I got stuck on this image this monring (origin unknown). It reminded me of an old friend’s far away apartment in a repurposed church, in what used to be a rather modest nave. It made me think of the mixed use nature of Vancouverism, which has become the envy of an aging urban world (the Most Liveable Cities In The World index, etc). One of the consequences of all that foreign applause remains the continued ascendancy of shoebox living high in skies largely defined by granite counter-tops, built-in wine racks and laminate floors. Few of my generation can afford to buy into that lifestyle, and some abhor it like slow death. Equally sad is the fact that values such as character and history don’t figure in it at all. That absence, I suppose, is the faultless hand dealt unto us by geography and time (our 7-2 off-suit versus, say, Prague’s pocket aces), but when I look at this picture, that doesn’t make it any less unfortunate. Don’t get me wrong – the newness of Vancouver is amazing to behold in most lights, and I know that little aesthetic good can come from the latter day re-invention of old styles, but wouldn’t it just be swell to see a few more vaulted ceilings and one of a kind windows standing out among all the concrete, steel and glass?
OTHER CIVIC IMPROVEMENT SUGGESTIONS
There are 3 comments
Popular
Amber: A Gastown Listening Lounge Built Around Sound
June Introduces ‘Lala’, a New Vinyl Listening Bar
Where to Get the Best Ice Cream in Vancouver, Summer 2025
The Garden Adds a Long-Overdue Wine Bar Energy to Strathcona
Wild Blue Named to 50 Best Restaurants List, North America
That looks entirely like the set of La Boheme.
But besides that, I’m sure you could have an apartment like that here, but you’d pay enormous amounts of money for it, there’d be a concierge somewhere, and, being the sort of person who could afford a place like that in Vancouver you’d most likely spend most of your time at your fabulous bungalow in St. Kitts.
WANT.
cheers–vancouver, for all of its supposed “culture,” has become a culture of its own–and one that is quite lacking in romantic history, genuine architechture, anything with a story dated beyond the century we live in. It shows too, in the food culture; in the very essential mentality of being a “vancouverite.” It is a city where you are a glass wall, not a bay window…