New Stuff 1 – The Whistler Library

This week: recent development around the region – in this case, the Cascadian region.

Starting at the top, Whistler’s new library:

Whistler works because it contains fantasy within a real place.   Yes, the village is a stage set, a place to let go – on the slopes, in the bars, in your head.  The sometimes cartoony quality of the architecture matches up pretty well with the mood of most visitors.  But it is also home and workplace to people who live all too real lives.  And they need real services.

The library, designed by Hughes Condon Marler, picks up on the post-and-beam aesthetic of Whistler, uses natural materials in a contemporary way – and it all looks real.  The beams actually hold up the roof!

Of course, it’s free – not a small consideration in a place that has a price for everything else.   And it offers a retreat in a place of extreme experience.

The library is built on top of an underground parking lot – like the village itself.  And this is what makes the urbanism of Whistler succeed.  The car is put away, out of sight, so that there is no need, and no allowance, for surface lots within the tightly knit fabric of the village. 

Someday they’ll get to the point where they don’t need parking at all.  But the widening of the Sea-to-Sky highway, without any real option, sends just the opposite message: drive.  (However, once at Whistler, park the car and forget about it.  This place is made for walking.)

Whistler has also reflected its priority on health and recreation in the design of the garage itself.  There has to be an elevator for the disabled, of course, but look at the stairs as an option:

Wide, well-lit, beckoning.  And at least they charge for the parking.