MGM Grand Detroit Casino Rendering

[RustTown]

Meh...by casinos standards, it's tolerable.

[tapezord]

liked the first one better... oh well, I'll reserve judgement until I see it completed in person. The art deco touch is interesting, there isn't a lot of art deco in the area, maybe the Town Apartments building?

ehh, not that thrilled by this to be honest...

[Jasoncw]

I guess it's ok. It still has that disneyland fakeness to it, but I think that's required for casinos.

[BarGal]

I think what they're trying to go for is the "Old Hollywood" / Art Deco movie studio look of the 20s & 30s since it is the MGM Casino...I think they have a theme behind the design.

[RustTown]

It does have an Art Deco touch to it, though, I thought when they originally announced that quite a few months back that it was going to be much stronger (i.e. more use of stone/concrete). The top also looks "unfinished," but it could just be the angle.

[wolverine]

BORING........... I'll bet the base will be constructed out of cheap EIFS. The other rendering was much better. Maybe if the base was a bit better, and the top was less bland, I'll like it a lot more.

[RustTown]

The facade materials will include steel, glass, and pre-cast concrete panels stained to look like different type of stones. I said it on the other board, but I've never seen a building faced in precast concrete panels that didn't look like it was faced in just that, pre-cast concrete panels. They can stain it all they want, it never fools anyone, and it always looks cheap. But, hey, what were we expecting? The city doesn't ask for more, and Big Business sure isn't going to give any more, unless (like Compuware), they have a reason for making their properties look good. MGM knows that they can get away with this in Detroit, and that they don't have to have a good design to keep people coming. Just look at their current home.

[tapezord]

i changed my mind, i hate it.

[wolverine]

May I suggest a beverage?

[GR8scott]

It looks allright to me, the top is too plain, and what I liked about the first one was the overhang at the top

[Zissou]

I hope they just threw the detroit skyline background in there for effect because if they didnt this thing could be facing the freeway.

[tetherunit]

Does anyone remember Kahn, Saarinen, Frank Lloyd? Where is the imagination, flight of fancy, or just plain originality? Does anyone else lament when you compare the skyline stylings of Detroit with WINDSOR. Its about time for bold statements(architectural) that last longer than election cycles. Bottom line... it sucks like a lemon-lime '73 Pacer.

[Michi]

Indeed. Gone are the days of the Book Brothers and others who wanted to "build" Detroit.

[RustTown]

MGM (like any out-of-state Big Business), couldn't care less about Detroit, or anything outside of Las Vegas, for that matter (well, except maybe Macau, a huge, underserved market). If they would not have been required by their agreement with the city to build a permanent hotel and casino, they wouldn't have even built one.

[JeffM]

For those of you who may have watched Batman the Animated series, here is what the new rendering reminds me of...

H.A.R.D.A.C. , the evil computer villian...

[toog05]

For those interested, you can see aerial photos of the MGM Grand Casino construction...

http://www.aerialpics.com/B/casinos.html

[hudkina]

What a waste of space!

[Ramcharger]

I don

[tapezord]

Agree with the charger... It really does make sense to put that parking along the freeways. I'd expect some sort of access road to circle the site, similar to that which currently exists on the Ford Field site. If nothing else, Its going to make for a pretty imposing site coming in through the 75/M-10 interchange...

[RustTown]

The hotel really does look tiny in comparison to the rest complex. I knew the footprint was going to be small, but this small.

Thanks for the link, Toog.

[andrew.w]

The hotel really does look tiny in comparison to the rest complex. I knew the footprint was going to be small, but this small.

Thanks for the link, Toog.

Of course when a building complex takes up the space of 8+ city blocks, the footprint of an average sized hotel tower can look nothing but small in comparison.

[illmatic774]

Hmm.. I'm not whining. I just expected a bigger hotel.

I'm relieved actually. It looks like most of the land is being built on, and wont be used for a Wynn-like golf course. Or a giant green space. Any hotel is gonna look small on that dino footprint, unless it were a convention center or stadium.

[RustTown]

Of course when a building complex takes up the space of 8+ city blocks, the footprint of an average sized hotel tower can look nothing but small in comparison.

Oh, I fully understand that. What I'm doing is still complaining, and driving home my bone of contention with the complex.

[andrew.w]

Oh, I fully understand that. What I'm doing is still complaining, and driving home my bone of contention with the complex.

And to clarify, I didn't think that you didn't understand, mine was also just comment on the casino's size. Whether its using up some of our parking lots or not, I don't think that MGM needed to take up SO MUCH SPACE.

[MJLO]

you know I drove by the MGM site when I was in Detroit at the beginning of May, It looked huge, there were three or four tower cranes on it, there were cranes all over Detroit. What's the deal with the casinos will a permanant presence help the city?