The Erickson | 54m | 18fl | Completed

[Cypherus]

Originally Posted by Delirium

finally at grade...

Wow, those Concord towers (circa 90s) are starting to look aged in addition to being architecturally uninspiring compared to the condos at Coal harbour.

[officedweller]

Actually, the beach neighbourhood is newer than late 1990s - although they may have been designed back then, they were only completed well after 2000. They look better from the "front".

[ckkelley]

^
I agree. Perhaps moreso from the east sidewalk on the Granville St. bridge. Although that giant park is in dire need of some kind of animation.

[amac]

Great. Another Erickson monstrosity. I gotta tell ya, I'm not a fan of his work. His current "twisty" designs leave a lot to be desired. Just because modern engineering says "yes you can" doesn't mean you should. Ahh, superstar architects...

[Hed Kandi]

..

[flight_from_kamakura]

Originally Posted by Hed Kandi

I disagree. The Erickson is one of the better examples of architecture in this city and I think most people will be pleasantly surprised with the final product.

i agree. the erickson is cool. and the new 'twist' too and (i imagine) the sefc buildings too. but in these, i think we're seeing milkovitch more than erickson. remember that the guy is very old, and that he oversees a very large architecture firm. he probably does little more than glance at the draft sketches on some of these projects.

and his signature projects in the area don't really stand up too well over time. koerner library at ubc - personally, i think it's a disaster. the 'stone' pedestal is garish and incongruous and the building dimensions just seem weird. toss in rock and woodchip beds by the landscape architects and you've got yourself a building that will draw widespread ridicule in just a few years. go back a few more years and you've got his concrete bunker phase - at ubc, downtown and in other cities. it's nice to have a well known local architect, and this guy can design, there's no doubt, but it's indisputable that his firm has been awarded some commissions based on renown alone. (and it's also indisputable that developers push his renown as a selling point)

[SFUVancouver]

Taken by SFUVancouver, July 9th, 2008.


Taken by SFUVancouver, July 9th, 2008.

[excel]

nice update!

[hollywoodnorth]

very interesting. I think this will turn out great

[vanman]

It's moving along quickly now. The twist is already more prominent then I previously expected it would be. Great pics SFU!

[raggedy13]

Thanks for the update SFU. I'm happy to see this one with a good portion above ground finally. It's looking pretty nice so far. Between this one, the Olympic Village, and the Ritz-Carlton, Vancouver will have have some nice twisty elements in its architectural mix... all thanks to Arthur Erickson interestingly enough.

It's interesting how he has gone from such brutalist architecture earlier in his career to a style that is so much more organic. I wonder if his "harp" concept tower involved twisting elements as well.

[deasine]

Originally Posted by raggedy13

It's interesting how he has gone from such brutalist architecture earlier in his career to a style that is so much more organic. I wonder if his "harp" concept tower involved twisting elements as well.

I hope the harp turns to reality. =D

[amor de cosmos]

Originally Posted by raggedy13

Between this one, the Olympic Village, and the Ritz-Carlton, Vancouver will have have some nice twisty elements in its architectural mix... all thanks to Arthur Erickson interestingly enough.

I don't know what it is about twisting buildings but they just do nothing for me. I think I like them better when the twist is more subtle like with the Erickson & the Olympic Village buildings. I didn't even know the Olympic Village buildings had a twist until I saw the u/c pics on the other thread.

It's interesting how he has gone from such brutalist architecture earlier in his career to a style that is so much more organic. I wonder if his "harp" concept tower involved twisting elements as well.

What's the harp concept tower?

[squeezied]

i believe the harp refers to the fringe towers

[amor de cosmos]

what are the fringe towers?

[raggedy13]

Originally Posted by squeezied

i believe the harp refers to the fringe towers

Yes, that is what I was referring to. The name had momentarily escaped me.

Originally Posted by amor de cosmos

what are the fringe towers?

It was a project envisioned by Arthur Erickson that would see Vancouver get a new tallest, ~80 (83?) storey tower. Erickson said each floor represented his age at the time. It was supposed to have an outdoor theatre at the base and some cables that ran down the length of the building which could be used to support a fabric roof for the theatre when it rained. It was also supposed to have another theatre at the top of the tower on the roof.

Anywho, it was described as looking like a harp since it had those cables. No renderings were released though and the project remains a vision to this day with no information having been mentioned about it in the media for a few years now. The last info released about it said Erickson was looking for an appropriate site for it and that he was prepared to fund the whole thing himself.

There's probably more information about it on emporis.

[mr.x]

Originally Posted by raggedy13

Anywho, it was described as looking like a harp since it had those cables. No renderings were released though and the project remains a vision to this day with no information having been mentioned about it in the media for a few years now. The last info released about it said Erickson was looking for an appropriate site for it and that he was prepared to fund the whole thing himself.

A project of that scale would probably cost at least $700-million....i didn't realize his pockets were that deep.

[amor de cosmos]

Originally Posted by raggedy13

It was a project envisioned by Arthur Erickson that would see Vancouver get a new tallest, ~80 (83?) storey tower. ...last info released about it said Erickson was looking for an appropriate site for it and that he was prepared to fund the whole thing himself.

I think I've heard of that before. I didn't know what it was called though. I didn't think it even had a name.

[raggedy13]

Originally Posted by mr.x2

A project of that scale would probably cost at least $700-million....i didn't realize his pockets were that deep.

Ya, I was wondering about that myself. Maybe it was more that he was prepared to get the financing in place himself (through alternative means) rather than pay for the whole thing out of his own pocket.

Or maybe my recollection is just really off since I haven't read any of the articles about it for a long long time and there is absolutely nothing in the original articles that says anything remotely similar to that.

[mr.x]

Originally Posted by raggedy13

Ya, I was wondering about that myself. Maybe it was more that he was prepared to get the financing in place himself (through alternative means) rather than pay for the whole thing out of his own pocket.

Or maybe my recollection is just really off since I haven't read any of the articles about it for a long long time and there is absolutely nothing in the original articles that says anything remotely similar to that.

Or maybe it's just that he's really really really old (architect of Stonehenge) and that he still thinks in pre-historic currency. j/k

I was quite optimistic about this project when it was first leaked in the media...it's a shame that this was merely a vision. I don't know how serious this project is when Erickson adds a floor every year to represent his own age.