The Vdara Death Ray

During my visit to Vegas in August we stopped by the new Vdara hotel just to see what it looked like.  I didn't see the pool area, but now wish I had:

Forget sunscreen. At one Las Vegas pool, you might want to consider full-body armor to protect you from the sun's powerful rays.

Guests at the new Vdara hotel have been complaining that because of an architectural flaw on the glass skyscraper, the sun's rays are being magnified and reflected onto an area of the pool, causing severe burns. There have been reports that even plastic has melted from the heat.

Bill Pintas almost lost some hair from his experience with the hot spot.

After a recent swim in the pool just after noon, he went back to his lounge chair.

"I'm sitting there in the chair and all of the sudden my hair and the top of my head are burning," Pintas told ABC News. "I'm rubbing my head and it felt like a chemical burn. I couldn't imagine what it could be."

Pintas shifted around and suddenly the back of his legs were burning. He ran to a nearby umbrella but even that didn't provide cover, let alone a shadow.

"It was as bright as outside," said Pintas, a Chicago lawyer who owns a condo at the Vdara.

 "I used to live in Miami and I've sat in the sun in Las Vegas 100 times. I know what a hot sun feels like and this was not it," he added. "My first inclination was thinking: Jesus we've destroyed the ozone layer because I am burning."

This reminds me of the problem the Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles ran into after it opened. The polished stainless steel structure was focusing solar energy on pedestrians and neighboring buildings.  Parts of the sidewalk were heating to 140 degrees, and condo owners across from the Hall were seeing temperature increases of as much as 15 degrees in their units, not to mention the blinding glare.  The architect finally had to brush the stainless steel to reduce the glare and solar radiation.