Bob Ransford argues that the policies that have shaped Vancouver's streets and skyline over the last decades into a global icon of planning and design are an accomplishment of style over substance that fail to look at how people inhabit buildings.
Ransford defines "Vancouverism" as "a
design trend that has among its key principles residential buildings
that are in the form of thin point towers with a podium at street level
wrapped with townhouses providing 'eyes on the street.'" And while these principles, along with a focus on glass-glad buildings, make for pretty architecture, Ransford and architect Gair Williamson surmise that they fail to acknowledge the changing needs of users.
"These are conservative times, but technological
changes are changing values and shaping different ways people want to
live and work. Meanwhile, architects are reverting to classic solutions -
classic meaning something that is timeless and not adaptable," says Williamson.
While Ransford attempts to assign responsibility for the failure to re-imagine "the substance" inside the city's stylish new buildings to those who've established the framework for how the city has evolved, Williamson puts the blame squarely on architects.
"‘You can blame city hall, the client, the public consultation process or
the project budget, but in fact it is the disinterest of those involved
in the design process who, with a few exceptions, fail to challenge the
status quo."
Read the full story: ‘Vancouverism’ architecture: It's style over substance
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Harvard University Graduate School of Design
KFH Group Inc.
Greater Baltimore Committee
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello