Robson Square
One could argue that the most iconic of Erickson designs in Vancouver is the Robson Square complex. Sprawled across three blocks in the centre of downtown, it is bookended by the Provincial Law Courts and the Vancouver Art Gallery.
Long before Erickson came on board, the plan was for a vertical building — the tallest in Vancouver. But the 1972 provincial election brought about a change in both government and architect. And when worries were expressed about the immense shadow that such a building would cast, the new architect, Arthur Erickson, declared, “Let’s turn it on its side.” His vision was for a public square that people could walk through, anchored by the law at one end and the arts at the other.
The Provincial Law Courts were completed in 1979.
The renovation of the Vancouver Art Gallery, formerly the provincial courthouse, was completed in 1983.
The result is what Vancouver considers to be its main civic square. Curiously, though, our City Hall is located some three kilometres away. Why not downtown like most cities?
Good question, but that’s a topic for another post.
Cornelia Hahn Oberlander, the landscape architect who worked with Erickson on the Evergreen Building, designed the hanging gardens with its series of cascading waterfalls.
The law courts contain courtrooms, offices, and a law library. The entire complex is multi-level, with provincial government offices above ground and a sunken plaza with an ice rink below, offering free skating in the winter and salsa and ballroom dancing in the summer.
The buildings flanking the rink contain the classrooms and offices of the downtown campus of UBC.
Robson Square takes its name from downtown Vancouver’s main shopping street, which runs through the middle of the complex. That one-block stretch of Robson Street was first closed to vehicle traffic during the Vancouver Olympics, then every summer, and then permanently in 2017.
Robson Street is named after John Robson, a business man from Upper Canada who came west during the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush of 1859. He was a strong advocate for the Colony of British Columbia joining Confederation and eventually served as our ninth premier.
Dry January
After a rather soggy December, we’ve enjoyed an unusually dry January. So dry that records were broken: this was our driest January in 40 years, and the third driest since 1897.
We’ve also had a steady streak of spectacular sunsets. There’s something about winter sunsets that creates magic.
Like this.
Evergreen Building
Yup. Still here, still working on my series on Arthur Erickson buildings that have shaped Vancouver.
This one is easy to walk past without realizing its significance. Located on a quiet intersection in Coal Harbour, the building’s recessed terraces are meant to emulate a mountainside. Erickson collaborated with landscape architect Cornelia Hahn Oberlander when designing the building.
Its unique footprint came about for a practical reason: it was the space available where the two streets meet at an obtuse angle, instead of the usual 90 degrees. It is categorized as an office building, but also has some corporate residential suites.
The Evergreen Building was completed in 1980.
Through My Lens: January Afternoon
I was going through old photos and came across this one, taken on a sunny January afternoon some years ago. That’s Lost Lagoon in Stanley Park.
Merry Christmas!
English Bay, Vancouver
The End of the Eras Tour
The hype is real, folks.
Honestly, I don’t think I have ever seen as much anticipation over a bunch of concerts. Yes, it’s Taylor Swift. Yes, she is a megastar. Yes, it’s the end of her tour. But this city has lost its mind.
And I love it.
It’s been a long time since we all came together over a cultural event of this magnitude. It reminds me a lot of when we hosted the Olympics.
For weeks now, we’ve been warned about the upcoming traffic chaos. Three concert nights, two Canucks’ home games, and, oh yeah, Cirque du Soleil is in town. These venues are all within spitting distance of each.
But hey, we’re among friends, right? It should all be fine.
Where the Streets Have Names
Here we are, finally. Last month of the year, last post on Hawaii.
One thing you notice as soon as you start moving around Oahu are the unique street names. Unique to English speakers, that is. For the most part, they are all in Hawaiian. I absolutely love it.
There are plenty of places in Canada with Indigenous names. Kitsilano is a Vancouver neighbourhood that takes its name from the Squamish Chief Jack Khatsahlano. Chilliwack, Kamloops, and Saanich are BC cities with names that have Indigenous origins. And Canada is from the Haudenosaunee word “kanata,” which means village.
And yet … Vancouver streets are predominately named for dead white guys. True fact: there are more streets in Vancouver named after golf courses than women or people of colour combined. My own street is the anglicized name of a chief of the Okanagan people, something I found out only while researching this post. Wouldn’t it be much more interesting if the nsyilxcən spelling was used instead of English?
In Canada, land acknowledgements before public events are routinely recited to recognize those who have lived here since time immemorial. Here’s the one I use on my work email signature:
I acknowledge that I am privileged to live and work on the unceded traditional territories of the Coast Salish Nations, including the xwməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ilwətaɁɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.
Land acknowledgements are all well and good, but maybe it is far past time that we begin replacing the names of some of the many, many streets currently named after insignificant European men with Indigenous names. The Hawaiians have done it. Why can’t we?
Just a thought.
Museum of Anthropology
One of Arthur Erickson’s most iconic buildings, completed in 1976, is the Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia. It sits on traditional and unceded territory of the Musqueam people, at the tip of Point Grey, facing the Salish Sea.
I’m told that the post-and-beam construction was inspired by the architecture of the Northwest Coast First Nations. The floor-to-ceiling windows of the Great Hall let in all the light. And when you stand outside and look back at the museum, you see the sky reflected back at you.
The building incorporates several World War II gun placements. Rather than ripping them out, Erickson incorporated them into the building’s design. One has been repurposed as the base for Raven and the First Men, a sculpture by Haida artist Bill Reid.
The Museum of Anthropology began in 1949 as a department of the Faculty of Arts at UBC. It has one of the world’s best collections of Indigenous art and is particularly known for its Northwest Coast collection. In 2023, the museum closed to undergo a seismic upgrade that involved completely rebuilding the 25 concrete pillars of the Great Hall. It reopened again last June in time for the centenary of Erickson’s birth.
Cinque Terre
Here in Vancouver, we’re going through the first atmospheric river of the season this weekend, and I’m finding it hard not to feel green with envy toward anyone who might be vacationing in much more pleasant climes right now.
Like, oh, I dunno, Italy?
Except, it turns out that the folks I know who are vacationing in Italy right now aren’t immune to bad weather either.
Cinque Terre (literally “five lands”) is a collection of villages along Italy’s northwest coast. Connected by train and hiking trails, Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore are collectively one of the most stunning areas of Italy.
My people had gone to Cinque Terre on my recommendation, but no sooner had they arrived when they learned that the trails, the restaurants, and the shops were closing the next day due to inclement weather.
Above is a photo I took some years ago of Vernazza, Corniglia, and Manarola from one of the hiking trails above Monterosso al Mare. And below is a train pulling into the station at Manarola. It’s easy to see from the terraced landscape and steep cliffs why heavy rains are a problem in Cinque Terre — in fact, floods and mudslides devastated the villages in 2011, killing nine people.
My family was able to rejig their itinerary and head to Tuscany a few days early. I felt bad they missed out on spending time in such a special part of Italy, but, as I always say, when you don’t get to see everything on your list, it just means you have a very good reason to go back.
MacMillan Bloedel Building
Ahem.
I promised you a series of blog posts about Arthur Erickson buildings that have shaped Vancouver, way back in (checks notes) June.
What can I say? A glorious BC summer got in my way and I’ve been spending as much time away from my computer as possible. I’m sure you understand.
However, I do want to showcase those buildings, and so, here we go.
First up is the MacMillan Bloedel Building that stands prominently in the centre of downtown Vancouver.
It was completed in 1968 and is a typical example of Brutalism, the style of architecture the dominated the middle of the previous century.
Each window measures 7 feet by 7 feet and is a single pane of glass. The lobby is separated from the street by a series of sunken pools and concrete planters filled with trees and other vegetation.
Standing 27 storeys tall, the MacMillan Bloedel Building was the tallest in Vancouver when finished. It was built to house the headquarters of MacMillan Bloedel, a forestry company that hasn’t existed for 25 years. Although it was renamed Arthur Erickson Place in 2019, it’s still commonly referred to as the MacBlo Building.
There and Back Again 