“Good design gives people a special sense of place, of self and of the present. It should heighten one’s sense of drama, humor, serenity, mystery and comfort,” says Roger Thomas. “Design should not attempt to replicate another place or time but should create a unique reality—although it can incorporate memory as one component. Good design is honest, original and captivating.” As the creative force behind Wynn Design and Development’s legendary resorts, including The Mirage, Bellagio and Wynn Las Vegas, Thomas believes that a comprehensive education in art history enables a designer to “innovate with confidence.”

He is most influenced by Palladio, who, he notes, “taught us the language of proportion and rhythm,” as well as by the decorative arts and architecture of 18th-century France and the modernists of 20th-century France, Austria and the United States. In the reception area wading pool of the Wynn Macau, he recently placed statues of two nearly life-size cloisonné camels—as if they were walking on water—and is now working on “the sophisticated younger sister” of Wynn Las Vegas, a hotel located just next door. “Increased globalization and exposure via travel and information technology will encourage ever more dramatic, even cinematic, concepts in design and architecture in terms of historic reference, scale and fantasy,” predicts Thomas.

Roger Thomas

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