Architectural Wonder

[frankmcr]

Originally Posted by Dirk Hofman

There's also a plan for a building on the other side of that approach to Granville Island, not as radical but between the two, really interesting.

Does anybody else see the ghosts of future buildings (?) in this picture?

[Fogducker]

These architects are weird folk. The big Kahuana, Frank Lloyd Wright, designed several award winning buildings that are almost impossible to live with/in. His "Masterpiece", the Fallingwater house was donated to the State of Pennsylvania. Poor devils, they have to pour tons of money in every year just to maintain it. He loved flat roofs and lots of cantilever floors etc. pretty no doubt. He'd come to visit a client and move furniture (FLW designed) around to suit his tastes. Bring a present to accent the house, and then charge for it later. Some guy mentioned in a documentary that if you owned a lot of stuff, a FLW house was not for you, no closets!

Fog

[saxonblue]

I'm sure there is far more structural security to this than meets the eye & it would be centered around the core area or spine of the building (i.e. where the elevator(s) etc. run). I thought it looked a bit Gehry as well.

As a surveyor working on multi storey construction myself I'm use to marking out pretty much the same grid pattern, setdowns, hydraulic penetrations etc. on the decks & finished slabs as each floor goes up. I'm sure there are some quite dynamic changes in everything from floor to floor on that one. It may not even be standard concrete construction, interesting.

[Dirk Hofman]

Originally Posted by frankmcr

Does anybody else see the ghosts of future buildings (?) in this picture?

Those are existing structures edited out of the architectural rendering to add focus to the proposed buildings.

[Borderdon]

I have a soft-spot for things/ designs that push the envelope.
As a residence, I’d not care to live in any large apartment building, but structures like this add much needed variety.
Vancouver is a young city, without any architecture of real age, innovation like this helps create interest IMHO.

[chuckroast]

As it happens, I am a retired architect. One thing I learned over the course of my career is that I can't judge what I think of a building based on pictures. I have to experience it in person to take in the relationship of form and space.

PS, I have been to that Gehry building at MIT that's posted upthread. It's very cool.

[Jeff Scott]

The whole of DT Vancouver is the ugliest collection of buildings I've ever seen. Shame, as the scenery behind that mess is really nice.

[Jeff Scott]

Originally Posted by frankmcr

Does anybody else see the ghosts of future buildings (?) in this picture?

The one on the right is a much better design, and would fit in pretty nicely in Doha.

[frazervalley]

I have not yet seen this building, so I shall reserve judgement. I lived in Vancouver for several years and I am familiar with the area, though it has changed considerably in the last thirty years. I am a little biased, but to me there are few cities that pack so much natural beauty into a small area. I remember as a university student in April, you could choose between going to the beach to work on your tan or go skiing on the local mountain about thirty minutes away.
I lived three blocks from the beach and a fifteen minute drive to the university in an area called, Kitsilano. I have many precious memories from that area and that time in my life.

I recall that the building site is oddly shaped. The architect was also challenged to design a tower that would fit on the small lot and minimally block the views from the existing residential towers in the area. This design was his creative solution to that challenge. There are no highways in the downtown, but there are a few bridges and this is one of them. Many of the older highrise buildings in the downtown were built between 1950 and in the 1960s and reflect the small city and conservative design themes from that era. There are several modern highrise buildings that are quite interesting, others not so much.

But Vancouver is not about high rise buildings, it is about the quality of life and the natural beauty of the environment. Do some online research if you are interested. It’s a city backing onto a mountain range with a rainforest, the sea and the fertile delta of the Fraser River. In the Spring there are news reports from a couple suburbs of Vancouver that receive visits from the local bears. The bears swim across the harbour from the mountains and look for easy food. Some open car doors using the handle while standing up like a human and grab snacks they assume were left for them. Some open sliding glass doors and head for the kitchen because that is where the food is located. They also swim in back yard pools with their cubs. They look hilarious on the news. But, if you choose to live next to a large forested green space, you need to be bear aware and not leave temptations in your yard. Bears develop routes looking for easy food. If you take steps to make your yard uninteresting, they will just move on and eventually return to the forest and swim home.

[frankmcr]

Originally Posted by Jeff Scott

The one on the right is a much better design, and would fit in pretty nicely in Doha.

Doha is obviously where the Transformers live.

[Simon Fay]

I like the lines of the structure but don't love the exterior - it looks like mesh. I think it needed something to break up the homogenous and heavy feel of the exterior but maybe they felt that took away from the lines of the building. As another poster said, sometimes seeing something in person changes your perspective - so maybe I'd like it better. I like their second future design quite a bit.

That said, I do like it significantly better than just another boring apartment complex.

[rmp]

Originally Posted by fazool

But, frankly, I liken this art form to a "performance artist" who walks on stage naked, and pours milk over their own head while yodeling.

Where is this? I must get tickets ASAP!!!..

...Big fan of neked yodeling..

[architype]

As an architect myself, I try to reserve judgement on other's work due to the many factors that influence a design concept. It is easy to quickly dissmiss a building as poor design without knowing the journey that led to it's creation. It is a miracle that anything decent ever gets built due to all of the obstacles in the way of good or creative solutions to a client's program.
Although my first reaction to this building is another edifice that looks like a wax candle left out in the sun and is slowly melting into the earth, I'll give my colleague the benefit of the doubt because I've worked on many projects that started out as a thorobred and ended up a camel.
Tall buildings, by their nature are "look at me" buildings competing for attention in the skyline and the real estate market....it's tough to come up with a design that is fresh and exciting without falling into the category of a one hit wonder that fades into obscurity as soon as the next shiny object pops up and steals the show.
That's all I have to say about that.

[FLRon]

For reasons I’m sure I’ll never be able to explain, I actually like these designs. I wouldn’t want to live in one of them, but they are very interesting.

[Dru Edwards]

I hope the wolf from the Three Little Pigs doesn't show up there. That said, any building with those mountains in the background is a great to be.