Another tiny Vancouver Special has been built!

Back in 2011 I came up with the idea to produce a tiny version of one of the most loved (yet equally hated) forms of architecture in Vancouver - the Vancouver Special. Characterized by its low-pitched roof, boxy shape and lower-level brickwork, this type of home has the common look of a “rancher turned sideways”, a full or half-veranda on the upper level and a basement that’s entirely above ground. At 1.5 times the square footage of the average Vancouver home, the blueprints (once available for $65 from City Hall) maximized the typically small city lots that they were built on, giving them an appeal to blue collar workers and making them the most accessible type of home in the city at the time. Mostly a playhouse for my son to enjoy, it was also an art piece that was put together by a small team of contributors including Jason Sokolowski (who designed and built it) as well as Joshua Jordan and Erin Marranca. It got some play in the Metro, BC Living, the Vancouver Sun, on CBC Radio, and we even made it onto the cover of Westcoast Families Magazine. HERE is the press release we issued in April of 2011 before the launch party (which we did at Vancouver Special on Main Street, of course!). As a lover of Vancouver Specials and everything awesome in Vancouver you can imagine how thrilled I was when Ken Lum (the artist behind the East Van Cross) released a similar project recently. Like our playhouse, his Vancouver Especially shrinks down this icon and pays tribute to it ... but on a larger scale, with a larger budget and with a much sharper critique. His is not a playhouse, it's 100% art. It's a statement about housing affordability in this city, and it is undeniably awesome. Click the link in the tweet below to learn more, and be sure to visit this thing out there in the wild at Union Street and Gore!