these criteria, WET undertook the effort of conceptual and definitive design development. Mark Fuller, chairman and chief executive officer of Wet, and Claire Kahn, director of design, devised a plan that included extensive drawings, models, mock-ups and prototypes of the concept that Wynn and his associates reviewed on a weekly basis in his offices in Las Vegas.
Drawings were prepared that outlined the feature’s form and location, and defined its position in relation to the hotel and the fountain’s center point, as well as its breadth and presence on the lake. A series of alternate layouts of the fountain’s shape were presented to Wynn, all of them designed with the feature’s animation in mind. The plan of the feature was driven by WET’s objective to yield as many kinetic variations and sequences as possible. The main goal of the fountain’s form, the design and selection of technologies, was one of flexibility and variety. This insured that the feature would effectively respond to the tremendous variety and stylistic variations in an ever-growing library of musical selections.
TECHNOLOGY
WET Design invented, designed and manufactured a collection of technological devices specifically for Bellagio. The objective, as with the form of the fountain, was one of flexibility and breadth. By including the air-powered Shooter® technology, the fountain could integrate with the more rhythmically driving passages in the music. Both MiniShooters® and SuperShooters® were included to respond to delicate and commanding aspects in the music. The pulsing character, that is the Shooter’s corner stone, created the feature’s spirals, linear passages, and high-speed chases.
WET developed the Oarsman™ nozzle to address the more lyrical and legato passages in the music. The Oarsman nozzle was designed to bend and weave in an infinite array of gestures, responding to the most subtle and interpretive elements of the music.
Fog was introduced to amplify atmospheric passages in musical selections, inviting a more impressionistic approach in works such as the tone poems of Claude Debussy and Aaron Copland.
Illumination was a critical consideration in the feature’s effectiveness as the fountain performances were designated for evening. White incandescent light was chosen to give the fountain its vibrancy and brilliance.
MODELS & MOCK-UPS
Once the conceptual design was completed and the feature’s location, form and technology defined, WET studied the work’s effectiveness in three-dimensional models and mock-ups. Models were developed to study the feature’s form and to address technical concerns of scale and access.
In order to ensure that the feature was appropriately scaled, a full-scale prototype was developed and positioned on-site. In addition to size, WET was able, in the mock-up, to study the site’s wind conditions and the fountain’s kinetics.
CHOREOGRAPHY
Perhaps the most compelling aspect to the design of the Fountains of Bellagio was the choreography. Aided by his daughter Gillian, Wynn selected and approved numerous musical pieces for the fountain’s choreography. Future additions of programs on a regular basis will ensure the feature’s longevity and breadth of character. Specific musical selections for the fountain’s choreography will be made for international events, holidays, and other special occasions.
Wynn and Fuller invited a select group of individuals to choreograph the fountain. Included among these were Claire Kahn, project designer of The Fountains of Bellagio and design director of WET Design (a chief member of the firm since 1985); Kenny Ortega, acclaimed choreographer, director and producer for film, TV and theatre; Gerard Schurmann, world renowned composer and conductor; and Traer Price, a senior associate of WET Design since 1990, and the company’s key programmer for WET’s musical fountains.
A variety of music was selected for the fountain that exemplified the feature’s breadth and flexibility. It included classical music, tone poems, opera, Broadway showpieces, and popular songs. The combination of musical diversity and the programmer’s individual choreographic point of view resulted in a wealth of character and treatment that endowed each piece with its own signature.
VIRTUAL WET
The ambitious and complex technical undertaking that made the intricate choreographic sequences possible was devised by WET Design in the form of computer animation. A system called Virtual WET allowed the choreographer to study and model the fountain’s movement. This process was executed at lakeside where the animation sequences created in the Virtual WET program could be studied and modified upon review of the water feature itself.
Highly skilled individuals who understood the unique and idiosyncratic nature of the technologies involved in programming the feature were on hand to implement the choreographer’s objectives. Peter Kopik, a creative programmer in his own right, was assigned to assist Ortega to realize the intricate choreographic dance movements that Ortega envisioned. Steve Burkholder, head of WET’s Management Information Systems department, assisted Schurmann. Both Burkholder and Tom Yankelitis, a WET designer who is an experienced programmer, assisted Kahn. Price developed her own programs both creatively and technically.
Design & Development of the Fountains at the New Bellagio
a Major Consideration
by Carolyn Nott, Vice President, WET Design
In the summer of 1995, Steven Wynn invited WET Design to participate in the design and development of the Bellagio resort in Las Vegas, Nevada. Wynn’s vision was to create a fountain located in a lake as the centerpiece of his hotel and casino complex, and to position the feature between the hotel and Las Vegas Boulevard. His objective was a work that would be large and commanding in scale, as well as a kinetic performance feature for visitors to the city. He wanted music to be a focal aspect of the feature’s interest. Above all, his purpose was to create a fountain that expressed the spirit of romance, one that would be associated with the resort, and the most ambitious feature of its kind ever imagined.
With these criteria, WET undertook the effort of conceptual and definitive design development. Mark Fuller, chairman and chief executive officer of Wet, and Claire Kahn, director of design, devised a plan that included extensive drawings, models, mock-ups and prototypes of the concept that Wynn and his associates reviewed on a weekly basis in his offices in Las Vegas.
Drawings were prepared that outlined the feature’s form and location, and defined its position in relation to the hotel and the fountain’s center point, as well as its breadth and presence on the lake. A series of alternate layouts of the fountain’s shape were presented to Wynn, all of them designed with the feature’s animation in mind. The plan of the feature was driven by WET’s objective to yield as many kinetic variations and sequences as possible. The main goal of the fountain’s form, the design and selection of technologies, was one of flexibility and variety. This insured that the feature would effectively respond to the tremendous variety and stylistic variations in an ever-growing library of musical selections.
TECHNOLOGY
WET Design invented, designed and manufactured a collection of technological devices specifically for Bellagio. The objective, as with the form of the fountain, was one of flexibility and breadth. By including the air-powered Shooter® technology, the fountain could integrate with the more rhythmically driving passages in the music. Both MiniShooters® and SuperShooters® were included to respond to delicate and commanding aspects in the music. The pulsing character, that is the Shooter’s corner stone, created the feature’s spirals, linear passages, and high-speed chases.
WET developed the Oarsman™ nozzle to address the more lyrical and legato passages in the music. The Oarsman nozzle was designed to bend and weave in an infinite array of gestures, responding to the most subtle and interpretive elements of the music.
Fog was introduced to amplify atmospheric passages in musical selections, inviting a more impressionistic approach in works such as the tone poems of Claude Debussy and Aaron Copland.
Illumination was a critical consideration in the feature’s effectiveness as the fountain performances were designated for evening. White incandescent light was chosen to give the fountain its vibrancy and brilliance.
MODELS & MOCK-UPS
Once the conceptual design was completed and the feature’s location, form and technology defined, WET studied the work’s effectiveness in three-dimensional models and mock-ups. Models were developed to study the feature’s form and to address technical concerns of scale and access.
In order to ensure that the feature was appropriately scaled, a full-scale prototype was developed and positioned on-site. In addition to size, WET was able, in the mock-up, to study the site’s wind conditions and the fountain’s kinetics.
CHOREOGRAPHY
Perhaps the most compelling aspect to the design of the Fountains of Bellagio was the choreography. Aided by his daughter Gillian, Wynn selected and approved numerous musical pieces for the fountain’s choreography. Future additions of programs on a regular basis will ensure the feature’s longevity and breadth of character. Specific musical selections for the fountain’s choreography will be made for international events, holidays, and other special occasions.
Wynn and Fuller invited a select group of individuals to choreograph the fountain. Included among these were Claire Kahn, project designer of The Fountains of Bellagio and design director of WET Design (a chief member of the firm since 1985); Kenny Ortega, acclaimed choreographer, director and producer for film, TV and theatre; Gerard Schurmann, world renowned composer and conductor; and Traer Price, a senior associate of WET Design since 1990, and the company’s key programmer for WET’s musical fountains.
A variety of music was selected for the fountain that exemplified the feature’s breadth and flexibility. It included classical music, tone poems, opera, Broadway showpieces, and popular songs. The combination of musical diversity and the programmer’s individual choreographic point of view resulted in a wealth of character and treatment that endowed each piece with its own signature.
VIRTUAL WET
The ambitious and complex technical undertaking that made the intricate choreographic sequences possible was devised by WET Design in the form of computer animation. A system called Virtual WET allowed the choreographer to study and model the fountain’s movement. This process was executed at lakeside where the animation sequences created in the Virtual WET program could be studied and modified upon review of the water feature itself.
Highly skilled individuals who understood the unique and idiosyncratic nature of the technologies involved in programming the feature were on hand to implement the choreographer’s objectives. Peter Kopik, a creative programmer in his own right, was assigned to assist Ortega to realize the intricate choreographic dance movements that Ortega envisioned. Steve Burkholder, head of WET’s Management Information Systems department, assisted Schurmann. Both Burkholder and Tom Yankelitis, a WET designer who is an experienced programmer, assisted Kahn. Price developed her own programs both creatively and technically.