NEW YORK, Jan 12, 2008 / FW/ — The other city of lights, housing 17 of the 20 largest hotels in the U.S., and 40 million visitors annually – that’s Las Vegas statistics in a nutshell. The city continues to expand and pretty soon, it will have a new ‘resident’ – the World Jewelry Center, (WJC) with approximately one million square feet of mixed-use space.
Taking the phrase form and function to heart, the designer of the WJC, Altoon + Porter Architects, one of the nations leading firms specializing in architecture, planning, urban design and interior architecture, invoked the shape of a fresh-cut diamond for the building silhouette, making the structure iconic and a landmark at the same time.
Still under construction (no date for completion has been announced yet), WJC is envisioned to be a hub for the best, brightest and most sought-after jewelry artisans to conduct business, manufacture, sell and even reside there.
A mixed-used space, the World Jewelry Center can accommodate corporate offices, free-standing galleries of retail jewelry stores and luxurious residential condominiums; when finished, it will one of the largest jewelry hubs on the planet.
The world has never seen anything the like of WJC, where the ‘gem’ is the true centerpiece of a collection and not just an accessory. Designed to be a one-stop shop for both gem and jewelry professionals and the consuming public, the World Jewelry Center is a groundbreaking concept as it creates a new global marketplace for gems and jewelry.
[MARGUERITE SEBASTIEN]
Photo: Artist rendition of the World Jewelry Center, courtesy of WJC)
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