There will be at least one iconic image that will come out of Vancouver’s Olympics. It’s a nice touch that this image actually includes an icon. And a fence.
This has instantly become one of the great case studies in urban design. What were they thinking? I mean, literally. What went into their thinking when they designed the cauldron and the public spaces around it? Did they think about people taking photographs? Did they think people would even show up?
Was it discussed, or was the design process mainly about security and traffic movement? Because that’s the way it looks.
What they clearly didn’t expect – who did? – was that so many people would show up wanting to be there. So many, in fact, that the crowd would be its own phenomenon.
They have come by the thousands, to line up for hours, to spill down the stairs and along the seawall, up the ramps and along the railings, to jam the sidewalks on all the blocks leading to the cauldron.
It’s like Times Square.
Or at least the Times Square before they closed Broadwa y to traffic. The Times Square where four and a half times as many people as vehicles were squeezed into 11 percent of the space. Where the car was the priority, and so many people on feet was a problem. You could see it in the barricades that lined Seventh Avenue to keep people from spilling into the street. Just like here.
This controversy over the cauldron and the fence is not about the security. That was thought out. That could have been been the priority even as a solution was found to accommodate the thousands who wanted a clear view, as close as possible. What seems to have happened is that they simply didn’t think about it. The success of this public space, the space beyond the fence, came as a complete surprise.
And that’s not to blame VANOC. In an endeavour of this scale, not everything can be anticipated. It’s what you do in response that counts for the future.
Anyway, they’ve done one big thing so well that it too has come as a bit of surprise. More later.
I find urban design and public spaces in general to be horrible in BC, so I’m not surprised that this turned out poorly.
It looks like with the new traffic pattern, everyone is happy:
road chaos didn’t happen and buses are moving smoothly.
so let’s keep it like it and “Mr Gregor Robertson, tear down these viaducts”
I blame VANOC. With years to plan they completely blew it and they’ve done almost nothing to rectify it.
$1,000,000,000.00 for security and all they can come up with is a chainlink fence? If they knew it would be inside a security perimeter why didn’t they put it somewhere else?
I visited the cauldron on saturday and had a wonderful experience. The crowds were huge, but cheerful. There was a lot of security around directing traffic and being generally helpful. The fence was a brain-dead move but they have corrected a large part of it by moving a large seftion close and replacing a large stretch of fence with plexiglass.
I have two questions though -1. why a fence at all? The torch seems awfully safe where it is, and the fire wouldn’t pose a risk to anyone below. If the the structure will be permenant it obviously most be public proof.
2. Why in the world would they put the torch on the waterfront by the convenction centre? It looks pretty where it is, but that area of town has never been a pedestrian hotspot. It is very removed from all the olympic festivities on granville, robson and yaletown. It can’t even be seen from the tv booths in the convention center, which i guess would’ve been a bonus.There is a huge, extremely picturesque green park on the water of false creek next to the granville st bridge in yaletown. That would’ve been my choice.
they should have put it on a barge anchored in the middle of the inlet: no need for fence…
I think they fell victom to having the cauldron in the same design as in the stadium. They couldn’t ahve a tall cauldron design within the stadium due to the roof, so they had a shorter design. The main problem is that the arms are the perfrect angle for peopel to climb (or skateboard up) – presumably bmimicking the hydraulicly raised design within BC Place.
If the waterfront version was on a tall pedestal, then there wouldn’t be any danger of people climbing it (whether protestors or drunk people).
But the factor that people (well, reporters, anyways) aren’t addressing is whether the placement is to provide newscasters from around the world with a nice backdrop. I was down there on Satuday night and a Japanese media crew was broadcasting with the cauldron in the background. I’ve seen NBC News broadcast from the plaza with the cauldron in the background.
If you open up the area to the public (safety concerns aside), the media lose their picture perfect stage.
That said, NBC has done an incredible job of showcasing Vancouver and BC to the world. Just watch the Today Show and you’ll see that every monrning they have BC guests (chefs, musicians, fashion designers, bars, etc.) and they’re very upbeat and positive about the whole experience.
Contrast that to the CTV morning show coverage on where they they have their pundits ridiculing sports (such as ski cross, this morning, highlighting the crashes and falls and asking why do they do this?) or rating the ice dancers’ costumes. Others I know aren’t very happy with CTV’s coverage either.
BTW – the Canadian flag on the Hotel Georgia has been vandalized (imagine what would happen to the cauldron if it were accessible?)
http://twitpic.com/14d30z