May 26, 2011
Photo of Vancouver by Colleen Hardwick
Vancouver is in the throes of a real estate gold rush. While Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore and China have passed legal deterrents such as property speculation taxes on second homes, Vancouver (and all of British Columbia) have not.
April 29, 2011
Photo of Athens condo tower, via the highrise-loving blog skyscrapercity. Athens has now put a stop to highrises and is sticking with low-rise density. Is the above what we want for our Chinatown?
April 25, 2011
April 17, 2011
Above: db Bistro, now closed. Overrefined corporate decor, dreary and visually bleak. New York in the 80s?
“The murals in restaurants are on a par with the food in museums.” ~ Peter de Vries, 1977
Vancouver is overrun with restaurants blighted not just with notably bad art but also with a type of generic commercial decor that makes you want to throw cutlery.
April 16, 2011
Harland Bartholomew, a key figure in twentieth-century Canadian and American urban planning, designed a comprehensive plan for the City of Vancouver between 1926 – 1930. Bing Thom Architects/ BTA Works have been working with the Vancouver City Archive and the Museum of Vancouver on a series on the “Bart Plan” as it’s known in planning circles.
April 6, 2011
This is a belated short note to say I am participating in the Vancouver Art Gallery’s current exhibition WE Vancouver—12 Manifestos for the City, running February 12–May 1, 2011.
April 1, 2011
Whatever happened to planters like these two? They may still be in production, but wherever they are still available, and that’s nearly nowhere, they’re civic-sized, weigh 500-1000 pounds, and are out of scale for people’s home gardens.
March 29, 2011
In 1967 a group of citizens waged a fractious and clever fight against a massive freeway system that would have flattened much of Vancouver’s downtown core and surrounding heritage districts. The fight was led by Vancouver citizens Shirley and Mary Chan, Mike Harcourt (later mayor and then premier of the province) and many other volunteers.
“Application to the City of Vancouver to develop an abysmal chasm for purposes of facilitating public reverie, contemplation and longing.” Makes me laugh every time I look at it. By my friend & Vancouver artist Aaron Carpenter.
March 13, 2011
[UPDATE: I was just informed by the artist’s son Guy that this mural is now threatened, after gracing the lowest floor of City Hall for over 40 years! It’s odd that the City now says it will demolish or paint over the mural, having recently asked Guy and his sister for a bio of their father, suggesting that City Hall had intended to preserve his work.
