Starchitects Leaving Their Mark on the Vancouver Skyline

"International architects are leaving their marks on Vancouver’s evolving skyline in a way that is in stark contrast to the urban landscape at the dawn of the century," according to an article by Glen Korstrom.

Bjarke Ingels, Harry Gugger, Ole Scheeren, and Kengo Kuma are mong the international cast of architecture characters who have designed projects for Vancouver in recent years.

They all followed Norman Foster, who designed the Jameson House at 826 West Hastings Street for Jameson Development Corp. in 2004, thus opening the "floodgates" for offshore talent.

Korstrom credits the city's ability to attract international design talent to the initial work of Brent Toderian, who took the job of chief planner for the City of Vancouver in 2006. According to Korstrom, and Toderian who is quoted in the article, "Toderian started speaking out against what he saw as being a bland sameness among many of Vancouver’s buildings."

The article also provides some of the design and planning backstory for the creations of the starchitects.