Don Vaughan Profile

Via Price Tags - a great profile on landscape architect Don Vaughan and three significant projects he designed in Metro Vancouver.

It's the first of a four part series of short films on Vancouver landscape architects from film-makers Saba Farmand and Paul Albi.

Image: Don Vaughan at High Tide Pavilion/Low Tide Sculpture at David Lam Park

City Hall Buildings

Changes are coming to Vancouver's city hall buildings due to identified earthquake risks. The east wing has been marked for eventual demolition and the west annex will require significant seismic upgrades.

A report by Glotman-Simpson notes that it would take about $4 million to upgrade the east wing to the highest seismic standards, a sum that has apparently been deemed excessive. Interestingly, the report also states that both buildings "are of a quality and finish that is suitable for retrofit."

The east wing was designed in 1968 by Townley, Matheson and Partners who were also the architects of the original, heritage-designated city hall building on the West 12th Avenue site. 

Thom's Sauder Display House

On the market for the first time in nearly 45 years, Ron Thom's Sauder Display house was designed at the height of West Coast Modernism for the Sauder Lumber company to showcase its extensive line of plywood.

But that commercial origin belies a design that has generously accommodated family life over the years and continues to resonate with grace and beauty.

Many of the qualities found in Thom's best work are here. Sensitive siting, material integrity and human scale are brought together with features like butt-joint glass, impeccable finishing and spaced beams that draw the eye out as they pass through the building envelope and into the landscape. 

A Japanese influence shows in decorative roof crests, a koi pond at the entry path and a spareness and purposefulness of attributes like gutters held back to reveal a thin, delicate roof edge. Inside, on what would ordinarily be a ninety degree turn, one wall plane extends outward, meeting the other through a recessed section as edges pull back to underscore the transition. 

Though the approach varies from the freeform spatial inventiveness of something like the Case Residence, the connection between structure and site remains elemental and the house is grounded in a calm confidence. As the split-level plan pivots, views double back through layers of glazing, framed by structure and landscaping. 

The result is a sort of architectural fugue that cascades from one room to the next, culminating in the living room amongst unexpected turns and quiet corners. Open framing acts like tensioned webbing to define the space and provide unexpected depth and height.

Thom's colleague Dick Mann worked closely with him on the house, at a time when Thom was immersed in the construction of Massey College in Toronto; many of the details are the result of Mann's careful eye.
                                         

Mid-century houses are an endangered species in Vancouver. The Sauder Display house particularly so, given its location on a major urban artery. In a city like Los Angeles there is an understanding that houses by Schindler, Neutra and Wright are civic, even national, treasures. Not so in Vancouver where we tend to bulldoze our heritage before it gets too old.

Not every building or house should be saved, of course. But the city can only benefit from the best exemplars of their place and time being protected for the record, even as we move forward. 

The house has a history of public viewings, beginning in 1962 when Vancouverites toured it throughout the summer. It was profiled in the August 1962 issue of Western Homes + Living and more recently featured on the Vancouver Heritage Foundation's house tour–the first modernist property to be included. 

As the Sauder Display house transitions again, here's hoping it will find a new custodian to carry it through the next mid-century as a reminder of a particularly fertile moment in the city's history.

Daniel Evan White

Dan White is the subject of an upcoming exhibition this fall at the Museum of Vancouver. 

The show runs from October 2013-March 2014 and is guest curated by Greg Johnson and Martin Lewis with Viviane Gosselin of the Museum of Vancouver.

In the meantime, check out the tumblr site dedicated to White's architecture - primarily late modern residential with a strong linear quality and close connection to site.

White's is a unique body of work that hasn't received its due, perhaps because his career blossomed in the shadow of the initial wave of West Coast Modern architects or perhaps because of his focus on the residential sphere. 

Whatever the reason, the exhibition looks to reassess a quiet but important West Coast legacy.

Image: Lunn Residence, 1987 www.danielevanwhite.com

Heritage Vancouver's Top Ten

Heritage Vancouver has released its annual Top Ten Endangered list. 

At the top is Paul Merrick's wonderful Forest Education Centre (pictured above) at VanDusen Botanical Garden. Other endangered buildings include the Vancouver Post Office and the Waldorf Hotel.

If you feel strongly about the preservation of these sites, let the City of Vancouver know.

Image: Heritage Vancouver Society

Art Gallery Decision

The City of Vancouver has recommended the Larwill Park site for the Vancouver Art Gallery. 

The gallery will have until April 2015 to raise 75% of the estimated $300 million capital costs.

See Mayor Gregor Robertson's website for details. 

Erickson's Home In Danger

Ongoing developments in the Erickson home and property saga.

Image: AEHG Foundation

Post Office Sold

News this week on a few fronts. The Vancouver Post Office has been sold and faces a future of 'mixed-use development'. Which hopefully means the building will be retained in some significant form.

It has also been announced that Patkau Architects have been chosen to design the new Presentation House Gallery in North Vancouver. This comes hot on the heels of the announcement that Patkau will design the Audain Gallery in Whistler.

Vancouver Curio: Pratt by Archer

A recent find: a portrait of Ned Pratt by Vancouver photographer Tony Archer.

Judging by Pratt's clothes and age, it likely dates from the early-mid 1960's.

Tony Archer was a Vancouver photographer active from the late 1940's until the early 1970's. During that time he photographed many business and political leaders, as well as the city's architecture. As it turns out, he also photographed Barry Downs' parents CBK Van Norman-designed home.

Archer retired in 1972, sold the business to Stephen Miller and David Olds and donated his pre-1960 negatives to Archives Canada. His post-1960's negatives were later donated there as well.

This particular print measures roughly 12"x18" and has been unfortunately laminated. It is signed by Archer on the print and by Pratt on the matte. 

Block 51 + UN Habitat Forum

A last minute heads up for two events tonight:

The second of two public consultations on the future of Block 51 - the site of the Vancouver Art Gallery - is taking place at the gallery. Discussions will centre around the significance of the North Plaza and the 800-block of Robson Street.

The plaza is slated for redevelopment and the city is considering closing down the block of Robson Street permanently to vehicle traffic, in response to the success of the Olympics and past closures like Pop Rocks and Picnurbia.

Also happening tonight: a talk by Vancouver writer Lindsay Brown on the city's 1976 UN Habitat Forum.

Brown is currently finishing up a book on the event and will explore some of that history, along with archival photos, at the Goldcorp Centre For the Arts.

Selwyn's Work

Mark your calendars for a night of celebration: the launch party for Selwyn Pullan: Photographing Mid-Century West Coast Modernism on October 9, 2012. 

Published by D+M and beautifully produced by the fine folks at the West Vancouver Museum + Archives, the book features texts by Barry Downs, Adele Weder and Kiriko Watanabe. 

It's the culmination of a great deal of work (and the previous exhibition) that gives one of our richest visual archives its due.

Cheng Reshapes Pelli

Vancouver will have one of its most prominent, if almost universally loathed, buildings transformed. 

The Sears (Eaton's) building will be completely renovated by James Cheng over the next two years in preparation for Nordstrom's arrival. Walls of glass and four floors of office space will create a vastly different urban experience in the area.

Undoubtedly, Cesar Pelli's 1973 building is a product of a different time and one that completely turns its back on the street and contemporary urban planning. And yet... there is something in its obstinate presence that acts as a curious foil in a city filled with tower after tower of glass facades.

Pratt + Berwick on Blenheim

A lovely early Ned Pratt original from 1940 that probably doesn't stand a chance.

It's right next door to a 1941 Bob Berwick that has seen some remodelling but still retains its form.

Two examples of the progressive residential work that Pratt and Berwick were designing shortly after joining Sharp + Thompson in 1937. In 1945 the firm name was changed to Sharp, Thompson, Berwick + Pratt to reflect their growing contributions. 

The two continued their exploration of architectural form, especially Pratt whose own 1951 post and beam home was strictly based on the 4x8 module and is one of the clearest West Coast interpretations of international modernism. 

That house was recently restored by Pratt's son Peter in what is a beautiful example of adaptation for the 21st century.

Bing Thom on Vancouver

A recent article by Bing Thom and Michael Heeney on urban isolation and what can be done to minimize it.

It ties in with re-imagining our urban space and also with initiatives like Pop Rocks (above) and last summer's Picnurbia.

Vancouver's Viaducts

The City of Vancouver has released the viaducts proposal. Public open houses happened recently and feedback can still be given online until the end of Wednesday.

The document lists the winners of the re:Connect competition, including the submission above, by DIALOG and PWL Landscape Architects.

Disappearing Main Street

Excellent blog by David Niddrie and Jennifer Okrusko documenting the transitioning facade of Main Street. 

Far from an exercise in nostalgia, {Disappearing} Main Street is rather a quiet exploration into the nature and value of community.

Thom's Work/Baker

Amongst South Granville's ever-burgeoning residential stock sits a modest, flat-roofed home with an important connection to Vancouver's architectural history.

Designed by Ron Thom in 1952, the Work/Baker house is an early example of Thom's inventive spatial explorations and a study in post and beam clarity.

The structure is sited at the north edge of a level lot, allowing for a larger combined green space on the other three sides. The landscaping is now mature and creates an almost impossible privacy on a city lot.

The original house was one and a half storeys and features a main living area defined by a grey brick hearth, cedar T + G ceilings and a staggered wall of glazing on the southern side that, moderated by overhangs, brings in light year-round.

There is a cadence to the spaces and materials that combine with details like butt-joint glass and recessed lighting to create an embracing and unified whole.

The current owners bought the house as originally built and decided to expand in the early 1980's. Thom, then practicing in the East, was asked to design the renovation. The result was an expansion on the main floor – adding a family room, entrance and storage – and the addition of a third level that includes a master bedroom suite. 

It is a fascinating case study in architectural integration to see Thom's hand on two different occasions in one building, separated by thirty years. The house is also a kind of bookend to his Vancouver residential work; the intervening years having seen many residences and much larger and more complex commissions such as Massey College, Trent University and the Shaw Theatre. 

As expected, the renovation merges almost seamlessly, retaining the same graceful planar expression and arguably improves on the original. The master suite is perched atop the house in the trees and – unusual for Thom – is suffused with light.

The Work/Baker house is now on the market and in need of a new owner to carry the torch. Given the vagaries of real estate in Vancouver, it's future is far from certain. But as an important part of the city's heritage it deserves a more secure fate than that.

SALA Show

The School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture at UBC is currently showing SALA Works - a collection of faculty projects - at the Or Gallery.

The show is curated by Matthew Soules and is an opportunity to see what's percolating in the realm of architecture and design on campus.

SALA Works runs until March 15.

Toderian Out

Brent Toderian has been fired from his position of director of planning with the city.

See Frances Bula's article in the Globe.

There's bound to be much debate over Toderian's termination and legacy but the question now is who will succeed him?

Vancouver History

A couple of new blogs that explore the history of Vancouver:

Changing Vancouver shows the city through then and now images and pairs them with in-depth descriptions. The blog has just come online this month but there are dozens of interesting postings. It is authored by local historian and writer John Atkin and city planner Andy Coupland.

Atkin and Coupland are also responsible for Building Vancouver, which focuses on Vancouver's early buildings and architects and features a wealth of historical detail.