Supported by structural steel, the grid is composed of pressurized Ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE) pillows-a kind of high-tech plastic. Fascinated with gridshells-latticed, double-curved structures-the architect and engineer arrived at the sweeping curves of the canopy after extensive tests and modeling. He worked closely with engineer Nicholas Goldsmith, of FTL Design Engineering Studio, to devise a beautiful yet cost-effective porte-cochère. “We really looked at the porte-cochère as a sculptural object that would be a reinterpre-tation of the racetrack.” Valgora opened the steel-frame building by adding a glass facade. “He wanted to do something completely contemporary and reinvent the place,” says the firm's principal, Jay Valgora. Wishing to literally build on this success, Rooney asked the New York'based Studio V to create a 63,000-square-foot addition for the existing casino. Rooney-whose family owns the Pittsburgh Steelers-transformed the flagging raceway into a top-performing casino. Once known for its storied racetrack, where prominent thoroughbreds such as Seabiscuit once galloped, the 115-year-old facility fell into decline by 2000, The New York Times stated grimly that “Yonkers Raceway is dying.” With a multi-million-dollar renovation designed by EwingCole and the introduction of slot machines in 2006, however, owner Timothy J. “How you feel when you leave a casino and it's 3 in the morning and the color you want to experience.” “We thought a lot about it conceptually,” Tillotson says.

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