‘What is a Hotel, and Four other (More Interesting) Questions. Presented in the AA’s First Year studio, a short (and pretty random) survey of the euphoric role that travel, tourism and hotels have played in the projects and personalities of modern architecture. (As Le Corbusier once wrote, the only place he could ever really think, and write, was while travelling like a tourist on an Ocean Liner). Robert Venturi’s discovery of the vast darkened interiors of Las Vegas Casinos; John Portman’s hotel atria (and Jameson’s later critique of their self-contained life of the city); Kracauer’s Hotel Lobby essay, and several dozen other examples.