Vancouver Lighting

[delboy]

Originally Posted by Canadian Mind

Las Vegas is a bad example. The place is the rectum of America.

No it's Miami - beyond the art deco of the beach and collins ave, the rest, with a handful of excpetions, is a dump - believe me i lived there.

[Metro-One]

I would have to agree with the Miami comment, hehe

Everyone here knows my feelings on the subject.

And I find it hilarious that someone would say "the neon lights didn't save Granville in the past"

ummmmm, ok, well neither did lining them with trees, putting in traffic calming measures, etc... so I guess we should not do those either?

Quite possibly there were other factors at play? Like the explosion ownership of the automobile and the fleeing to the suburbs? The streets that had no lighting effects arguably fared much worse, in the sense that despite its rocky history, at least we still view Granville as the main entertainment street strip.

The point is having your principal entertainment streets well lit and active with neon and LED screens adds another important element in livening them up! (especially in a city that is as gray and dark as ours for half the year) It is not meant to be the "one" reason to go there or not, but it adds an extra spice. Just like adding street musicians adds another "spice" element to the street. As does adding nice street furniture, people don't go to a street simply to hear a street performer playing on their guitar or to see a nice bench, but when put together with other aspects they make the street much more warm, welcoming and active. The exact same is said for lights.

The perfect example is the corner of Robson and Granville. It is amazing on a misty or drizzly weekend night how much color and movement just two LED screens on future shop add to the corner.

[jlousa]

Of course it's a combination of factors, thats what I have been saying since the beginning. Neon signs are not the answer, the strips that had them were not saved because of them and putting them back up is not what would solve them. Robson has done pretty well for itself w/o any elaborate lighting, while some might believe Robson would be even better with signage I don't fall into that group.
Areas that do well are those that have something to attract people, lighting unfortunately isn't one of those things, the cool lightening at International Village shows how lighting while cool doesn't cure the real issues.

[Rusty Gull]

The neon is freakin' beautiful. The city would be foolish not to restore/refurbish/revitalize what we have left. And it does work particularly well at night.

I don't think anyone's asking for Granville to become the next Shibuya, but can it at least reclaim its glory from the 50s. I have seen some amazing portraits of Granville Street, and it was truly stunning. And neon was a big part of it.

It's a shame that, in some ways, the city has gone downhill since then... with Granville and Hastings streets leading the way.

[Metro-One]

Well yeah, that is because there is no one magic "cure" but lighting does help. I am sure that if International Village had no lighting on it, it would be even less known about and utilized. And as the area becomes more populated and revitalized, those lights may help it become a primary spot.

As for Robson, I don't think Robson really needs to change its lighting scheme to much either (although an LED screen on HMV or on the CTV building would not hurt)

Granville is where most of us want more LED screens and neons to be utilized.

In fact, compared to most streets in Vancouver, Robson street is pretty well lit and does have some nice lighting features, so one could argue lighting has helped establish Robson street (if lighting is no big deal and does not help anyhting, then why is Robson street compelled to put up those Christmas lights in the trees all winter long?).

And lighting does attract people, because if it didn't, then how come so many of the most entertainment districts use them like there is no tomorrow?

But as you said one can not simply slap up lights and expect success, it is a combination of things, and many of us here truly believe that adding some more lights will help out streets such as Granville and China Town.

The same "that wont solve this..." can be used for any street feature, such as trees, street furniture, street performers, etc...

Why do we plant trees along so many of our streets? One is crazy to expect that just by planting trees a street will become successful or just by adding traffic calming measures a street will flourish, so then why do we do them??? because they HELP create the desired atmosphere for a street, the same way more lights and signs would HELP parts of Vancouver achieve the desired atmosphere for entertainment and commercial districts.

[BCPhil]

Granville street and Broadway used to be great with all the signs, but then we outlawed them. I think Granville is just starting to catch up to where it was in the 60's.

But I don't think I would want to see random adverts allover every building. I would like to see more bright LED and Neon signs, promoting the business they are attached to, but I don't want to see ads for Rogers or Bell on the side of every business.

I would also like to see more structural lighting.

[trofirhen]

Originally Posted by Rusty Gull

The neon is freakin' beautiful. The city would be foolish not to restore/refurbish/revitalize what we have left. And it does work particularly well at night.

I don't think anyone's asking for Granville to become the next Shibuya, but can it at least reclaim its glory from the 50s. I have seen some amazing portraits of Granville Street, and it was truly stunning. And neon was a big part of it.

It's a shame that, in some ways, the city has gone downhill since then... with Granville and Hastings streets leading the way.

Good points, Rusty. But I have to tell you that back in the 60s, Kingsway was a MASS of signs, neon, flashing bulbs, you name it. And if people think it's not a beautiful street now (some do, I know), back then it was like the tackiest piece of Middle America you can think of. Crass, ugly, cheaply glitzy, and generally grotesque. It's still no beauty boulevard, but it's less of a shock to the Central Nervous System now than then.

[Chikinlittle]

It seems that more nights that not recently there are spotlights shining into the sky downtown. This used to be somewhat rare. What are all the different spots are they coming from?

[jlousa]

The giants have used them since day one when they are playing at the Colsieum, I noticed the 4 spotlights in the sky downtown tonight, couldn't tell where they were located though, seems to be south of pender and west of hamilton, but I couldn't narrow it down more then that as I didn't care enough to find out.

[sono65]

They're from Sears believe it or not. The past few weekends I've been walking about downtown they have them set up on the corner of Robson and Howe. Not exactly sure what for.

[Delirium]

speaking of lighting, here's the concept for "ice light" by Berlin-based artist Gunda Förster. this lighting will be permanent...


http://olympichostcity.vancouver.ca/city.../publicartprogram/major-venues-sites.htm

and this sounds really interesting;

Bright Light will feature a collection of 14 commissioned public art projects that will take place along and around Vancouver’s Carrall Street Greenway before and during the 2010 Winter Games. The project is a joint effort of artists and arts organizations based and/or active in the Downtown Eastside, who are collaborating to produce installations and events that will light up the neighbourhood and showcase the community’s cultural vitality.

All Bright Light events are free of charge. To learn more about programming, dates, times and locations, visit www.bright-light.ca

[Canadian Mind]

Movie?

Love the lighting idea for city hall. The white light looks good, but it would be nice to have the colours change for future special events/holidays (White and red for July 1st, green and red for Christmas, etc.). Is that a part of the idea?

[officedweller]

Originally Posted by sono65

They're from Sears believe it or not. The past few weekends I've been walking about downtown they have them set up on the corner of Robson and Howe. Not exactly sure what for.

They've also had them on the Georgia & Granville entrance on Friday nights too. That could account for the 4 spotlights.
Surpising that they are so visible given that the lights themselves are only a couple of feet off the ground.

And Christmas lights are up on the Patina Crane - hopefully Capitol and Dolce will follow - but I've heard Wall Financial is pretty cheap on stuff like that (don't recall lights on the Yaletown Park cranes when it was going up)

[officedweller]

Posted over at Urban TO - Dublin Ireland tower

http://www.casttv.com/video/u4d9ob1/official-mark-knight-d-ramirez-v-underworld-downpipe-video

[vancityrox]

I dont know if anyone mentioned this but I noticed the other day that they changed the sign above the Venue night club. It used to be th old Plaza neon sign that never lit up. Now they put in Venue in nice neon style lighting. It looks really nice. Good job guys. Hopefully they can influence the other businesses around to do the same.

[Locked In]

^ Check out the Granville Street redesign thread for pics of the Venue sign.

------------

Editorial from the Vancouver Sun:

We need a public place to preserve our neon heritage

Vancouver Sun - November 19, 2009


Signs of the times on Hastings Street: Worth preserving.
Photograph by: Steve Bosch, Vancouver Sun files, Vancouver Sun

Neon, chemists tell us, is one of the noble gases. And when French businessman Georges Claude perfected neon light in Paris in 1910, neon's "regal" stature soon became apparent.

After dazzling Parisians with his products, Claude brought neon to North America in 1923. North Americans were soon as enthralled by neon light as their European counterparts, and neon signs sprang up in cities across Canada and the United States.

Vancouver was no exception, and by 1953, there were some 19,000 neon signs in the city. Many of the signs were designed by local artists and became landmarks, beloved by people who would pass them each day.

But evidently not beloved by everyone. As Vancouver Sun reporter John Mackie explained in a recent story, just a decade after neon signs had reached their peak, it appeared their time had gone.

In the 1960s, city council passed bylaws forbidding the use of the signs, apparently in deference to those who thought the signs ugly and gaudy, better suited for display in dystopian science-fiction movies than in a metropolis struggling to become a world class city.

Fortunately, city council now has more noble aims than ridding the city of a noble gas, and neon signs have made something of a comeback, at least on Granville Street.

But many of the most famous signs have disappeared. This was often the result, not of a crusading city council, but of something much more prosaic: Many stores that built the signs have closed down, and new stores don't want to keep signs that advertise the former establishments.

But whatever the cause of the demise of neon, the loss of many famous signs does represent a loss for Vancouver. Certainly, we must make way for the future, but we must also recognized that it's important to remember, and preserve, the past.

This is why Heritage Vancouver works to protect buildings, neighbourhoods and even trees of historical interest. And fortunately, Heritage Vancouver is thinking of putting neon signs on its annual list of the most endangered heritage sites.

But recognizing the problem and solving it are two different things. So we must consider what to do with the neon signs that no longer serve their original purposes.

One possibility is to display them in a museum, and indeed, the Vancouver Museum has a collection of neon signs. But it doesn't have sufficient room to store them all.

Perhaps other museums, or art galleries, could pick up the slack here, including museums that aren't specifically interested in Vancouver history. After all, at least some of the signs are sculptures, works of art produced by local artists, and therefore deserve a place in museums in Metro Vancouver showcasing modern art.

But the problem with museums is that one must enter the buildings to see the artworks displayed. Yet Vancouver's signs were public works of art, available to everyone who ventured outside, rather than entered into a museum.

And to preserve that aspect of the signs, Vancouver would have to make an effort to ensure the signs remain on display. This is not as hard as it might seem: Burnaby, for example, chose to install on city property the famed sign for Helen's Children's Wear after the business closed.

Surely there are many areas of Vancouver which could benefit from the light and attraction neon signs provide, even if those signs don't refer specifically to businesses in the area. Some people have suggested that the signs could help both pedestrians and business owners in some areas of Chinatown.

That would be a start. And the important thing here is to start -- to start thinking about how to preserve an important part of Vancouver history -- for the sake of the city's present and future.

© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun

Source: Vancouver Sun

[Vancity]

^I'm all for the neon signs making a comeback. It would definitely liven certain parts of the city.

[Spoolmak]

How come you cant see Shangri-La at night? Numerous times this week I have driven over the Iron workers and its practically non existent. Why is this? There isn't even lighting at the top.

[SpongeG]

well the owners move into the penthouse and put up their icicle lights you can see it

[\/^~<0(_)\/{9]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

yah they should put up colour changing LEDS on vancouver harbour

Back in the summer (around mid July I think) they had exactly that on the top of Harbour Centre for a few weeks, but only on the south side of the building. Then all of a sudden they were gone. I'm guessing they were maybe just testing them out but it would be cool if they did that around the whole building for the Olympics. ...anyone know of anything?