Binning Sale Blocked

The potential sale of the Binning house has been blocked, in a ruling from the B.C. Supreme Court.

Among other reasons, Justice Shelley Fitzpatrick ruled that TLC must demonstrate efforts to find a suitable trustee for the house before any possible sale could be considered. 

It's a (temporary) win for the preservation community and a chance to find a suitable long term solution for one of the most important modernist houses in the country.

Binning Open House

The Land Conservancy is hosting an open house at the B.C. Binning residence on Canada Day.

The National Historic site will be open from 1-4pm, with guided tours by Matthew Soules happening at 1:30pm and 3pm.

It's an opportunity to see the home and work of one of our original modernists and to support the good work of The Land Conservancy.

The Artist's Circle in West Vancouver

This is the final weekend of The Harmony Arts Festival in West Vancouver. If you haven't had a chance to check it out, it's well worth a visit.

The festival highlights the rich cultural life of West Vancouver, both past and present. The Museum has had a strong showing this year, organizing The Artist's Circle–a ten day exhibit of ten artists in a temporary gallery set up by the seaside.

The location is frankly spectacular and the artwork matches the locale, including works by Gordon Smith, B.C. Binning, Douglas Coupland, Ian Wallace, Attilla Richard Lukacs and Joan Balzar.

It's the brainchild of Curator Darrin Morrison who had a vision of art by the sea as a way to promote West Vancouver's artistic legacy. It also foreshadows a plan for a larger, dedicated space to house the municipality's significant cultural holdings and engaging exhibitions.

Morrison has shown through his resourceful and inspired use of the current tiny Museum building that a new purpose-built facility would be well used and an invaluable addition to the community.

One of the highlights of the festival was a talk by Gordon Smith, Douglas Coupland and Ian Wallace. Each artist has a deep connection to the local rugged landscape and it was a loose but engaging round table discussion.

Smith held court as elder statesman, while always singing the praises of other artists' work. I can't think of another venue where you might hear a story about the Smiths hosting PM Pierre Trudeau and his family along with the Binnings and a bathrobed Arthur Erickson.

Still, one of the most remarkable things about Smith is how current he remains in his knowledge of contemporary arts, culture and architecture, even at the age of 92. The man is an art machine.

Coupland and Wallace were gracious and offered insights into their methods and the influence that West Vancouver has had on their work.

Kudos to West Vancouver, the curators and the artists involved for bringing together a terrific event.

Untitled, B.C. Binning

Binning In West Vancouver

West Vancouver Museum and Archives is currently showing two exhibits based around B.C. Binning and his work.

The first is a collection of greeting cards created by Don Jarvis, Arthur Erickson, Gordon Smith and Binning among others that explores the social relationships between local artists and architects.

The second exhibit draws on Binning works from the WVMA collection, and focuses largely on his line drawing period from the 1940's.

Both exhibitions run until December 23rd, 2009.

Binning + The Port Mann

One overlooked aspect of the Port Mann Bridge is the original colour scheme designed by B.C. Binning in 1963. 

Binning's recommendation of orange for the deck and yellow for the overarching span was meant to contrast with the prominent natural river setting and showcase the structural beauty of the bridge. 

His rationale for the scheme (explored further in Abraham Rogatnick's essay in the monograph B.C. Binning) shows an optimism and consideration for infrastructure that was reflective of prevailing thought at the time.

The bridge has since been painted entirely orange and the recent proposal to twin it has been ditched in favour of a plan that would see it demolished to make way for a 10 lane bridge to service the crossing. 

See The Globe & Mail for the most recent article.

B.C. Binning Event

The Land Conservancy is hosting an event at the Binning residence in West Vancouver at 7pm on November 21, 2008. Featuring talks by Ian Thom and Adele Weder - both of whom contributed to the book B.C. Binning - the evening will showcase the building itself and Binning's role as both architect (assisted by Ned Pratt) and artist. The evening is the first public event to create a 300k endowment to help maintain the house. Tickets and information can be found here.

TLC Takes Over Binning Residence

It was announced last week that The Land Conservancy has taken over title to the Binning residence in West Vancouver, joining other historically significant places like the Kogawa and Baldwin houses, the latter designed by Arthur Erickson.

After a year up in the air, this is great news for the house and for local architecture afficionados, who had feared the place would be sold and demolished. The house is located on what was once a bucolic West Vancouver lane - a lane that over the last few years has grown cramped with oversized mansions.

Follow the link above to the TLC website and a press release requesting donations for an endowment fund. As one of the seminal locations for West Coast Modernism and the history of art and architecture in Vancouver it's crucial that it's well supported.

West Vancouver Modern House Tour

On July 12 the West Vancouver Museum and Archives held their annual tour of Modern homes. Following are some photos taken at perhaps the most high-profile house to appear on the tour, the Binning Residence. Though much has been written recently about this house, given it's state of limbo after Jessie Binning's passing last year, it's worth revisiting.

The house remains, save for a few small alterations by Jessie, largely as it has for the last 60 years. It has a ship-like feel in it's economy of materials and space and the built-in cabinetry is simple but well-crafted and remains in excellent shape. The ship analogy is not surprising considering Binning's sailing experience in local waters, as well as his fascination with seascapes and the assorted motifs.

The landscape has grown over the years so that the house - which was designed to work sympathetically with the site in the first place - is virtually enveloped by lush greenery. The house is also remarkable for it's scale and size. On the inside, in addition to thoughtful built-ins, the footprint of the house is sparing and the rooms are small. The only sense of expansiveness is in the main hall that runs up to south facing clerestories and in the doors that open onto the patio and view out towards the water. This modulation of space helps create a house that is tranquil, welcoming and unpretentious and above all, representative of architecture on a human scale.

Vancouver Heritage Restoration Program

A few weeks ago Adele Weder published a great piece in the Tyee concerning Vancouver's erstwhile heritage restoration program. At the top of the list of buildings to feel the pinch is the Dal Grauer Substation on Burrard Street. Weder refers to it as a 'gem' and it truly is; it has, unfortunately, been allowed to fade over the years, to the point where it's become almost unnoticeable along one of the city's busiest strips.

But the bones are there and a restoration on this building - including the BC Binning designed colour scheme - would add great flourish to Burrard and tie back in nicely with the Electra next door. As Weder points out, it would also go well beyond mere 'decorating' to remind Vancouverites of the exciting confluence of business, modern architecture and art that the building so beautifully represents.

http://thetyee.ca/Views/2007/11/05/NoHeritage/