The Neon Museum Las Vegas

This guide to the Neon Museum's La Concha shell lobby tells the story of Paul Revere Williams, the first Black architect admitted to the American Institute of Architects, who designed the swooping concrete shell for a Strip motel in 1961 while working under segregation in the same city his buildings glamorized. It traces the irony of his celebrated Strip work set against the housing he also designed for Black families kept apart from the resorts. Look at the poured concrete curves around you and notice how thin the shell really is.