New Vancouver Art Gallery | Proposed

[wrenegade]

So not only do we get an awful stacked box art gallery but twin boring condo towers behind it?

[Sprawl]

I absolutely love it, its response to its immediate context and Vancouver more generally is so immediately apparent that it just clicked with me as soon as I laid eyes on it. No easy task for any building, let alone one which so deliberately eschews contemporary design tropes. Restrained in its palette yet ambitious in scale and massing, I think it succeeds in evoking both the city's distinct natural surrounds and urban form. It's such a relief to see no Bilbao-esque gaudiness, but instead a confident, singular design that draws directly from the genius loci of BC: crisp, pure, enduring. I imagine moving through from the open ground level up through the galleries will be an incredible experience. Hugely exciting to have design of this quality in Vancouver.

I have to say that I'm very surprised by the reaction here. For all the whinging about seafoam spandrel I wouldn't have expected the vitriol to extend right across the architectural spectrum. Divisiveness and controversy in design is a good thing which all great buildings experience, but responding to what is clearly a highly refined scheme of an architectural quality never before seen in this city with puerile jeering is frankly just embarrassing on the part of the commenter. Some of the above is indistinguishable from the rants of septuagenarians in the CBC comments.

[csbvan]

Originally Posted by Sprawl

I absolutely love it, its response to its immediate context and Vancouver more generally is so immediately apparent that it just clicked with me as soon as I laid eyes on it. No easy task for any building, let alone one which so deliberately eschews contemporary design tropes. Restrained in its palette yet ambitious in scale and massing, I think it succeeds in evoking both the city's distinct natural surrounds and urban form. It's such a relief to see no Bilbao-esque gaudiness, but instead a confident, singular design that draws directly from the genius loci of BC: crisp, pure, enduring. I imagine moving through from the open ground level up through the galleries will be an incredible experience. Hugely exciting to have design of this quality in Vancouver.

I have to say that I'm very surprised by the reaction here. For all the whinging about seafoam spandrel I wouldn't have expected the vitriol to extend right across the architectural spectrum. Divisiveness and controversy in design is a good thing which all great buildings experience, but responding to what is clearly a highly refined scheme of an architectural quality never before seen in this city with puerile jeering is frankly just embarrassing on the part of the commenter. Some of the above is indistinguishable from the rants of septuagenarians in the CBC comments.

Wow. Breath of fresh air.

[officedweller]

Originally Posted by Bankview

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

I like the proportions of this better than the VAG proposal.

The VAG proposal is very top heavy (which is really the result of the façade treatments on the upper levels)

[giallo]

I really, really like it - which surprises me as I usually agree with most of you. I think it looks original and very PNW-y (for a lack of a better acronym). It's like a fresh piece of life in a concrete and glass city. I don't know why, but it really resonates with me.

That $350m price tag though. That's ridiculous.

[csbvan]

Originally Posted by giallo

I really, really like it - which surprises me as I usually agree with most of you. I think it looks original and very PNW-y (for a lack of a better acronym). It's like a fresh piece of life in a concrete and glass city. I don't know why, but it really resonates with me.

That $350m price tag though. That's ridiculous.

I agree with you on both fronts here. I think the Pacific Northwest identity is very strong here. The wood and natural elements, the playfulness with open spaces so that they can provide protection from the rain, and the quasi-Asian influence. It seems to be moving away from simply being modern, and instead being rooted in a strong sense of place.

I also agree that the price seems way too high (I get that its Canadian dollars, which is problematic at the moment but still)!

[urbancanadian]

Personally, I don't mind the design. But for the estimated price tag I would like to see something better. Even if it means a design with less costly engineering (i.e. something that doesn't involve huge cantilevers/overhangs), then they could spend more on the materials or different architectural elements.

I do wonder, however, what people were expecting when Herzog & De Meuron were selected as the architects? From what I know/have seen, this is exactly their vernacular, especially when it comes to cultural institutions.

If this were a proposal for just about anything else in the city (say a new Museum of Vancouver, for example), then I would be delighted to see this design. However, the VAG is supposed to be the jewel of Vancouver's cultural spaces, so I was expecting something more iconic. Something you would see on postcards with the Harbour Centre and Canada Place...

Just my opinion, of course.

[Infrequent Poster]

Originally Posted by officedweller

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

Agreed. Putting aside for a moment the actual design of the building (which for the record I think is kind of a let down) I would be very concerned with how this much exterior wood, would (kind of strange using the same sounding word in succession like that) look after five or ten years. Wood especially with our climate and proximity to the ocean has a tendency to warp, shrink and swell, crack, gray, mildew etc. In a alarmingly short time. In my opinion.

[Prometheus]

Originally Posted by csbvan

I think the Pacific Northwest identity is very strong here.

So strong that it rises to the level of caricature and cliche.

[giallo]

^Besides the wood, which Vancouver barely even uses when building larger structures, how is this design cliche?

[Infrequent Poster]

Originally Posted by Prometheus

So strong that it rises to the level of caricature and cliche.

Yeah. Almost expect like a giant carved wooden beaver riding an orca (also carved from wood) jumping between two totem poles placed on the roof.

[Prometheus]

Originally Posted by giallo

^Besides the wood, which Vancouver barely even uses when building larger structures, how is this design cliche?

Why do you feel this design is "very PNW-y"? Simply because it uses wood? I think not.

[Klazu]

I only now noticed this, but these two comments summarize everything.

Originally Posted by s211

A freakin' glorified tree house built by the Swiss Family Robinson.

Originally Posted by Vin

Wow, a new age Shinto buddhist temple...

I don't like it. We have so many boxy buildings in this town that the museum should have been more round. I really like the City Library because it breaks the monotone cityscape around it. Use of wood is great, but that ground level looks like a brutalist 70s library.

Worst of all this plan does not help to bridge Chinatown station to West Georgia (and onwards to Robson through Telus Garden). There should have been a diagonal street running through the whole lot, being integrated into the design.

I understand that the two towers are there just for massing, but it is very worrying that they will be of equal height. Already the towers next to the arena look super boring as they are all identical in looks and height. Something different is definitely needed in here.

Seems like a waste of huge prime lot right now.

[giallo]

Originally Posted by Prometheus

Why do you feel this design is "very PNW-y"? Simply because it uses wood? I think not.

You can feel that something represents an area without it being cliche. I may be wrong, but outside of Scandinavia and Japan, I can't think of another region where this building would fit/ be built. It's representative without being predictable. That's how I see it at least.

[osirisboy]

Originally Posted by Bankview

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

The proportions seem better with this one. The vancouver one is so oddly proportioned to me with itself with the site. With everything, so wrong

[Klazu]

Originally Posted by csbvan

Was everybody expecting the Guggenheim?

While Bilbao has been a success, Guggenheim is no guarantee of success or even quality architecture. In many art circles Guggenheim is being called the McMuseum as they are very business-oriented.

They are currently trying to screw Helsinki to buy their museum license and it is a hot potato in Finland. Many Guggenheim museums have been proposed, but almost as many have never been built and several have even been closed like the one in Berlin few years ago (Berlin is one of the biggest tourist cities in Europe). 90% of the people of Helsinki are strongly against Guggenheim in the current financial situation and because Guggenheim would like to see a lot of public money being poured into it. The mayor and some people in the city parliament have been pushing it forward, but fortunately there is no money to built it, so it is all in vain. It has been a very shady business all around and shown Finns what Guggenheim is really about.

Despite the opposition, they called an international architecture competition for the design which received incredible 1715 entries. Entries included some really unique and wow designs, but to everyone's surprise they ended up selecting this turd.



I am really happy that it will be never built, as it would be a complete waste of public money. The Guggenheim license is pricey and needs to be paid annually until eternity. Guggenheim has been trying to show calculations how the museum would bring hundreds of thousands of new tourist in the town and how it is thus an excellent business for the city. This is of course complete BS, which has been shown in the unwillingness of private donators to invest a single Euro in the project.

So yeah, thankfully we are not talking about Guggenheim in here.

[dreambrother808]

Originally Posted by osirisboy

The proportions seem better with this one. The vancouver one is so oddly proportioned to me with itself with the site. With everything, so wrong

The proportions of this one are predictable and could easily be mistaken for those of any institution, like a hospital or university. The new VAG, as a refreshing artwork, stirs up controversy with its more singular expression.

[Prometheus]

Originally Posted by dreambrother808

The new VAG, as a refreshing artwork, stirs up controversy with its more singular expression.

But it's not fresh, sadly. It's a cartoonish distillation of some common Vancouver/West Coast aesthetics.

[officedweller]

I think part of the "issue" is that wood, as cladding, is not really a "high end" finish.

Use of glulam beams, etc., that add wood to canopies, atriums and other building features use the wood as a structural element, not just cladding.

The other issue, I think, is the massive expanses of blank wall with randomly placed windows. I think they are trying to keep the windowed levels close to ground, to relate to the pedestrian realm, but they've also placed the big blank boxes high up where they are most bulky and visible.
i.e overall, the top half of the building really just looks like a plain, enclosed mechanical penthouse that is clad in wood.

The City just "celebrated" the renovation of the previous record holder for big blank walls - into a Nordstrom and office space. Now this?

It makes you wonder why the Post Office building really wasn't considered.

[Klazu]

On GlobalBC 18% like it and 82% hate it. For some reason on Vancitybuzz people are liking it more.