Vancouver. What’s the first thing that comes to mind?

For some of us it’s the spectacular natural beauty. For others, it’s the yoga-doing, sushi-eating lifestyle. Heralded as the “California” of the North, it’s a gem of a city on the verge of global recognition.

Architecturally though, it’s a little boring. After all, with such natural splendour, why bother with varying form? Apart from a lucky few, the skyline is dominated with repeating steel and glass monoliths, boxes housing expensive condo units the size of my drawer.

And yet, there seems to be something brewing; at a Westbank lecture by Bjarke Ingels (yeah, he's a babe) of BIG Architecture this past spring, Vancouverites asked themselves why their city fails to deliver world-renowned form. Is it due to the lack of local talent? I doubt it. Has it to do with the interplay between local economy, developer-centric penchants for quick profits and “new money” coming in from all over the world? Possibly. While we can never point a finger to one big cause of this letdown in Vancouver, we can at least start to remedy it. From a community perspective, this means an overhaul of current planning regulations, more international competitions and a complete rethinking of our real estate market. Those are big things that will take years to do.

Individually though, we can start small; each of us can become architectural critics. In Writing about Architecture, New York architecture and design critic, Alexandra Lang writes, “What we need are more critics—citizen critics—equipped with the desire and the vocabulary to remake the city”, and I could not agree with her more. More than ever, there’s a need for regular people like you and I to be pro-active about our city planning.

1.       Start Small. The world of architecture, development and planning is huge and confusing. Start with little steps and ask yourself what you want to learn. Is it architecture, urban planning or a combination of both? Are you interested in institutional projects or towers? Do you live in a particular area you would like to focus on? In Vancouver, a lot of attention is currently centred around housing affordability and tackling homelessness and the inflated real estate market (more on that in future posts) but each city differs. Recently, the city launched a Housing Affordability contest. You can take a look at the winners here.

2.       Read (a lot!) and then go travel. First off, all cities (unless you're in Tehran or something) will publish their Council minutes and info online. That's a little boring to read but if you want up to date info on new projects, it's the place to start. Luckily, Vancouver has a synopsis of large project submissions here. If that's not your cup of tea, there are bloggers out there that will highlight projects as they come up.

Of course, when looking at a project, it might be useful to know a thing or two about architecture. Not only will it serve you well at cocktail parties (…"oh I hear blah blah pays homage to Le Corbusier…"), it will help you appreciate a building a lot more. Books are always a great start but often it's key to actually go and experience something to truly understand it. When it comes to local projects, visiting interesting sites is not all that hard. Luckily for you, I'll be publishing some lovely top ten architectural sites in the near future along with some books I think are absolutely splendid for architecture.

3. Everyone (usually) has a valid opinion. I once chatted with a development manager about a man in North Vancouver that has attended every single Public Hearing for the past five years. He constantly misses the mark on facts and rambles on incoherently, but what's important here is that his opinion remains valid and that the District continues to listen. If this man, with no planning or architecture experience, can affect his community, you, far superior, can too.

Don't get disheartened with lengthy planning sessions, pompous architects (they exist! I know, how terrible!) or even more pompous developers, confusing jargon or the difference between a Corinthian or Greek (or whatever) column. It's our ultimate responsibility and privilege to voice opinions about where we live and to create meaningful space. It's not easy but it's possible.

This blog is meant to chronicle Vancouver’s big transformation to a world metropolis. It’s a blog about cities and architecture for people, like me, who are only just starting on the road to understanding it all. And maybe it’s also about me and my transformation as I move from one phase of my life to another in one of the most beautiful places in the world.

Who am I? I’m a recent finance grad turned real estate developer turned future architecture student.  I’ve worked at a real estate developer, an architectural firm and had the opportunity to direct the New Student Union Building Project (more on that one later) on campus. I would like to think that these experiences have brought me a little bit closer to understanding the nebulous world of architecture.