Archive for September, 2011

You may have heard recently that the City of Vancouver launched an ideas competition to brainstorm future possibilities for the Georgia and Dunsmuir Viaducts and the False Creek flats, named re:CONNECT.

The competition is divided into three categories. The first, Connecting the Core (“THE BIG SCALE”), seeks high-level ideas to make the most of the Eastern Core (including the False Creek Flats), focusing on sustainability and Vancouver’s green economy. The second, Visualizing the Viaducts, looks for ways to rethink the viaducts, whether that means tearing them down, keeping them as they area, or finding a new use (you may recall some of the recently renewed debates about what to do with the viaducts. For more background, check out this audio tour we told you about in March.) The third category, The Wildcard, is for those who have ideas so big they just can’t fit into the other two categories.

Now I know some of you know exactly what you’d like to see happen to the viaducts and False Creek Flats, so here’s your chance! The best part? Submitting an entry is FREE!

Photo: Modified Enzyme

There are two streams to the competition. One, with an entry fee of $65, is geared towards professionals working in the industry and offers cash prizes (a total of $10,000). The other stream is completely free to enter and while it won’t add some padding to your wallet, it will give you a pile of publicity and urbanist street cred.

re:CONNECT comes on the heels of a number of recent, well-publicized design competitions in Vancouver.

In 2008, the Vancouver Public Space Network, noting the lack of a central focal point for civic life in the city, asked us to locate Vancouver’s grand gathering place with Where’s the Square?. Out of 54 entries, 3 were selected as the winners (jury selection and 2 people’s choice), but I’ll bet you everyone who entered felt a bit more excited/optimistic about the future of public space in Vancouver, whether or not they went home with a prize.

Photo: Where’s the Square People’s Choice #1, Hapa Collaborative

While Where’s the Square? was still open for entries in early 2009, FormShift asked us to rethink the approach to urban planning in the city, with a particular focus on sustainability and Vancouver’s new EcoDensity Charter (adopted in 2008). Architects, designers, planners, and ordinary citizens submitted 84 different ideas, hoping to get a shot at some of the $12,000 in prize money. Each of the winning entries was …READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY>>>

Really awesome hot pink fixed gear.

Bike Brake is a simple way to showcase and share some of Vancouver’s beautiful bikes. We are a cycling city and riding a bike in Vancouver is just fun. I love taking pictures and admiring other peoples bikes so every week I will be sharing a new photo of a bike.

So unless you have been living under a rock recently you likely have already heard that IDSwest opens TODAY!

Well IDSwest is not only about hot design; it’s also about hot designers as well! This year IDSwest has a rap sheet a mile long of speakers presenting on the Para Design Stage but there are two in particular that are not to be missed.

5PM Friday September 30 brings Ross Lovegrove, London UK, founder and principle of Lovegrove Studios, presenting Fantastica. Fantastica is aimed at inspiring a fantastic new view of the future as design, nature, art, science and technology fuse together to create incredible new possibilities in the process of design, the way we industrialise it and the way we can discover a new language of organic beauty and intelligence for the 21st Century.

Ross Lovegrove, Keynote Speaker at IDSwest, Friday September 30 at 5pm

Andromeda by Ross Lovegrove

1PM Sunday October 2 brings Barbara Hulanicki. The founder of Biba, the Sixties’ fashion label at the heart of Swinging London, Hulanicki is now a well-respected designer in Miami who …READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY>>>

Every day we share a single photo from our Flickr Pool shot by one of our faithful and talented readers (that’s you!)

Sometimes photographs submitted to the Flickr pool act like mini-reports from events or gatherings that I would otherwise never have known about. It’s a really cool by-product of viewing the pool every day, the sheer number of members guarantees a wide variety of experiences.

I didn’t know that the Pacific Spirit Park Society holds an annual family event called ‘Stories Along Trail’ – but thanks to Bruce MacPherson, I now know that this year’s event occurred this past Sunday and was themed “Sounds of the Forest”. And you know what? It makes me smile that an event like this takes place and that such an event would be so well-attended, as evidenced by Bruce’s photo. It also looks like a magical pocket of weather, when the rain ends the clouds part and the sun illuminates a damp landscape. File this under 20110925_0165.

Gary

Vancouver is an amazing city, chock full of creative talent. WE ARE VANCVR is a simple, elegant way to showcase all that talent in one place. Every week we profile one individual from the VANCVR community.VANCVR.com is a Domain7 Labs project.

Last week, we published an open letter to TEDxVANCOUVER with a modest proposal.

Design Lives is a new project launched by Inform Interiors and IDSwest, supported by Vancouver Is Awesome. It’s an ongoing interview project that will catalogue the personal and professional stories of Vancouver’s design community, conducted in the window of Inform Interiors at 50 Water Street in Gastown.

Enjoy this third instalment featuring architect, industrial designer, lighting artist Omer Arbel and keep checking back for more in the coming days, weeks and months.

http://vimeo.com/29685413

One of the card carrying member of Vancouver’s own New Pornographers, Kathryn Calder, is releasing her second solo album on October 25th. It’s called Bright and Vidid I couldn’t not share this single, Who Are You?. You simply must listen and then mark it on your calendar to get the album when it comes out. I have a review copy that I’m listening to as I write this and it is absolutely blowing my earmind.

Album artwork by Megan Hilderbrand

…READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY>>>

It’s a new dog once a week! Click here to find out how to get your dog posted if you haven’t sent in your photos yet!

Today’s dog featured in Dogtown Vancouver is Bubba, Matthew G’s pup. Here’s what he had to say about him…

NAME: Bubba. BREED: Boston Terrier. HOOD: South Delta. FAVOURITE SNACK: Duck Jerky & Cheerios. OTHER INFO: It’s simple, Bubba likes to sleep, wake up, stretch, eat, pass gas, run after his younger & faster nemesis “Honey”, then pass out and repeat all over again. He just happens to be the more stout, yet still as gentle version of littermate Nitro (as featured on August 10th). Bubba has a huge barrel chest, and we are pretty sure he does push-ups when no one is looking. He also worries a lot. About what we do not know. His funniest antic is crawling commando style across the floor as if missing his legs, with his mouth fully agape and snorting loudly. If you’re interested in adopting a pet, check out our Happy Tails feature. If you adopted your pet from the SPCA and would like to share your awesome story on Happy Tails, send an email to Rory.Blanchard@novusnow.ca.

…READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY>>>