The Interior Design Show West (IDSwest) is coming up quickly, running from September 29th to October 2nd. It’s Western Canada’s premiere residential design show, and it’s gearing up to showcase some 200 curated exhibitors, all putting forward quality products and services to an audience of industry professionals, architects, designers, and consumers. It attracts over 28,000 attendees over three and a half days; roughly 22,000 of whom are avid design wonks looking to source and purchase some of the latest trends and innovations in contemporary home design.

Here are six things you shouldn’t miss…

Opening Night

Who doesn’t love an opening night party with custom cocktails, live music and whole lotta fashion and design going on? The IDSwest Opening Night Party goes down on September 29th, and they’re expecting some 4000 guests in attendance. 4000! Anticipate the show’s 2011 signature “Fluoro” cocktail pour at the tom dixon pop-up bar (see below), Vancouver Fashion Week preview shows and plenty of design and architectural eye candy (bonus: Montreal’s DJ Mario Galego is spinning beats). Tickets for the shindig are just $20 and available online at www.idswest.com.

Time: 6PM to 9PM
Location: Inform Interiors on-site exhibition space 319 at IDSwest
Vancouver Convention Centre West, 1055 Canada Place

Speakers

Internationally acclaimed and award-winning industrial designer Ross Lovegrove will be forecasting the future as the keynote speaker. His resume spans nearly thirty years, and his projects include some of the most memorable designs of each decade, including Walkmans for Sony and computers for Apple. Lovegrove is also the author of the widely successful Alessandri Office System. Winner of numerous awards, Lovegrove’s work has been extensively published and exhibited internationally including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Guggenheim Museum (NY), the Pompidou Centre (Paris) and the Design Museum (London), where in 1993 Lovegrove curated the first permanent collection. Lovegrove is also author of the book SUPERNATURAL, The Work of Ross Lovegrove by Phaidon. As someone who creates what many in the design community see as the new aesthetic expression for the 21st century, Lovegrove will be bringing a range of experimental and progressive ideas to the stage. Design professionals and the public alike are invited to join this forward thinker at 5:00PM on Friday, September 30th, 2011 at IDSwest.

Also joining IDSwest this year will be award winning lighting designer Jeremy Cole. As someone who counts Harry Winston, Bulgari and Anne Fontaine as clients, Cole has honed his handmade lighting into a luxury design phenomenon. His work can be found in hotels, restaurants, retail stores and offices worldwide. Cole will be addressing visitors to IDSwest on Friday, September 30th at 3:00PM.

Rounding out this year’s key presenters is local design darling Omer Arbel, Creative Director of Bocci, whose latest pieces include the 2010 Winter Olympic medals. Arbel’s designs cover a broad range, from luxurious private residences such as the nearly complete 23.2 house to bespoke lighting installations such as the 28 chandelier; to the innovative yet accessibly priced electrical wall units of the 22 series (which retail at $15 per component in North America). Arbel will be presenting on the main stage at 7:00PM on Friday, September 30th, 2011.

Molo Softshelter

As chronic fearers of The Big One, we’re particularly keen to check out this “unique system for creating personal space within a larger shelter area in order to provide individuals and families with a sense of privacy and encourage community-building in the days following a disaster.” Because you never know…

L41

We saw this baby at the preview a few months back and architect Michael Katz and designer Janet Corne did an awesome job of it. It’s one of the feature displays at IDSWest, a marvel of modern living on a diminutive scale. Think top of the line appliances, a gourmet kitchen, a full projection screen and an outdoor patio all stuffed inside a 220 sqft micro-home conceived for a generation that understands full well that small is beautiful. The L41 is factory built and “move-in ready”.

Studio North

One of the most exciting areas on the IDSwest show floor is Studio North: a participation option for emerging design firms. This year look for the distinct handmade tile of Edgewater Studio and the sculptural painting work of our pal Dina Gonzales Mascaro (interview).

Tom Dixon’s Pop Up Bar

Straight from the UK and presented by Inform Interiors, the Tom Dixon Pop-Up Bar is set to be the hottest spot to meet up on the IDSwest floor. In true Tom Dixon style, it will have a dockside atmosphere decked out with Jack Lights, Slab tables and Fluoro chairs. Etch lighting will provide ambience overhead and Etch candleholders will sit along the bar counter, where signature cocktails will be served to match.

We hope to see many readers at the opening night party and throughout the weekend!

Welcome to Secret City, a new column by Ian Granville, who will be taking Scout readers across the city in search of its architecture and design secrets each week. Granville studied art history, human geography, and urban planning before completing diplomas in sustainable renovations and timber framing. This summer, he is working with the Architectural Institute of British Columbia to research and conduct the architectural walking tour program.

by Ian Granville | Hiding in plain sight, an architectural oddity exists between the first and third floor of many historic buildings in Vancouver’s Chinatown. It is the half-storey, like the one at 529 Carrall St. pictured above, and reminiscent of the strange office space in Being John Malkovich depicted in the clip below. These were deliberate design features, and no…you probably can’t rent one for cheap.

They are sometimes referred to as “cheater floors”, but this is a misnomer. The story goes that during the construction boom in Chinatown at the beginning of the 20th century, property taxes were levied against building owners using a formula that multiplied the footprint of the building by the number of its floors. The stunted 2nd storeys didn’t count toward this total, and thus provided tax-free storage and ancillary space.

The term “cheater floor” emerged from the xenophobia of the 1950s and not-so-subtly suggested that Chinese property owners were deliberately hiding a secret floor. The appropriate nomenclature is “2nd floor mezzanine”, and there is little to suggest that builders at the time could hide an entire floor from a building inspector, nor were there any discernible property tax incentives to do so.

Rear of the Jack Chow Insurance building on Shanghai Alley off Pender St. in Chinatown

The rationale behind the inclusion of a mezzanine level is rooted in vernacular architecture appropriated from Southern China. According to local architect Joe Wai, this concept was introduced to China by Portuguese and Italian builders as a response to the climate. As a passive measure to control temperature on the first floor, the mezzanine would be equipped with trap doors to allow hot air to vent upward. Opening exterior windows at the mezzanine level would allow a cross breeze to exchange this stale air for fresh and cool exterior air. A far cry from cheating the taxman! If implemented today, this type of design would likely merit LEED points for passive air ventilation and indoor air quality.

In addition to its role in climate control, the mezzanine often served as storage and office space to compliment retail uses at the ground floor. For example, the second floor of the Chinese Times Building at 1 East Pender Street (seen above) was formerly occupied by typesetters whose hunched-over work was unhampered by the low ceiling. Today, that space does not conform to current building code and zoning bylaws and is currently vacant.

These mezzanines pose a serious design challenge for any renovations that attempt to reprogram the space for modern uses. A common solution is to combine the first two storeys to maximize the height of the ground floor while maintaining the original window line in the exterior façade. This allows buildings to adapt to the modern needs of its users while simultaneously paying homage to a unique architectural feature that was once ubiquitous in Chinatown.

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You can learn more about Vancouver’s historic Chinatown by joining Ian for urban explorations like this on July 22, 28, August 4, 10, 17, 23, 27, and September 2. For more information on all six neighbourhood tours, please contact the AIBC at 604-683-8588 or visit their website.

We’re very happy with the home we have, but we saw this 220 sqft sustainable, high-design, high-quality, energy-efficient L41 home designed by architect Michael Katz and artist Janet Corne at the IDS West preview show last week and now we can’t stop thinking about how great it would be to scoop up a little piece of dirt on one of the Gulf Islands and plunk this ultra-compact abode on it.

EVERY COOL THING WE WANT

by Scott Daniel | The City is inviting Vancouverites to submit ideas for neighbourhood emblems. Or, to use the intensely urban verbiage the current council is known for, they want you to “Tag Your Hood“. This is all well and good, but when you travel east to west through this “city of neighbourhoods,” it seems there are already some pretty distinct architectural emblems that leave no doubt as to where you are…

Shaughnessy: Rounded Mansard Roof

I’d never noticed these peculiar roof adornments before…if you cycle the Cypress/Angus St. bike route through Shaughnessy, they’re everywhere. An understated, elegant type of opulence. Just like, I imagine, the residents of this neighbourhood perceive themselves. And they let in some light to refract through the chandeliers. Duh.

Kits: Put a Peak On It!

According to Exploring Vancouver, Kitsilano developed as a, “less expensive suburban alternative to the West End…with gabled roofs picturesque and not boring.”

In the 90′s, builders who wanted/needed their developments to conform to the neighbourhood character went overboard. They ran with the Put.A.Peak.On.It! approach. Some of them do fit, but more often than not the peaks add a lot of visual clutter and almost distract from the picturesque bungalow next door.

South Granville: A Cozy Pile of Bricks

South Granville has a bunch of warm brick apartment blocks. You can imagine the unique smell of the corridors even from outside. I always wanted to live in one, but at the same time, what’s with the No Balconies policy that they all seem to have? I know the weather can suck here, but gimme at least a juliet or something!

Fairview: Post-Tarp Pastel

The leaky condo craze that swept the city seemed to impact Fairview more than anywhere else. It’s said people would live and die by the phrase, “tarpé diem.” Now that the tarps are gone, we can re-join the 90′s nostalgia fetish that seems to be taking over at Urban Outfitters.

Yaletown: Shoebox City

People will pay almost any price to live in a shoebox if it’s close to the beautiful, the creative, the professional-hockey playing set. And it used to be the place to be!

The West End: Deco Apartments

Photo by Crankspanker

The West End is teeming with great examples of Art Deco apartment design. The colourful adornments, curved facades, chrome stoops, and focus on all that is horizontal make it a great place to walk and admire on your way to the pitch-n-putt.

Strathcona: Artist in Residence

The annual Culture Crawl invites Vancouverites to walk among the bohemian residents of Strathcona in their expressive habitats. Ancient grains soaking in the kitchen, surrealist sculptures in the workshop. All in a community-oriented, working class neighbourhood close to downtown.

East Van: Special

East Vancouver is experiencing a renaissance, and that’s a good thing. Stuff like This Is East Van and The revitalised Waldorf (and a million things besides) point to a fresh, vibrant art scene. But it can also get kind of annoying, what with all the sanctimonious East-Van-is-so-much-more-”real”-than-wherever-you-live chatter. Still, there are worse things than sanctimony.

What is more iconic than the East Van Special? Modern. Utilitarian. Real. Designers are starting to do some really interesting things with them. It’s such a great emblem…heck, there’s even an East Van Specials hockey team! And I can assure you, most of the players are quite sanctimonious.

by Scott Daniel | Vancouver’s been generating its intense form of urbanism so fast it can feel as if there’s almost no space left on the downtown peninsula.  But, there are a surprising number of “dead zones,” chief among them the waterfront adjacent to BC Place, a.k.a. North East False Creek (NEFC).

Plans for this area have been on the drawing board for years and the province is going ahead with its scheme for a casino and hotel development whether the City likes it or not.

For its part, the City is looking for the right mix of commercial, residential, and public space, and has received a major proposal from Canadian Metropolitan Properties, a huge landowner in the area.  CMP proposes 1.4 million square feet of residential space, 700,000 for commercial use, and 67,000 square feet of public space.  The goodies include a civic plaza and a Canucks practice rink/public arena (Canucks get the rink from 8 to 11am when the team is in town, the public gets it the rest of the time). More after the jump…

The much-anticipated-though-don’t-get-your-hopes-up-for-awhile-Streetcar is slated to run along the south side of Pacific until it reaches the stadium, where it crosses to the north side.

It’s just a model, but it’s hard to ignore the ‘skybridge’ building Cheng included, bringing to mind Paris’ Arche de la Defense (below).

Can’t wait to take out-of-town visitors by to remark on the architect’s “apparent desire to project a four-dimensional cube or tesseract, if you will, onto a three-dimensional world.”

Georgia Pedestrian Link

In the category of Complete Transformations, there are also plans to create a grand pedestrian mall linking the Georgia viaduct to a waterfront plaza.  What’s there now?  You know, it’s that prime waterfront where Concord Pacific is obligated to build a park, but instead dumps its construction waste and surplus building materials.

Here are some interesting options for your consideration.

Option 1: Georgia Stairs

Georgia Stairs includes a grandiose set of wide stairs, with iconic ‘light pillars’ and glass canopies for weather protection.

Option 2: Georgia Ribbon

Georgia Ribbon is a winding path defined by a red ribbon wall, as well as a public “Wall of Fame.”  The ribbon winds through plazas and green spaces.

Option 3: Georgia Red Poles

Georgia Red Poles is a meandering pathway distinguished by a series of “iconic” red poles.

I can’t decide which one I like best, partly because all three appear to be a massive upgrade on what’s there now.

Terry Fox Plaza

It’s heartening to know PavCo is also righting the wrong that was the Terry Fox memorial in front of BC Place.  While I feel for its artist and his unrealized vision, I’m not sure anyone ever appreciated it. At all. Douglas Coupland will have to mess up pretty bad to not improve on it.

So, all things considered, the casino thing is kind of lame, but if it pays for a dramatic improvement to BC Place maybe it’s okay. I’m sure there will be much debate on all fronts.

What about the rest of it: will NEFC development be a dynamic extension of downtown?  Do these proposals achieve the right mix?  Or, do they signal an underwhelming extension of Vancouverism at its most monotonous?