A no messing around guide to the coolest things to eat, drink and do in Vancouver and beyond. Community. Not clickbait.

Vancouver Would Be Cooler If Its Sunniest Blind Walls Had Scaffolded Gardens


(via) Blind walls – which is to say exterior walls uninterrupted by doors, windows, or any sort of ornament or device – suck so bad that we seldom ever give them a second glance. They are hardly noticeable on account of how boring they are, but cities, included our own, are positively littered with them.

There has been a trend of late throw murals on them, but wouldn’t it be great if those that saw plenty of sun could be turned into scaffolded vertical gardens? The GreenBelly Project, dreamed up by architect Alex Losada, AVL studio and agricultural engineer Camille Lassale, aims to do just that, using sun, rain and organic waste to produce 4,000 kg of deliciousness per annum.

“Modern cities are suffering from urban saturation, linked to the progressive increase of the global population. City life can be unsustainable and unhealthy to some people due pollution, poor diet and a sedentary lifestyle. Producing local food and incorporating natural elements in big cities is a basic need for residents but also for the environment. With GreenBelly, we propose a sustainable project at manageable scale with short-term results. We want to rethink cities so that people’s wellbeing is a priority. Nature has to find its way back into modern cities, and GreenBelly is more than just providing food, it is a mechanism for urban regeneration.”

They’re currently raising Kickstarter cash to make the thing a reality. Take a look:

Vancouver Would Be Cooler If We Had More Safe Indoor Spaces for Skateboarding

Its vaulted ceilings may have once carried the tenors and altos of Catholic choirboys, but nowadays the acoustics of the abandoned St. Liborius Church have been repurposed to carry the screeches and echoes characteristic of a DIY Skatepark. We think Vancouver would be cooler if we had an all-inclusive indoor community skatepark of our own...

Vancouver Would Be Cooler If It Had a Massive Floating Housing Project at the Port

Imagine a colourful, mixed-used, housing complex like Amsterdam's Silodam floating at the foot of Victoria Drive.

Vancouver Would Be Cooler If It Had Floating Camp Sites in False Creek

Imagine Belgium's Vlot Kamp - essentially eight floating campsites accessed from the shore by canoe - next to Olympic Village.

Vancouver Would Be Cooler If It Had a Cocktail Bar Hidden in a Skytrain Station

This 15-seat speakeasy-style bar is located behind a nondescript door in New York City's 28th Street subway station.