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Vancouver Art Gallery to receive prime Vancouver waterfront site for a new gallery

wyliepoon

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Vancouver Art Gallery to receive prime Vancouver waterfront site for a new gallery


The Vancouver Art Gallery has been offered a prime location on Vancouver's False Creek waterfront. Last week, the Honourable Gordon Campbell, Premier of British Columbia announced the future gallery site as part of a plan to expand the city's sport, culture and entertainment district. Following on the heels of the provincial commitment of $50 million for a new Vancouver Art Gallery announced March 6, 2008, the site represents another extremely positive development in the organization's plans to construct a new purpose-built art museum.

"The False Creek location presents an exciting opportunity to imagine a new Vancouver Art Gallery on this beautiful waterfront site, one that would serve as an anchor for this extension of Vancouver's thriving cultural community," said Kathleen Bartels, director. "In addition to Premier Campbell's recent commitment of $50 million, we are extremely grateful to the Province of British Columbia for bringing us another step closer to realizing our dream for a new Vancouver Art Gallery."

After an exploration of several possible locations in the downtown core, the False Creek site rose to the top of the list, but only recently has this site become a possibility for a new Vancouver Art Gallery. The site will allow the gallery to construct a building of approximately 320,000 square feet, double its current size, to meet the institution's exhibitions, collections and programming needs for the next 50 years and beyond while providing additional opportunities for outdoor gallery programming on the waterfront.

After an extensive master planning process which concluded in 2004, the gallery determined requirements for a building of approximately 320,000 square feet, more than double the size of the current building. After 25 years in its current location in downtown Vancouver's Robson Square, the former provincial courthouse building no longer meets the organization's needs across all areas of operation. The historic building, constructed in 1906 and redesigned by Vancouver architect Arthur Erickson in 1983 to accommodate the Vancouver Art Gallery, now has a severe lack of space for exhibitions, collections and programs, and also possesses seismic vulnerabilities and aging systems.
 
From Wikipedia:

"The VAG will move into a new building on land occupied until now by the Plaza of Nations in Vancouver near BC Place, and will double its size to 320,000 square feet. A call for designs for the new gallery will go out to architects in the fall of 2008. Construction is expected to start in 2011, with an opening likely in 2013."


Sooo....somewhere around here.
plazaland.jpg
 
Conceptual render here at the BC Place website.

http://www.bcplacestadium.com/

Apparently there will be an international competition. Unfortunately, it looks like "Enterprise Hall", an Expo 86 legacy building, will be demolished (together with the Plaza of Nations roof (demolished last summer), the West Building (demolished last fall) and the East Building (currently still standing).

http://www.bcplacestadium.com/newsreleases/BCPlace_2015.pdf
 
I think Vancouver should think bigger on this one. 50 Million is nothing to sneeze at but given our experiences here in Toronto and even more inflated construction costs associated with the olympics out there, that kind of money basically amounts to a bag of pucks in the cultural institution game. Furthermore, Vancouver is kind of lacking in said game so a substantial investment would go far towards rounding out the attractiveness of the city as a destination and cultural centre.
 
Thanks for posting the BC Place link, officedweller.

It's quite interesting to see the design for the BC Place renovation. However it doesn't look very original. Anyone who followed the FIFA World Cup in Germany in 2006 would recognize the new BC Place as a clone of Frankfurt's Commerzbank-Arena.

frankfurt_waldstadion1.jpg


frankfurt_waldstadion2.jpg
 
This feels similar in concept to what many were hoping for at the foot of Yonge. Good for Vancouver! We get Pier# Whatever.
 
This feels similar in concept to what many were hoping for at the foot of Yonge. Good for Vancouver! We get Pier# Whatever.

Don't worry man, the public has some boardwalk space they can use to walk around it. ;)
 
The concept above would actually act as a wide barrier to accessing the wter - compared to the passages / mews around the many condo towers in the False Creek area.
 
Maybe this is immature, but VAG is a hilarious name. I bet kids get pretty excited about field trips to the VAG. I know I could spend quite a lot of time exploring the VAG etc..
 

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