Why the Las Vegas Sphere is a Sphere

[@stewarthicks]

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[@Tannz0rz]

Ground News has merely demonstrated that right wing sources sensationalize every subject that they touch.

[@Tannz0rz]

Ground News has merely demonstrated that right wing sources sensationalize every subject that they touch and will outright refuse to publish subjects that counter their narrative. The same cannot be said for other sources.

[@Thiccboy67]

😊

[@Gemoron]

You might want to improve your research a bit. 11:43 the crest IV spaceship is from the Perry Rhodan universe and according to the decription which belings to the picture you have used, it had a crew of 5000 people, not 300.000. also, the picture was published in Perry Rhodan 421, released in 1969

[@nannerz1994]

I don't really have any interest to go to Las Vegas but I would love to go to the sphere. The studios where I guess they probably test things out is in Burbank California where I live and wow is it getting dirty but I think it's some really cool innovation It's taking theater in the round to a whole new level

[@aes53]

“Emerging from the desert like a fart bubble floating defiantly “ will go down as one great opening lines in all of film, right up there with Rosebud.

[@stewarthicks]

Thank you for the high praise.

[@Just_SK8]

Sounded like trashy, ironic, reddit speak

[@mariebelladonna437]

Ignore those ol' fuddy-duddy naysayers, Stewart. Your opening line was funny, and so were the rest of your puns. Nothing wring with a little immature humor every now and then!

[@fartmoderne]

As soon as I heard that I knew it would be another one of Stewart’s unhinged videos. Not sure what broke him, but damn, I like it. Guess comedy comes with the Hicks name.

[@blindedbliss]

Rosebud?

[@norlockv]

Great men with ball-shaped dreams… you’re killing it Stuart.

[@nextstrayed]

The Stewart Hicks Attitude Era is really something

[@bertilhatt]

"Yes, I will make a video about your Sphere. Yes, I will quote all those facts. No, I will not try to denigrate the projects. I mean, other than mention the sponsor-you know Brilliant, or Ground News, or Factor. Haven't decided yet."

[@amoliski]

This feels like one of those high effort April Fools videos

[@blindedbliss]

Wrong date, though I hope you will come up with one, as a response by then. 😮😊

[@daniellemhall1358]

The brothel design is equal parts genius and absolutely nuts 😂😂😂 No pun intended

[@sygad1]

there was SO many innuendo's in this episode, I bet you had so much fun making it

[@lizcademy4809]

Brings me back to the 1970s when I was fascinated with geodesic domes ... including seriously considering living in one. Two things killed that dream: 1. House sized geodesic domes leak at the edges, the structural integrity is ruined if you run plumbing or wiring in the exterior wall/ceiling, and they're almost impossible to insulate well. 2. A different Stewart, of Whole Earth Catalog fame, also lost his love for domes, saying (I paraphrase) Vertical walls are useful. We are vertical,"

[@BIGGERmac14]

As a structural engineer, the best shape for a building is clearly a square!

[@JustLikeHumansMusic]

The Borg agree.

[@DrakonBlake]

What about triangles?

[@9sheri9]

Incidentally, the least best shape for a building is clearly the gömböc 🙃 💕

[@JosephHuether]

What cracks me up about “The Sphere” is that if you designed THAT in architecture school in the 70s you would have absolutely been trounced on.

[@soylatte1288]

I like the sphere. Back in the 70s everyone smoked and drank while pregnant. Does that mean we should do it today(

[@1973Washu]

A sphere lit up with more electricity than any other building on the strip houses a theater that shows a film that lectures people about caring for the environment.

[@carlgemlich1657]

As Alanis said, "Isn't it ironic?".

[@fatviscount6562]

As always, a well-rounded narrative to start my weekend.

[@mmoonboyy]

Top tier comment. The nod is masterful.

[@blindedbliss]

The pun-master.

[@Josh-yr7gd]

Well done. You deserve a round of applause!

[@lexergaming]

You forgot to cover the largest spherical building in the world (before the MSG Sphere) The Ericsson Globe/Avicii Arena in Stockholm. It's a multi-purpose arena that can host 16 000 people and i has an diameter of 110 meters and is 85 meters tall.

[@jasonnelson5745]

It's also designed as the center of a to scale solar system

[@danieldonaldson8634]

one of the startling moments of my youth has to do with the Expo 67 dome in Montreal. I went to art school in a campus in a medium rise building at Delorimier Ave and Sherbrooke St, on the 6-8 floors. We got used to looking south during our classes to where the old Expo site was, about 2 or 3 Kms south in the middle of the St Lawrence river. I was there the day the sphere burned, and had probably the best grandstand view over the conflagration. Wow. huge plumes of toxic black smoke from the plastic infill windows didn’t seem so ecological to us. the dome structure did what probably only a dome could: survive. But there were no discussions about restoring it, since you couldn’t fix that little flammability issue. before it went, the best thing was that each hex in the dome had a kind of parachute system that could retract or extend to blank that area from sun. Without this, the cost of cooling the dome would have been ruinous; but while it was there, the Expo dome (which was the US pavilion during Expo) was an incredibly impressive example of building, technology, and environmental design.

[@cornpro1000]

pour one out for the MEP engineers having to do HVAC load calculations on these things

[@adamredwine774]

Just the right amount of snark.

[@bertilhatt]

All of it?

[@spoookley]

‘fart bubble’ was a bit dumb, but yea other than that

[@tallguy2023]

Sphere Snark and A Death Star joke. Stewart out here killin it!!!

[@Yombleflobber]

I think one of the main reasons the Coney Island Sphere Scam worked was because it seemed like it was fixing the main problem with most all of these designs: wasted space. Which is why I'm funding an exploratory tunneling project to dig down to the earth's core, hollow it out, and built luxury condominiums in an extravagant prototype inner-earth terraforming biome I like to call "Subcosm". Get in at the ground floor? Don't make me laugh. You're getting in at the FOUNDATION. With all the resources mined during the excavation process, we'll also be building the first self-funded space station. ... ... This is now reminding me of that Pinky and the Brain episode where they recreate Earth with papier mache and chia seeds, trick everyone on earth into visiting, using Free T-Shirts, and then REAL Earth gets destroyed by a meteor, meaning they now have to take over Chia-Earth.

[@livelikeitslegal]

Sounds like you had lots of fun making this video. Bucky would be proud!

[@evjq]

I would love to hear more examples of architectural frauds throughout history

[@Josh-yr7gd]

As soon as he said "ground floor chance", I knew it was a scam. Saw it a mile away.

[@Sekir80]

Learn about Victor Lustig and his affiliation to the Eiffel tower.

[@pooramateurvideo]

Stewart Hicks throws more shade than The Sphere on a sunny day, lol

[@Josh-yr7gd]

I literally thought the same. Wow, he's throwing a lot of shade!

[@willd4686]

The tone in this one is fantastic! "Kill me now"

[@Lescault85]

... and it's true that museum is very boring unfortunately.

[@mchparity]

The. Shade. The. SHADE. Of. It. All.

[@red_skies80]

The only thing engineers fear is sphere itself.

[@wfbn]

Mysticat will definitely love this architecture.

[@joemeyer6876]

In my day, my favorite Sphere was Brittany! She still is, Brittany Spheres. Ah!

[@Josh-yr7gd]

LEAVE BRITNEY ALONE!!! 😆

[@Standbackforscience]

I never thought I'd live to see snarkitechture become a thing, yet here we are. Love this!

[@CrankyHermit]

Stuart Hicks, Windy City Snarkitect!

[@johnvonachen1672]

It shouldn't be a sphere but a some kind of structure based on catenary curves! Not a parabola, as what was thought for a long time, but the curve you get when you suspend a chain between two stable points, the curves followed in the construction of La Sagrada Familia, in Barcelona.

[@Flying_Skier]

this feels like a fever dream

[@Charlz1980tv]

You never mentioned the Globe in Stockholm -the worlds largest ballshaped indoor arena.

[@Charlz1980tv]

​@@roxpaceindeed it is, you're right. I have corrected it. 👍

[@longiusaescius2537]

Huh

[@jstrandquist]

Ah, it's good to be reminded that people have always had weird architectural ideas. I suspect the Pantheon gets more of pass, though, both for having innovative and thoughtful design, as well as for the fact that while it's based on the proportions of a sphere, it's really a dome with a cylindrical base. I'd like to see a discussion of domes and why they do (or don't) work better than full spheres (my guess is that they're way easier to support).

[@kleinerprinz99]

All 52 White Houses in the United States are based on classicist architecture and their eggshaped domes are the best shape in existence for supporting massive loads.

[@pinogenti70]

Fantastic commentary Stuart. Love it 😂

[@marcdefaoite]

Why don't you get off the fence and tell us what you really think Stewart? 😉 Joking aside, it's great to have such an honest appraisal. Keep it up.

[@ichifish]

The moment when you think "yes, that *was* what he meant."

[@HarveyIves]

Do you have any recommendations for any books related to some of the topics you cover? I have been really enjoying your videos and would like to learn more

[@abelstypewriters]

Digging this editorial style! In the KZbin-sphere - it's got to be difficult to fall somewhere between VOX, That one-guy-who-used-to-be-part-of-vox-and-kind-of-looks-like-you, Public Radio podcasts like DNA, Freakanomics, Radiolab, and the exhaustive tantric-learning and sharing of the Huberman Lab. Also, there's the by-the-numbers-spreadsheet-deadpan-surfer snark of CityNerd. Somehow, this fart-bubble stands out from all the others and I'm glad to have Stewart Hicks as one of my favorite content creators on youtube.

[@maryhildreth754]

Yeah, I'm typing a second comment on this video. We went to Vegas last year for my daughter's wedding. They live there. We stayed at a hotel on the strip and went sightseeing one day. The craziest thing I saw in Vegas was outdoor, uncovered escalators. They are all around the hotel across from us. They weren't really needed, plus they are outside and I am imagining the nightmare when it rains. It's insane because the stairs next to them aren't that high, and if it's for those with mobility issues, elevators might be better, or at least covered escalators. The $12 cup of regular plain coffee was also over the top

[@Charlz1980tv]

Wait a minute...you went to a hotel on the Strip in Vegas... That explains it-in vegas i went to strip in a hotel!😉😎

[@TapOnX]

@@Charlz1980tv based

[@carlgemlich1657]

The escalators are needed to save pedestrian lives. Vegas has 24-hr liquor, including allowing walking with said drink on the sidewalks. Each set of escalators has an elevator.

[@vsznry]

naw, theyre needed.

[@rsqrinsac]

This episode felt personal.

[@jamesphillips3521]

How about a StewartSphere? ❤🙌🏼😇 I’d definitely be into your sphere, Stewart! But not as much as you & your incredible execution of another perfect video. Thanks again for fantastic Stewart. 🥰

[@dwdei8815]

I use spherical crockery. The plates look GREAT!!! but the food keeps on falling off. (Not a true story.)

[@JustJayGaming]

Yuri Gagarin flew into space in a sphere, the Vostok 1

[@deivclayton]

Stewart, I love your increased use of sarcasm and humor. Keep it up. Great video!

[@nevreiha]

This one was better than the brutalism one. It still ties in as a rounded (or maybe a spherical) video which is easy enough for viewers to follow.

[@TheFPSChannel]

Ok Stewart. You had fun. I’m not gonna defend the various debacles throughout history. This MAY be one of them. But there’s no denying that it’s shape and LED accoutrements are a major attractant - which is what Vegas is all about. Vegas is Vegas - and this ball belongs here most. Also, not for nothing but it worked at Epcot and other places for the same reason. Harpooning the impracticality can easily backfire on other designs. Too many times history has taken swipes at new buildings only to have premature opinions brushed aside and the structure prevails.I expected a little more balance here. Why not talk about what engineering was required - it must have been complicated. Will screening the outside of the structure here lead to other designers yearning for less rigid colour choices? Love it or hate it I fail to see how this doesn’t symbolize our ability to break barriers in design in the same way Gehry does. What’s missing here is your own personal experience. What do you think when you walk up to it? Walk through it? Get entertained inside it? How does it make you feel when you’re there? I know my tours of buildings in Chicago changed my perspective by standing in front of them. Well? How about you?

[@carlgemlich1657]

I totally agree with your comments, but we may be too rational for a comment section.

[@vsznry]

I went & thought it was mis-purposed & too big.

[@AntneeUK]

I don't remember when the humour started to creep through in your videos, but as it's increased I think I've appreciated your already great content even more

[@ab-hx8qe]

I can tell you hate this thing.

[@danilluzin]

From Ai thumbnail to Ai description you might wanna rethink who you hire to produce those videos for you.

[@glendunzweilerproductions2812]

The thing I like about Las Vegas Strip architecture is the theatrical design of it all. It’s just meant to awe and entertain. Nothing is permanent. Nothing is for posterity. Just like people, the buildings have a life span of well under 100 years. No developer pretends that there is something more important than right now. What are you appreciating RIGHT NOW. 😀

[@ikanasisse9661]

just for the record, the portrait you show at 8:20 is a portrait of Louis the sixteenth, not Etienne-Louis Boullée Great vid though

[@espen990]

Yes, very awkward mistake!

[@jareknowak8712]

Fun Fact: Sphere is the most round object possible.

[@satyaprakash03133]

Did you propose that idea before the construction?

[@movimientoinformativo5314]

I think you beat around the bush a little in this video.

[@willodonnell6887]

8:17 this is king Louis XVI not Etienne-Louis Boullée

[@meececa]

I love the backhanded editorial approach :)

[@martyboi]

Hey Stewart are you an architect?

[@stewarthicks]

I passed all the ARE exams...

[@BadRAM512]

What's the thumbnail?

[@luc1792]

That was a phenomenal segue into the sponsor

[@Jakub_J3]

Yeah, that was perfect 😆

[@JavierIEscobar]

The most acerbic and sarcastic video of Stewart that I have seen to date. Extraordinario! Please keep it up! 😂

[@CrankyHermit]

Stuart Hicks, Windy City Snarkitect!

[@michaelimbesi2314]

7:17 Ahh, yes. Philosophy, science’s dumb cousin.

[@alohathaxted]

Its both scintillating and pixelating at the same time!

[@aristotlesimone4773]

Real Civil Engineer approves this intro

[@roxpace]

Very weird video which doesn't bring up what this building has copied and developed, the former biggest sphere building Avicii Arena (or Globe Arena) in Stockholm, Sweden.

[@itsROMPERS...]

Stuart, why a "fart" bubble? It's just a bubble.

[@Josh-yr7gd]

The fact that you remembered that line, means it served its purpose!😅

[@itsROMPERS...]

@@Josh-yr7gd That's a weird comment. I didn't "remember"it, it just struck me as gratuitously scatological. I'm ok with expressions like that, they don't offend me, just his use of this one seemed like he was just trying to sound outrageous for no reason. If he had the opinion that the Sphere was just an abomination period, then it would've been appropriate, but he didn't say that.

[@Josh-yr7gd]

@@itsROMPERS... He made a number of grade school jokes, like those about “balls”. I wondered if he would go there and sure enough he did. His older videos actually seemed a bit more stuffy with a lot of architectural jargon…informative and interesting, but a bit presumptuous. In his later videos, he’s definitely lightened the mood and doesn’t appear to be taking things so seriously. If I were you, I wouldn’t take things too seriously either and just “roll” with it!

[@itsROMPERS...]

@@Josh-yr7gd oh it's not like I actually care.

[@jamesboston]

The Ontario Place Cinesphere could use some love right now.

[@itsROMPERS...]

"more and more" and "progressively" mean the same thing. It's like saying "roundly circular".

[@lapiswolf2780]

13000tons-10000tons=3000tons

[@laurynharrell8529]

Your from content to ad transitions are dangerous.✨🤣💅✨

[@Dystopix]

You forgot to mention the "Globe" in Stockholm Sweden. It has an external diameter of 110.40 meters and a height (from the ground) of 85.20 meters and was inaugurated in February 1989. Currently called the Avicii Arena en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avicii_Arena

[@RoySchl]

damn, now I want to visit that non-existent day-night-switch sphere.

[@asafovdat]

When I first stumbled upon this cannel about a year ago it used to be interesting, educational, and felt refreshing to finally find a good entertaining channel about architecture. But for the past few videos you switched to a cynical/sarcastic tone accompanied by passing judgement on the subjects you are covering. Not sure if this is a way to get more views, but you definitely lost mine Stewart. If you want to be critical about something just be critical, thats part of the design discipline, but saying stuff like "[the sphere] is the epitome of efficiency, as it extracts everyone's money and transfers it to others" or "emerging from the desert like a fart bubble" makes me feel like I'm in a lecture delivered by a high school kid.

[@stewarthicks]

Appreciate the feedback. I will be toning it down in future videos.

[@rotisseriepossum]

0:20 what’s that?

[@PrvBen]

The Montréal Biosphere

[@yoankolev91]

I don’t know if you are aware of The Venus Project circular city designs. It would be interesting to hear what you think about it. To me it is the best city design that I am aware of.

[@jfmezei]

The sphere in Montréal was built as the US Pavillion for EXPO 67 by the USA. Architech: Buckminster Fuller. . He got the contract for the EXPO 67 by US government after doing a smaller dome for the US pavillion for commercial exposition in Kabul in 1958. The "habitable" (with floor) volume was limited but it did sport then longest escalator in the world at the time. Visitors would first rise to the top of concrete structure in middle and then wind their way down the various exhibits hung/floating inside the sphere, including much of actual space vehicles that had flown. The US Pavillion also had one of the 2 automated monorails systems pass through it. After EXPO, the building remained unused until some refurbishement to be tourist attraction for the 1976 Olympics. In spring, a blow torch too near to the plexiglass lighted the whole place up with no way to stop the fire. As a result of the fire, special measures were taken at the Olympics because the skylights at the Vélodrome were made of same material and were near the strong lights below them. Firemen were stationed on the roof whenever the lights were turned one for events. as well, the covers over fluorescent lights in the métro cars were replaced with perforated metal manels to provide some light diffusion without the risk of fire. The former US pavilion remains bare and abandonned until the 350s anniversary of Montréal where the feredal government wanted to do a gift and made thsi small museum inside the concrete structure inside the still bare geodesic structure. It never got its skin back.

[@shaunmorrison6448]

I can't express how happy I am that they got told to jog on with the London one. This nonsense belongs in Vegas.

[@carlgemlich1657]

This nonsense created jobs and tax revenue, along with advancing visual and audio technology.

[@fearsomefawkes6724]

​@@carlgemlich1657 There are less wasteful ways to do all of that

[@HLR4th]

More impressive than The Sphere was the amount of shade cast by this article. Impressive, most impressive. The mention of the Geonosians (and not just the Emperor) was appreciated.

[@nacoran]

Spherical buildings do pretty well in hurricanes. *Edit... half spheres.

[@elyas-tavakkoli]

beautiful awesome perfecto

[@american_comics_engineering]

Assuming that Plato really did believe in the Theory of the Forms -- not a given, being that the dialogues present us with many possible layers of irony -- he certainly didn't believe that the Forms reside in the mind alone. The Forms famously have objective existence in some timeless realm, and our souls encounter them between our lives.

[@jeffbybee5207]

The designer of octagional houses [ fowler ?] Also said his design wad ideal but i still love hypars

[@mrs.manrique7411]

Sir Isaac Newton’s spherical idea would have been amazing to see! Britain could be reminded of the other side of the world where they’d have more treasures to pilfer.

[@tverdyznaqs]

Loool you didn't even change the tone of voice for the ad read and it just sounds like more passive-aggressive sarcasm like the rest of the video was. bet the sponsor won't be too happy about that

[@comrade1158]

Oh my god the roman pantheon dome is brutalist

[@oceanbearmountain]

lmao loving this increasingly saucy stewart. a new, stewy stew, you may even say (with a hint of hickory), comin atcha with some ideas to chew

[@roccobierman4985]

Always happy to see a new Stewart Hicks video pop up.

[@SanGreal2007]

Tell us how you really feel about spheres...

[@curtdilger6235]

I usually like your videos but not this one. From the fart joke at the beginning to the incredibly lame commercial at the end, you really jumped the snark. The history of the dome is a distinguished one, beloved throughout history, with numerous works of architectural genius. If you're trying to please the crowd and prove you're not an intellectual, you've succeeded. In giving the great building type its due, even with providing some excellent examples, no, still not. I realize this will not be a popular opinion but I know you respect opposing views. Cheers Regards

[@stewarthicks]

I'll be toning down the snark for the foreseeable future. I'm always trying things....

[@curtdilger6235]

@@stewarthicks Thank you for your reply. Your work is generally excellent and even here there were possibilities of an excellent review of the dome in history. Your ongoing commentary is engaging and thoughtful, and I will continue to tune in. Regards

[@markbigbadbear]

AC/DC's Big Balls should have been the soundtrack for this episode. Missed opportunity 😁😁

[@bentz98125]

Some call it 'snark' and associate it with a loss of dignity. But what they consider dignified is really just pompous and as Voltaire demonstrated, the most potent antidote to pretension is humor. As for the one geometry to rule them all, do not acolytes of fractal geometry have a stronger case than the virility incubator admirers?

[@melissaroscher1080]

Enjoying your sarcasm/skeptical angles of late.

[@JasperNLxD]

I thought this was an april 1st joke or something 😆 Amazing video!

[@Alex_A7]

Puns and zingers in abundance on this one 😄

[@ImusNoxa]

Me: So why do you hate spheres?? Stewart Hicks: Oh, I don't hate spheres! They're monuments of human achievement! (But here's five reasons why I think they're not worth the hype) Also, Ground News actually sounds like an interesting platform. But I find it funny that the actual reporting spin off project from the Babylon Bee, a.k.a. The Catholic Onion, shows up under bias. I'd be surprised if they were more than a tiny bit serious

[@BrunoTorres1]

That's most certainly not Louis-Etienne Boulée but rather King Louis XVI...

[@jayski9410]

I'm surprised that Stewart didn't mention the Hoberman sphere. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoberman_sphere

[@Kexkrummel]

Étienne-Louis Boullée loved balls so much, that his last name is similar to the french word for bubble "bulle"

[@kholt1776]

So much snark in this one. Edgy high school presentation vibes.

[@maelstrom2313]

Yeah. I'm not a fan. I came for information but I'm picking up too much emotion.

[@maryhildreth754]

A house like that would be cool but hanging curtains would be a nightmare

[@segment932]

And don't forget about the golf ball in Stockholm, Sweden.

[@UnbeltedSundew]

Bees would beg to differ.

[@ferminpereira739]

As always! Great job 👏🏼 Love ur videos :)