A building can be designed with function or style as its primary purpose; this prompted three architects to write a book Learning from Las Vegas that studied the design of casinos in Las Vegas. Robert Venturi, a noted architect, coined the term to describe a building as a “duck” or a “decorated shed”, depending on its purpose. The study of the buildings and architecture on the Las Vegas strip saw how the main priorities of the buildings were not to function efficiently, but rather that their styles impress. The function of a ‘duck’ building is a by-product of design, while for a ‘decorated shed’ it is the purpose of its creation.
The term ‘duck’ was heavily influenced by the ‘Long Island Duck’, a building that was built by a duck farmer and used as a store to sell all of his duck products. The Big Duck was built in the 1930s and sacrifices interior space for the exterior façade of a Peking duck. This is the building that Robert Venturi used as an alternative to a ‘decorated shed’ when he was studying the architecture of his day. Novelty architecture was extremely common during the 1960s and 1970s in America, with some buildings taking the form of the products being sold. The Long Island Ducky was the beginning of such architecture and inspired iconic architecture such as giant donuts on top of donut stands, orange-shaped juice stands, and even a hot dog restaurant.
Robert Venturi and two other architects, Denise Scott Brown and Steven Izenour, who wrote the book that first brought the concept to light, see a building as a place to serve its purpose. At the time the book was written, Las Vegas was beginning to move away from the hamburger or chicken restaurant and into full-fledged buildings or resorts that mimicked cities and landmarks. They created the term ‘decorated shed’ to describe a building that is primarily designed and built to maximize efficiency and functionality.
The book didn’t say whether a duck or a decorated shed was better, just that they were different. Built with completely separate focus points, a duck would concentrate solely on how the building was presented to him. If a building had a grand, creative, or quirky exterior that made you appreciate detail and craftsmanship, then it has served its purpose. However, a decorated shed would treat the interior space and effectiveness of the building as its priority, with the exterior beautified after the interior is designed to maximize productivity.
In these modern times, a decorated shed is most likely to be built, as environmental demands; price and space are all sought after advantages of construction. Getting the right mix between functionality, practicality and exterior design is the job of modern architects who can follow Venturi’s theory. A building where style and function come together, like the Long Island Duckling, are rarely seen in recent times as there is no real need for them. Due to modern technology and techniques, it is possible to start a building with the intention of creating a decorated shed and end with a duck, as contemporary architecture now has limitless possibilities.