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Best building in Vancouver?

cypress

If you had to name one building as the best in Vancouer ... what would it be?

 
Jun 19, 06 2:19 pm
bob_dobbalina

Museum of Anthropology.

Bing Thom's apartment tower on Georgia st.

Jun 21, 06 3:17 am  · 
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j-turn

the courthouses by arthur ericsson. It's strikingly contemporary. Very interesting landscape/ architectural urban design intermeshing.

Jun 21, 06 6:01 am  · 
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whistler

Museum of Anthropology- Erickson
Robson Lawcourts - Erickson
Smith House- Erickson
SFU- Erickson ( must be seen without people, ie a sunday afternoon in summer, People just get in the way of the architecture, it feels more temple like that way.)

Pretty much most of the Patkaus work.

I used to work for Bing Thom and I don't think he ever showed the clarity or brilliance that the Patkaus or Erickson have.

Jun 21, 06 12:26 pm  · 
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bob_dobbalina

the Shaw house on point grey road to be more specific of the Patkau's work.

Is there a better tower in Vancouver than the Bing Thom thing?

Jun 21, 06 1:27 pm  · 
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cypress

What tower is it? Do u have a photo?

Jun 21, 06 1:31 pm  · 
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cypress

You mean "the Point"?? It is good.

What about the Marine Building. The lobby is amazing.

Jun 21, 06 1:38 pm  · 
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cypress

I think the old BC Hydro building ... now named the Electra ... is pretty good too.

The BC Binning mosaic walls are sweet.

Jun 21, 06 1:42 pm  · 
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whistler

I would say that towers are troublesome only in that the motivation behind them doesn't really justify superb architecture. I worked on a Homer street tower at Bing's office that I felt was very average. Others I find interesting;

The Sylvia- Henriquez (breaks out of the box, literally)
Wall Center- Busby ( clean and slick, everything the Sylvia isn't)
The Old Mac Blo office on Georgia-Erickson (Pure concrete brutalism)
1500 Georgia- Rhone Iredale w/ Peter Cardew ( Old school moderism )

Jun 21, 06 1:48 pm  · 
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bob_dobbalina

speaking of Binning and murals what is happening at the old CIBC branch at Granvillie & Dunsmuir? there are fantastic murals inside, hope thay don't suffer the fate of the murals at the old public library building. That was pretty lame excuse for a conservation effort.


Yes I think it is called "the point"

the west coast transmission building is pretty cool and certainly unique. now known as the "cube".

Jun 21, 06 1:50 pm  · 
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bob_dobbalina

"I would say that towers are troublesome only in that the motivation behind them doesn't really justify superb architecture. I worked on a Homer street tower at Bing's office that I felt was very average. Others I find interesting"

then producing a decent tower should be considered all the greater achievement, no?

Yes but the question isn't about the architect's work but it is which is the best building?

The Sylvia- Henriquez (breaks out of the box, literally)

yes not bad but a little too eighties PO/MO? deconstructivista?

Wall Center- Busby ( clean and slick, everything the Sylvia isn't)

how did Peter Wall get the black glass past Busby? Surely Busby didn't agree to such a throw-back to the seventies and deception?


The Old Mac Blo office on Georgia-Erickson (Pure concrete brutalism)

is it really brutalism? the concrete outer walls taper as they rise and become more delicate. the concrete does not show the marks of the formwork. I don't find it as "brutal" as the completely banal Royal Bank/Hyatt Royal Centre next door.

1500 Georgia- Rhone Iredale w/ Peter Cardew ( Old school moderism )

Too bad it doesn't engage the street a little better. Heard An ignorant tour guide from Seattle say that the fountain/waterfall was known as the urinal.
Funny, I have never heard that. Stupid ignorant tour guides that make stuff up! Should be shot.

Jun 21, 06 2:06 pm  · 
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whistler

Yes I agree but I think that the ones I find interesting kind of are a little out of the norm particulatly when they were done. I agree with the West Coast Transmission Building too. The Developer of the Cube is a client and actually pretty interested in doing interesting work, at least for himself.

My dad worked at various times in both the Mac Blo building and the West Coast Transmission........ I used to go visit him when I was a kid.

Hey maybe that's why I'm an Architect.

Regardless its nice to see any building breakaway or attempt to break out from the characteristic mold of the day. Not sure what's coming down the pipe in Vancouver, but it would nice to see someone other than Jim Cheng, Perkins, Bruckner etc. do something differnent.

See what the twisty thing Erickson's working on looks like.

Jun 21, 06 2:18 pm  · 
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