New Vancouver Art Gallery | Proposed

[LeftCoaster]

Originally Posted by csbvan

Was everybody expecting the Guggenheim?

For $350 million for a 300,000 sf building... yes.

At over $1,000 PSF in cost I would expect the building to be much more visually expressive than several drab boxes stacked on top of each other.

At it's core this building is a brutalism structure clad in wood instead of concrete. Looks like something that already exists at SFU with some wood paneling slapped on the side. I sincerely hope this building gets a complete re-design.

[red-paladin]

$350 million for a 300,000 sf building ... on donated land.

[The Corporal]

I'm surprised by all the criticism, I don't love it but ultimately it's a building that primarily should be experienced from the inside out. It's a H+dM building after all, and this is very characteristic of their art gallery work. I think too many people were expecting Bilbao Mark II. Personally I'm happy we didn't get an overblown gimmick design.

[officedweller]

Originally Posted by askewed

from the Vancouver Sun website, posted just now.



a link to the story and pictures: http://www.vancouversun.com/news/metro/v...near+queen+elizabeth/11399902/story.html

UGH.

I know it needs to be a big windowless box, but I figured they'd take a cue from the VCCEP and clothe the biggest of the windowless galleries with light-filled public areas (all the better for the social functions expected to be held there).

It's even worse than the first iteration of the Paragon casino (which was also clad in wood).

The reception desk looks so "Robson Square" that it seems like they are screaming to recreate the old site at the new one.

[steve61]

http://www.straight.com/files/v3/images/15/09/438-rep-1_150922_press-images2.jpg

[Pinion]

Never thought the polygon gallery would be the better looking art gallery of the two.

[Vin]

Wow, a new age Shinto buddhist temple....I`m almost expecting new age samurai warriors running amok around the pine-scented wooden floors......So new-age zen, ohhmmmmmmmm

[LowerLonsdaleMike]

Originally Posted by Pinion

Never thought the polygon gallery would be the better looking art gallery of the two.

I totally agree... and I really dislike the Polygon Gallery.

I honestly think this would've made the perfect Nordstrom. It looks like a high end department store, not an art gallery.

[osirisboy]

Awful looking. That first image looks like some weird cardboard type treehouse. The other images make it look like a shitty 1970s building from sfu.

It looks like it only take up half the southern block and thee are two towers to the north.

This just looks horrible

[LeftCoaster]

http://friendsofbostoncityhall.org/wp-content/themes/boston/images/header_img.jpg

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https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/2290551845/kxdnmrv7g8838o93ep8y.gif

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http://www.straight.com/files/v3/images/15/09/438-rep-1_150922_press-images2.jpg

[red-paladin]

Imagine if it were built and then covered in Sears levels of mildew.

[osirisboy]

Left coaster, I love your responses!!

[wrenegade]

Originally Posted by osirisboy

Awful looking. That first image looks like some weird cardboard type treehouse. The other images make it look like a shitty 1970s building from sfu.

It looks like it only take up half the southern block and thee are two towers to the north.

This just looks horrible

Exactly. I was trying to explain it to someone without showing photos and said "imagine the Arthur Erickson buildings at SFU, but in wood"

[officedweller]

Originally Posted by red-paladin

Imagine if it were built and then covered in Sears levels of mildew.

It'll be very hard to maintain the wood looking good.
Wood has a tendency to "gray" over time.

[jsbertram]

this looks like a stack of shoe boxes at the end of a Payless BOGO sale.

its just waiting to topple over when The Big One hits.
(which might be an improvement afterwards)

[officedweller]

https://twitter.com/jcbcp

[Vin]

The above's the easiest architectural scale model ever made I bet. For that, I would only charge $31.99 tops as a modeller, and that's already quite excessive.

Seriously, I really wonder what the designers are trying to do here. Are they trying to prove that Vancouver is a hick forestry-based town and that we have no aesthetic sense whatsoever?

[a very long weekend]

for this to work well, they'd need to do massive planting around it to sort of "embed" it in a very green context, like some earlier erickson buildings. would be awesome to close the street between this and the queen elizabeth to join the plazas.

as it is, my sense is that this will grow on people as a design but will never be built. it's hyper at odds with the context there, but it does feel like a vancouver building, or what would have been a vancouver building if the architecture had taken a far different turn in the 1990s. a better location for this would be vanier park or even queen elizabeth park.

[Bankview]

I am somewhat partial to this design. It's earthy yet austere. It resembles the new Remai Modern in Saskatoon.

[dreambrother808]

It's growing on me. It's obviously playing off the brutalist themes of the post office and QE Theatre, while bringing something more spiritual and minimalist to the table. I also see some references to nearby Chinatown, First Nations, and West Coast esthetic. The twin towers beside, if done right will set it up well as a sculptural piece.