The Gateway is part two of a three part project (titled: Garages, Guns, and Gambling) which intervenes in the weaponization of hospitality infrastructure and hotel architecture which was committed by Stephen Paddock, the gunman in the 2017 Las Vegas Massacre. The Gateway project monumentalizes security to investigate American gun culture. This project contextualizes this discussion at the broad context of the mass shooting on the entire Las Vegas strip. The Gateway is a building as a filtration device, filtering out what can and cannot be brought into the city. The façade works as a communication device, visually articulating the results of the filtration by illuminating the façade for every pass and fail a person receives from the system. People enter and exit the strip through the Gateway, subjecting oneself to the data collection apparatus of Las Vegas casinos as a tool to filter undesired objects and weapons out of the city at its entry. This project investigates the question: what would a secure, gunless, Las Vegas Strip look like? Once inside the city, the No Stop Casino connects all of the Strip into one continuous casino to create a secure zone; the main entry is where the filtration happens.
