Great fun participating in the launch of Spacing magazine’s national editions – including Vancouver – that was also part of the City’s consultation on the Transportation Plan.
Publisher and Creative Director Matt Blackett was leading the road show, and hosted a panel to discuss the Top Ten Public Spaces in Vancouver. (Here’s Stephen Rees’s summary and opinion.)
Erin O’Melinn of the Vancouver Public Space Network had a lot of great insights, and has thoughtfully posted them on the VPSN blog here.
This jumped out for me:
Well-designed spaces strategically strike a balance between things that make us feel safe and welcome and things that let us push our normal habits: we want a sense of publicness where we know we belong, but we want to share it with people that are very different from ourselves; we want openness that allows us to people-watch, but we want a sense of enclosure so we don’t feel too watched ourselves; we want prolific transportation options to get there, but then we want to be buffered from fast moving traffic when we are there.
Maybe that helps explain why there isn’t a great public space in the centre of the city (the Canadian winner for best public space was the Seawall – the ultimate in an edge environment). Even though the space in front of the Art Gallery steps on the south side was recognized, it lacks the size to handle anything beyond a few hundred people.
The solution, in my and many people’s opinion, is to re-do the plaza on the north side of the gallery – an opportunity that may arise if and when the Gallery moves and Bing Thom’s idea of an underground performance hall prevails.
The main problem with the current space is that fountain in middle – a gift to the City by Premier W.A.C. Bennett to celebrate Canada’s Centennial, if I recall – that cuts up the plaza. Awkward landscaping, too much soft surface, the absence of proper facilities for lighting and sound, the incidental relationship to surrounding streets – all make what is a first-rate location into a second-rate public space.
So here’s a proposal: Canada’s 150th anniversary is only half a decade away – surely enough time to have a competition, allocate funding and undertake the construction, all in time for a first-class birthday party on first-rate public space.
And we can name it after W.A.C. Bennett if we’re going to trash his fountain.
I did a subsequent post on Leg in Boot Square as your comment during the discussion about the Italian hill village basis of the design intrigued me. It was very short – basically just the comment I made under the image on flickr – but the response has been surprisingly extensive
I heard you put this idea forward at the Spacing Road Show Gord. I’m not convinced this site is suitable. I get the feeling that it’s being promoted because it’s an existing open space and it’s downtown. What other features does the VAG have that recommend it?
If we compare the VAG to Pioneer Place in Portland (a successful public space I would suggest) it doesn’t stack up very well. I would guess the VAG site is possibly half the size for starters.
I’m sure there will be lots of dialogue before the final choice is made.
As for Leg In Boot, Friends and I have contended for years that a brave entrepreneur who was willing to open a cafe and put out tables and chairs with colourful umbrellas might do well. Plenty of folks live nearby, or cycle and walk past. I never thought lack of transit or vehicle access was the reason that site was so desolate looking.
Great article. I actually just wrote a blog post about how I think the north plaza could look more like Bryant Park. Would love your thoughts, Gordon!
http://thiscitylife.tumblr.com/post/7327406184