Art Cowie
Art Cowie is one of Vancouver’s Renaissance men – a landscape architect, planner, politician (from Park Commissioner to MLA), developer, commentator, writer – and always with a passion that can sometimes seem excessive.
He has an eclectic website where you can get a sample of his works and writings. I particularly like his essays on Vancouver’s recent past, where, from his perspective, he backgrounds development issues and trends. Under “Vancouver’s Hot Spots” he has currently 141 different essays – most recently one on the history of master-planning in the city. His current passion is finding an option that he believes could most effectively address the need to transition some of our single-family neighbourhoods to a higher but acceptable density.
For over 30 years, Council and the City Planning Department have concentrated on the renewal of the downtown, leaving builders free to construct housing with mostly little design merit, throughout the city, as long as the housing was single family. Vancouver’s eight “Vision Plans” have not resulted as yet in many real on-the-ground planning success, and in fact have in some cases lead to community control, with a “no change” agenda.
Solution? The rowhouse
In the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, I helped plan and design several strata townhouse projects along 7th Avenue West, between Granville and Cambie streets. This street is regularly part of walking tours to show visitors, design students and others the design style of housing of that era. A number of Vancouver’s best architects have designed projects there, including James Cheng and Roger Hughes, with whom I worked.It is well worth a walk from the coffee shop on Hemlock, east on 7th Avenue to Cambie Street, across the Cambie Bridge, east on the False Creek walkway, and then back across the Granville Bridge. You will see a consistency of development on 7th Avenue, with different exterior building materials. Brick is the dominant exterior material and it has stood the test of time.
Rowhouse 2
Art believes the Cambie corridor would be the best place for the City to try out new proposals – and needless to say, he has a few of his own. Check it out here.
