Modern Architecture at its Finest; or Designs to Inspire Vancouver!

[touraccuracy]

why would it compete? that makes no sense at all.

we're putting buildings there anyway, what's wrong with making them look good?

are you guys arguing that since we have a nice surrounding environment, we should continue to build awful buildings?

[trofirhen]

Originally Posted by mooks28

Probably, but what's wrong with that? I'd argue that trying to compete with the gifts mother nature gave this region would be exceptionally arrogant.

Originally Posted by touraccuracy

why would it compete? that makes no sense at all.

we're putting buildings there anyway, what's wrong with making them look good?

are you guys arguing that since we have a nice surrounding environment, we should continue to build awful buildings?

Two opposing points of view here:

I don't think we are trying to "comptete" with mother nature. However, IMHO, any daring new buildings that are put up should complement the environment, as Nova9 says. (and no, that doesn't mean a 50-storey log cabin highrise)!

It simply means that the buildings should have aa esthetically pleasing quality to them, and not "clash" with their environment.

From the examples that I've seen in most of the pictures, the buildings were grotesquely shaped and ugly.

Why have things that compete with the environment? We can have things that complement it.
Secondly, are the buildings we are putting up at the moment so "awful?"

I would hate to see the Burj Dubai or Taipei Tower in Vancouver, let me tell you, not to mention most of the buildings pictured on this thread. I think they're ugly , for the most part.

[mooks28]

Exactly. All I am saying is that the buildings we have should complement mother nature in a pleasing way, not compete with it by trying to attract attention away from the natural scenery. The problem with a lot of these modern buildings that are in this thread is that they are not designed to fit in with the existing landscape, but are designed to stand alone. I think in a place like Vancouver, that is a mistake.

[Hed Kandi]

http://www.thecoolhunter.net/images/definecool13.jpg

[Hed Kandi]

http://conradhotels1.hilton.com/en/c...els.do#beijing

[EastVanMark]

Originally Posted by Hed Kandi

http://www.thecoolhunter.net/images/definecool13.jpg

I like this one (or something like it) for the new casino. (As opposed to the current 2 boring, stubby towers on top of a box design).

[SpongeG]

Linked Hybrid in Beijing, China by Steven Holl (photo via flickr/nicolette mastrangelo)
via:brokensidewalk.com

[trofirhen]

I could imagine the middle design for a casino or such, but the other two, IMO, are unattractive. The third one strikes me as hideously ugly.

Although Vancouver is saturated with concrete and green glass, which we could step back from with no problem - I think that an overall design arc is desirable in a city to give it cohesion.

Look at all the great cities of the world that are beautiful: Paris, of course, but Stockholm, Rio, San Francisco..........

They have variations of design within their major body of traditional design, but even these variations somehow complement the existing buildings.

In Vancouver, in particular, I think it would be a poor idea to put up something that is going to "compete" ferociously with the natural environment. (That's probably why the green glass syndrome began; to blend in with the forests and green mountains, even if it has been taken to the limits!)

[SpongeG]

i can see Surrey doing all these not vancouver

[trofirhen]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

i can see Surrey doing all these not vancouver

..... Quite !!

[SpongeG]

i think the suburbs will one day out do vancouver - surrey already has my fave building in the area... their new library and plans look great - they have the bonus of having nothing to build on they can go in any direction

[trofirhen]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

i think the suburbs will one day out do vancouver - surrey already has my fave building in the area... their new library and plans look great - they have the bonus of having nothing to build on they can go in any direction

Agreed. They have more latitude.
(but, sorry, that third building in the pix makes me turn white when I look at it. Looks like a cross between a hospital, a factory HQ, and an atomic bomb shelter, placed over a subway entrance)

[red-paladin]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

Linked Hybrid in Beijing, China by Steven Holl (photo via flickr/nicolette mastrangelo)
via:brokensidewalk.com

That's as bad as the 'Elephant Tower' in Bangkok:

By ArkinMourad on SSC http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=158510

Why not build the Genex tower in Belgrade while we're at it!

From Wikipedia: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...st_Gate_01.jpg

[SpongeG]

we could build a bear instead of an elephant

[mr.x]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

i think the suburbs will one day out do vancouver - surrey already has my fave building in the area... their new library and plans look great - they have the bonus of having nothing to build on they can go in any direction

I think/hope Vancouver will catch up when the city takes a lookey look over its borders....I'm counting on regional competition to break the Vancouver trend of "meh".

[jsbertram]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

we could build a bear instead of an elephant

I vote for a cat
(crouching, ready to jump over False Creek to get one of the birds at Olympic Village)

[Hed Kandi]

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpo...61&postcount=3

[wrenegade]

The building is pretty cool, but that fountain is easily the best part of that photo. I'd love to see something like that in the city. Perhaps replace the intersection at the foot of the Burrard street bridge in Kits with a traffic circle and a wicked fountain? Yes please!

[trofirhen]

Ditto! A dramatic, circular fountain in the city, maybe a bit like the one in Sergels Torgs, Stockholm.

From Wikimedia commons: click, and look !!

http://www.google.fr/imgres?imgurl=h...26tbs%3Disch:1

[SpongeG]

this is a public washroom in Japan - in a park

the urinal is right there in open view! are they not modest? its all open - there is also some other kind of toilet or something behind a door... but the mens urinal is out in the open



from the contemporist