Design Books to Win

Design Books to Win No. 3: Signed Copies of Learning from Las Vegas (2nd edition)

December 6, 2013

Six copies of the second edition of the seminal architecture book Learning from Las Vegas (1977; originally published 1972) by Robert Venturi, Denise Scott Brown, and Steven Izenour—signed by Venturi and Scott Brown—will be given away in a drawing. This rare opportunity honors the 45th anniversary of the groundbreaking 1968 Yale studio course that prompted the book. (Our interview with Denise Scott Brown will appear on Designers & Books in January.)

Drawing No. 3: Win one of six signed copies of Learning from Las Vegas (2nd edition)

The copies of the book have generously been donated by the publisher, The MIT Press.

Cover of Learning from Las Vegas (revised 2nd edition) by Robert Venturi, Denise Scott Brown, and Steven Izenour (1977, The MIT Press)

Learning from Las Vegas, according to its publisher, “created a healthy controversy on its first appearance in 1972, calling for architects to be more receptive to the tastes and values of ‘common’ people and less immodest in their erections of ‘heroic,’ self-aggrandizing monuments.” It is often credited with changing the course of architecture from a strictly modernist approach to one that acknowledged popular culture, and with changing the way architecture is taught. The book is the outcome of a field course that architects Venturi and Scott Brown taught at Yale University in 1968 during which they took a group of students to analyze the emerging city of Las Vegas to study its Strip, with its signage, parking lots, and clusters of wedding chapels.

From Learning from Las Vegas by Robert Venturi, Denise Scott Brown, and Steven Izenour

The 1972 first edition, now a collector’s item, is no longer in print. The 1977 second, revised edition, redesigned by Venturi and Scott Brown so that it would be more affordable for students, has been a best seller and translated into 12 languages worldwide.

To enter your name for the drawing to win a copy of Learning from Las Vegas, register with the following information or register with a Tweet. See the Official Rules here.

In recognition of the the impact and influence that Learning from Las Vegas has had throughout the world, Designers & Books will endeavor to choose one winner from each of the six continents (not including Antarctica). The drawing will open December 7 at 12:01 p.m, EST, and close at at 12:01 p.m., December 21, EST.

Subscribe by e-mail, follow Designers & Books on Twitter and Facebook, or use the hashtag #bookstowin to receive information and updates about “Design Books to Win.”

Design Books to Win Nos. 1 and 2 Winners Announced

Robert Venturi's Book List

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