New Vancouver Art Gallery | 9fl | Proposed

[ozonemania]

I have to admit my first impression was not very favourable.

It is however, after some reflection, a bit more appropriate than I initially thought.

It definitely doesn't scream Vancouver, it has no resemblance to any architecture that I'm familiar with in the city.

But, it is a bit subdued but also bold (like a Canadian), it uses wood -- that and its shape seems to evoke a reflection of Asian (ceremonial tower, like a shrine or pagoda) and First Nations aspects (totem pole). It's modern but doesn't betray itself to the current trends of slick glass and steel. It's organic, but ordered. It has simplicity and it outward-oriented, just like the city.

It really is like the architect is an outsider, interpreting what they see and hear about us.

I'm still not sure if I like it or not, but I think I can appreciate it in the objective sense.

Apart from big picture architecture, I've very interested to understand better how they are designing the street-level space, and human interaction with the building.

[officedweller]

Originally Posted by ozonemania

Apart from big picture architecture, I've very interested to understand better how they are designing the street-level space, and human interaction with the building.

I'm thinking the pedestrian realm will bear a resemblance to Robson Square (they talk of covered plazas) - which begs the question as to whether the plaza areas will be used or not.

I'm not sure f there will be streetfront retail...

[dreambrother808]

Originally Posted by Klazu

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

What's important is whether or not the design resonates with those most likely to actually frequent the gallery. Forgive me if I'm wrong but the average Global BC viewer isn't exactly the target audience. The fact that it goes over well with a perhaps younger, more savvy Vancitybuzz audience is positive.

[officedweller]

Yeah, but the younger VancityBuzz audience will get bored of it quickly (fast fashion, as it were), move on to the next "in" hotspot and push for a renovation.

[Jebby]

I've seen turds that look prettier than that.

[mezzanine]

I like it! Original and in an instant has a 'sense of place" to it. Not an inoffensive glass box, not a Seattle EMP/Gehry bulb, yet has a statesman-like gravity to it.

The devil partly is in the details, but I wouldn't discount the wood veneer as a viable option. By itself it is a statement. It also provides a potential artistic medium for future rotating exhibits.

[Genauso]

I'm OK with the general mass, and I do like the willingness to host a pedestrian/forest area although it's always better in practice for clean+open than neglected+crammed.

If you can see it as the backdrop in a movie, it's good enough.

Maybe the outside should be jade-like. Jade is local, visually emblematic of the region, important to many cultures and their artistic traditions. Jade would age gracefully, wood would need a significant cost to maintain which means it would just be neglected at the first sign of budgetary pressure.

It's also curious they didn't include a render for something other than summer sunshine. A good lighting feature is like another outfit for the building to wear depending on the weather. I want to see it in snow, in rain, in fog, etc. It's hard to imagine it right now because there's only one good picture, and its perspective is from 3 blocks away.

I don't know if it's practical. What would the experience be like inside in terms of stairs/escalators/elevators. Is there an iconic ballroom to host fundraisers in at the top, is it all gallery, workshop space? If we knew more, some of it would make more sense.

As for the $350 million figure -- can someone explain how much this should cost? $1000 a sq. ft. with little of the expensive things that go into residential condos seems off. Especially if the land is donated.

[Sheba]

More details from the Vancitybuzz article

The building will be built on stilts ‘suspended’ over a massive 40,000-square-foot open public courtyard and lobby with a sunken garden that is accessible from all sides of the city block. The bulk of the structure is located on the upper levels to allow light and air to flow into the courtyard.

From the lobby, escalators lead to the second and third levels where there will be exhibition spaces and a 350-seat auditorium. More exhibition space is located on the fifth, sixth and seventh levels while a restaurant will occupy the fourth floor.

The lower half will be enclosed by floor to ceiling glass windows and several several upper floors will feature vast outdoor terraces.

...

Despite the funding challenges, the Art Gallery still hopes to commence construction in 2017 for a possible completion in 2021.

The proposed development site is adjacent to the Queen Elizabeth Theatre and owned by the City of Vancouver. The Art Gallery has been granted land to occupy the southernmost two-thirds of the 2.7-acre city block while the northernmost section of the block is designated for office towers.

http://www.vancitybuzz.com/2015/09/n...allery-design/

[Sprawl]

Here's an alternate/earlier design which appears to depict Shou Sugi Ban cladding rather than natural timber, which would make more sense in terms of longevity and weather protection. Interesting insofar as it highlights the potential for what is only a conceptual design to change as the process continues.


via https://twitter.com/DudocVancouver

[EdinVan]

I would argue that it's very fitting for Vancouver. It matches the hideousness of many of the larger projects as of late, such as Telus Gardens and 725 Granville.

[trofirhen]

Originally Posted by csbvan

Was everybody expecting the Guggenheim?

Obviously not. However, I think alot of people expected something a little bit more graceful and elegant this goofy-looking ..... "thing."

[Hourglass]

Originally Posted by trofirhen

Obviously not. However, I think alot of people expected something a little bit more graceful and elegant this goofy-looking ..... "thing."

There are some museums that I find just stunning (Zaha Hadid's designs for the Messner Museum Corones in Italy, or Herzog & de Meuron's M+ Museum in Hong Kong).

This isn't one of them.

My first impression was that the building seems a bit clumsy and ungainly. Strangely, though, the design is actually growing on me a bit. The hints of a totem or pagoda is quite cool.

Assuming this is actually built, I wonder whether it will stand the test of time. In 20 years, will people consider this a classic or is this going to look like a mistake? Not at all sure about that...

That opinion is so divided about this design indicates that the architects may have succeeded -- on some level anyway.

[Klazu]

This is an office building in Moscow, but IMO a much better iteration of exactly the same idea and would likely work as a museum as well.

Dominion Office Building by Zaha Hadid Architects.

[mcminsen]

The proposed new design for the VAG gave me deja vu, and then I remembered where I had seen it before. Obviously the architects were inspired by this birdhouse over a gate in front of a house on Vancouver's west side.



Feb.28 '15, my pics

[Vin]

Originally Posted by Klazu

This is an office building in Moscow, but IMO a much better iteration of exactly the same idea and would likely work as a museum as well.

Dominion Office Building by Zaha Hadid Architects.

That is way better than the pigeon house proposed for our city art gallery. Another shining example is the egg-shaped Beijing National Centre for the Performing Arts. Why can't we aspire to do better, rather than proposing something controversial that would draw critics and irk so many?

[red-paladin]

Originally Posted by Sprawl

Here's an alternate/earlier design which appears to depict Shou Sugi Ban cladding rather than natural timber, which would make more sense in terms of longevity and weather protection. Interesting insofar as it highlights the potential for what is only a conceptual design to change as the process continues.


via https://twitter.com/DudocVancouver

This version looks even more like a Malcolm McDowell villian hangout from a bad 90s movie.

[Sheba]

Originally Posted by steve61

http://www.straight.com/files/v3/ima...ss-images2.jpg

I think this could work if they finished the top half of the building in something else. Right now it's solid blank walls just like the Eaton's / Sears building used to be. I don't know what exactly, but something to break up those blank walls is needed.

[cornholio]

The VAG should just be buried under ground with only a well designed entrance / outdoor event space / artist space - at the surface, with maybe a restaurant / coffee shop added in or something. Art galleries for the most part don't need windows, in fact under ground is better anyways. Only a portion of it should remain above ground, and that portion shuld be enough to create something interesting.

[trofirhen]

Originally Posted by red-paladin

This version looks even more like a Malcolm McDowell villian hangout from a bad 90s movie.

Agreed. It's melodramatically grotesque.
Dunno about you, but the Dominion Office Building in Moscow that Klazu showed us was pretty cool. The building structure is parallel in ways to, much subtler than, the "thing" proposal.
Strange perhaps, but I also thought of something like the interior of Holt Renfrew as participative in the gallery interior.

[O-tacular]

Originally Posted by cornholio

The VAG should just be buried under ground with only a well designed entrance / outdoor event space / artist space - at the surface, with maybe a restaurant / coffee shop added in or something. Art galleries for the most part don't need windows, in fact under ground is better anyways. Only a portion of it should remain above ground, and that portion shuld be enough to create something interesting.

Yes a VAG by definition is mostly hidden.