Vancouver’s Twisted Architecture: Eye Candy or Eyesore?
Like many cities today, Vancouver is home to several strange-looking new buildings that are loved by some and hated by others. In the early 20th century, the competition amongst city developers, corporate head offices and architects was to see who could build the tallest skyscraper. Fast forward to the early 21stcentury and the battle of the architects is to see who can use computer software to generate towers with wild, weird and/or wacky shapes and facades. It is all about being contemporary with a twist.
Recently, I posted on social media some of Vancouver’s new buildings to get people’s reaction. Some saw them as “eye candy” others as “eyesores?”
Almost exclusively architects, urban planners and creative types thought the contemporary buildings were interesting and added a new dimension to the urban landscape dominated mostly by box-shaped buildings with gleaming glass facades.
Lay people on the other hand, almost exclusively thought they were ugly, stupid and silly. The gap between the urban design community and the public these days is huge.
While I was posting my photos of Vancouver’s tall buildings with a twist (literally and figuratively) someone posted on Twitter they thought “today’s urban design community is building the city they want to live in, rather than what the citizens what to live in.”
This was reinforced by a Twitter post on the same day by a city planner showing a photo of a quaint European city street with the caption “this is the city I want to live in.” I resisted Twitting back “but is that the city the average citizen wants to live in?”
There has always been a gap between the professional design community and the public, but I think it has widen with the advent of social media and the use of computers to design buildings, streets and other public spaces that seem to be getting more and more strange.
Full Disclosure: I like some of the weird and wacky new buildings, they appeal to my urban sensibility, but I also realize I am in the minority. I learned this a long time ago when I was the Executive Director/Curator at the Muttart Public Art Gallery and I would listen to the response to the exhibitions from the art community vs the public. So often the comments were diametrically opposed. The term “art for artist sake” refers to art and exhibitions with limited public appeal but “eye candy” for the arts community. I am think today we may have “urban design for the sake of the design community” when it comes to how we design our buildings, parks, public spaces and streets. Here are some examples of strange Vancouver high-rise buildings.
The Tower Formerly Known As Trump Tower
Now known as 1151 Residences and Paradox Hotel, this 60-storey tower that combined a hotel with condos was originally branded as the Trump Tower before the original developer of the hotel went bankrupt. The tower is famous not only because of its controversial name but it was one of the last major buildings designed by Canada’s signature architect Arthur Erickson. It is a triangular building, with a 45 degree twist from bottom to top created by its façade window pattern. In architectural terms it is described as having a hyperbolic paraboloid form similar to Turning Torso in Malmo, Sweden, which is considered to be the first “twisted tower.”
After a couple of walks in Stanley Park, the twist in this tower reminds me of the twists in the trunks of the huge Douglas Fir trees that are like nature’s skyscrapers. The tallest tree in Stanley Park is currently a 206 foot (63m or about 20-storeys) Douglas Fir which resides in a Douglas Fir stand at the south end of Beaver Lake in Stanley Park.
Vancouver House
Vancouver House a 53-storey mixed-use tower by Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) that looks like an upside down skyscraper, rather than tapering at the top, it becomes wider at the top, offering more suites in the upper stories where residents will have great views. It is the opposite of the vast majority of Vancouver residential towers which had a broad podium at the base for commercial uses and then a narrower residential tower above. It looks like a tornado.
FYI: Calgary’s Telus Sky tower also by BIG is the opposite of Vancouver house, as it has a thick base (to accommodate office space) that tapers dramatically half-way up (residential space) to create a champagne bottle-like shape. It is also the opposite in that it is has dark façade vs Vancouver House’s light façade.
Photo credit: Architizer
Alberni Tower
Alberni Tower designed by Japanese architectural firm Kengo Kuma & Associates is 43-story tower that has two deep curved recesses on the front and back of the building (looks a bit like a monster took a bite out of it) to create an awkward shaped building with a twist that has parallels with Vancouver House. The façade of the building is pixelated like the skin of a snake with shades of white, blues and greys that blend in with Vancouver’s sky. It takes on a different shape depending what angle you are looking at it (at one point it looks like a monster has taken a bit out of the building) and different colour depending on the light. The facade is a series of overlapping panels in different colours that give is a snake-like skin.
Telus Gardens
Telus Gardens, designed by Vancouver’s Henriquez Partners Architects has a dramatic street entrance pavilion that is like the wing of bird taking off. The canopy not only protects people from the rain but captures the rain and recycles it. And while overall the building has a traditional rectangle shape the façade has several smaller rectangular protrusion that jut out from the side of the building (Jenga-like) to create what looks like little sun rooms and in one case like a pedestrian sky bridge to nowhere. The result is a strange looking building that looks like it is trying too hard to be different.
Deloitte Summit Tower
The Deloitte Summit Tower by Tokyo-based OSO Architects, is a modest 24-storeys, but it packs a big punch with its series of 4-storey stacked reflective glass cubes rotated around the elevator shaft. It looks like the towers I used to design with the neighbour kids using children’s building block, but without the colour. Visually the building has no obvious front or back. It’s cold, sharp edge and angular massing is diametrically opposed to the gentle curve of the warm earth tones of the iconic Vancouver Central Library next door designed by one of Canada’s other signature architects Moshe Safdie.
The Stack
The Stack, Vancouver’s tallest office building at a modest 36 storeys, is a hybrid of the Deloitte Summit Tower and Telus Gardens. It is literally four boxes stacked slightly off kilter with each other much like a child would stack toy blocks. Designed by Vancouver architect James Cheng, it is a glass tower with a whimsical twist – pun intended.
The Butterfly
The Butterfly is a 57-storey skyscraper designed by Revery Architecture with a white bulbous façade that is meant to mimic the ephemeral nature of clouds. It also includes the revitalization of the historic First Baptist Church (built in 1911) that will allow it to continue its programs for those in need – shelter, meals, day care, recreation and counselling.
The entrance has a tall welcoming cathedral-like vault, the land was owned by the neighbouring heritage church. It is also a nod to the fact in Vancouver today’s cathedrals are the residential towers, not the 20thCentury office towers like in most North American cities.
Cardero
Designed by Henriquez Partners Architects, this 26-storey residential tower with a four storey commercial podium at its base – a classic Vancouver point-tower. However, instead a flat façade of green glass, it has large, white V-shaped protruding triangular /privacy shades on the residential balconies on two sides. The large white V-shades hide the glass facade behind it and gives the building a reptilian quality. It is a continuation of the popular trend today to utilize the balcony as a key design element for residential towers around the world. In this case the façade looks like the neck of a lizard.
Muro, Formerly Berkely Tower
Over in the West End on English Bay, Vancouver’s best known artist Douglas Coupland has created huge mural on all four sides of the 62-year old apartment tower formerly known as Berkeley Tower, now rebranded as Muro. The colourful mural is titled “Sunset Beach Love Letter” which is appropriate as Sunset Beach is nearby which is a popular spot for locals and tourist to watch the sunset. It is an interesting experiment in using public art to enhance the architecture of an older building. The mural’s bold colours and geometric patterns immediately reminded me of the indigenous art of Mexico and Latin American. It is a welcome addition of colour and playfulness to the West End on those dreary rainy winter months.
FYI: While doing some research it turns out the inspiration was from the tiles of public spaces and buildings in Spain. I can’t help but wonder if the new name “Muro” isn’t a play on the famous Spanish artists “Miro.” In Portuguese, “muro” means “wall,” which could reference the proximity to the “sea wall,” or Coupland’s mural on the wall of the building.
Last Word
Douglas Coupland in 2000, wrote a book about Vancouver titled “The City of Glass” in reference to the plethora of cookie-cutter residential towers built in the ‘90s with floor to ceiling windows that created with facades that made them look like glass towers. The city’s skyline was literally a series of homogeneous glass towers because developers learned they could get quick approvals if they built buildings that looked like ones already been approved.
Glass towers still dominate Vancouver’s skyline, but more and more it is being punctuated by strange shaped buildings less dominated by glass and the traditional rectangular shape. Also, the balcony has be rediscovered as a key element in creating signature residential towers.
Yes the new weird and wacky towers are “eye candy to some and eyesores to others,” but that has always the case with modern architecture - there are very few buildings liked by everyone.
Interested in rail travel to Vancouver check out this site: Canada Rail Tours
Vancouver’s homogenous glass skyline created in the ‘90s.
If you are interested in more modern architecture blog? Here are some links:
Calgary Architecture: The Hub Rethinks The Box!