Archive for February, 2007

A Forum for West Point Grey
February 16, 2007

Architect Rick Balfour comes up with more audacious ideas before breakfast than most of us have in a year. (He led the “Outside the Box” workshop at the Affordability by Design conference, results here.)
 And another:

Says Rick:
Looking at the land form on Jericho,-could we need a classical amphitheatre like Epidavras in Greece; big enough for 15 000 [...]

Look up: Eco-Density Infill?
February 15, 2007

I must have missed this: the 2006 winners of Best Practices in Affordable Housing, according to CMHC (they do so much more than insure).
You can find the list here.
Local winner:

Mole Hill Housing Project
Hotson Bakker Boniface Haden Architects/S.R. McEwan Architect
Vancouver, British Columbia
This project is a redevelopment and restoration of 27 City of Vancouver-owned houses in the heart [...]

Life’s Harder in Seattle
February 14, 2007

Find out why: here.

Eco-Density Rolls Out
February 14, 2007

First up: a column by the Mayor in the National Post.
It’s time to talk about urban density

Tue 13 Feb 2007
As mayor of one of Canada’s biggest cities, Vancouver, I am frustrated with the nature of the debate on global climate change in this country.
Over the past several months, I have watched as environmental organizations, government [...]

The Sound of a Vacuum Filled
February 14, 2007

That’s the Gordon Campbell I know.
Over 30 initiatives were announced in yesterday’s Throne Speech to respond to global warming “aimed at reducing B.C.’s greenhouse gases by at least 33 per cent below current levels by 2020. ”  Some of the initiatives, if delivered, are extraordinary: 
Effective immediately, B.C. will become the first jurisdiction in North [...]

Video: Vancouver 2010
February 6, 2007

Thanks to Pacific Metropolis for picking up this promo video for 2010. It’s just one gorgeous scene after the other, with a New Agey soundtrack, pretty much guaranteed to make you feel all mushy about Vancouver and the Olympics. Sure it’s manipulative - unapologetically so. But it’s also worth appreciating the skill of the editor(s) [...]

Cheney’s Fund Manager Attacks U.S. Energy Policy
February 5, 2007

Frankly, I would have guessed this was a hoax … until I read the article.

Step forward, Jeremy Grantham — Cheney’s own investment manager. “What were we thinking?’ Grantham demands in a four-page assault on U.S. energy policy mailed last week to all his clients, including the vice president.
Titled “While America Slept, 1982-2006: A Rant on [...]

The Daily Alarm: Quotes 3 (The Deal)
February 5, 2007

Here’s the deal: those who deliver reliable quantities of hydrocarbons at an affordable price get to run things. At least, that’s the way it’s been in North America.
The connection between politics and the price of gas is pretty darn clear. But more powerful still is the nexus between the oil culture and seats of power.
In [...]

Architect against Iconic-ism
February 4, 2007

Architect Bing Thom recommended I read this piece from the Tyee on the prospects for the Larwell Park site (just east of the Queen Elizabeth Theatre) - likely the location for an ‘iconic’ architectural statement. 

Bing’s warning:
Thom worries that civic culture is sliding into the control of a few select, giant institutions that grab a dominant [...]

Critiquing the Critic: Trevor Boddy
February 3, 2007

Good cities need good critics.  And Trevor Boddy, a regular contributor to the Globe and Mail, could be that critic if he could dampen down the self-promotion.  It gets in the way.  Sometimes his opposition seems gratuitous, taken not on the merits of the case but because it goes against received opinion.  He believes it to be his [...]