[subdude]

Nice, thanks!

[excel]

sweet building

[mr.x]

one more year to go....as with many other projects!

thx for all the updates rag!

[vanman]

i really like how the metal trellis matches the dominion building.

Never noticed that before. It really does fit in well with the neighborhood even despite it's enormity.

[LeftCoaster]

Thanks for the pics delirium, this one is looking great... gotta love henriquez.

And I never noticecd that about the trellis... nice touch.. to bad it will be covered by the living wall in a few years.

[Cypherus]

I can't believe how fast this tower topped out.

[raggedy13]

Here's a photo taken Sept. 3 by our very own Giallo from flickr.com:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3261/2864717160_87d54b04f3_o.jpg

It doesn't look nearly as sleek and tall from this fat angle.

[officedweller]

It actually looks stubby. Could have been a wide angle lens squishing the perspective??

[LeftCoaster]

Well the guy in the foreground giving perspective looks quite normal dimensionally... unless he is even more skinny and tall in real life.

[canucks23]

the guy in the picture seems to be enjoying the tower

[giallo]

OD, the picture was taken at 18mm, so it's not quite a wide angle shot. It just looks really wide from that spot.

[deasine]

The colours look amazing in that shot! =O Great angle too =)

[SpongeG]

im not really digging the red stuff

[crazyjoeda]

i like the red, it makes the tower look unique.

[agrant]

Well, the red won't last forever...

[TwoFace]

The "red stuff" is like an artistic metal grid.
It’s really unique and gives the building an Industrial mechanical type of look. It’s really cool, go past it sometime and see.

[mr.x]

from the renderings, isn't that grid for growing some sort of foliage along the side of the building?

[LeftCoaster]

Yeah its a living wall that ivy will climb up. It may take a few years to reach the top of the trellis system though.

[jlousa]

4 years for complete grow out if things go to plan.

Here's a write up by G. Henriquez himself.

The trellis screens will be planted with 3 different vines. One turns red, another yellow in the fall and one is evergreen. The “green screens” provide solar shading on the south and east facades as there is no air conditioning and a few screens are placed within the south Cordova facade to help modulate the lower levels of the facade at street level

[TwoFace]

Yeah its a living wall that ivy will climb up.

Good stuff, this Building is really starting to grow on me.
(weak humor attempt)

[officedweller]

Pic taken by me today showing the relationship between the two towers.
Is the shorter one topped out yet?

http://img210.imageshack.us/img210/3896/p9230833rs3.jpg

[jlousa]

I like how from your angle that the W tower matches up almost exactly with the outline of the Dominion building.

The Abbott tower has at least 8 more floors plus mech rooms. ;)

[officedweller]

Wow, taller than I thought - that'll be a nice pairing.

[jlousa]

If you look at the top of the crane on the Abbott tower, that would be a very good guess on the heightonce completed.

[mr.sandbag]

i really like this tower, thanks for pics

[jlousa]

As promised pictures from the roof. Weather wasn't the best today.
I've come back and editted and added some more pictures



http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p155/jlousa/W43-3small.jpg

http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p155/jlousa/W43-4small.jpg

http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p155/jlousa/W43-5small.jpg

http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p155/jlousa/W43-6small.jpg

http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p155/jlousa/w43-7small.jpg

http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p155/jlousa/w43-8small.jpg

http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p155/jlousa/w43-9small.jpg

http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p155/jlousa/w43-10small.jpg



Left these in as a bonus, they are from Habour Centre of the development around Woodwards.

http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p155/jlousa/W43-1small.jpg

http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p155/jlousa/W43-2small.jpg

[Coldrsx]

^great shots...

The pace of development in east van/sefc is amazing.

[dreambrother808]

The DTES looks so normal from up there in that last pic :)

[red-paladin]

There are a lot of flatirony buildings there, I didn't realise that

[Delirium]

great shots jlousa.

i don't think the first two are from woodward's though. the angle doesn't look right. looks like it was taken from harbour centre. also, espana (the shorter one in the pic) is now nearly topped off.

[jlousa]

Your right the first two must be back from the day of the meet at . Harbour centre. I'll have to go thru my camera again and find the new ones. I took a lot more pictures but not all of them seem to have made it. :shrug:

[LeftCoaster]

That reminds me, I never posted my pics of the site walk... I'll get em up tomorrow.

Too bad my camera battery died, that was a nice clear day to get some good shots.

[jlousa]

Okay I found the rest of the pictures, and fixed the original post.
I have more pictures but they are just of some units under construction and not too interesting.

[officedweller]

Thanks - Spectrum seems so close by.

[leftside]

^^^^That's because it is :)

Some pictures of Woodwards from the east:
http://www.songsthelordtaughtus.com/temp/Image026%20(Small).jpg

http://www.songsthelordtaughtus.com/temp/Image027%20(Small).jpg

http://www.songsthelordtaughtus.com/temp/Image028%20(Small).jpg

http://www.songsthelordtaughtus.com/temp/Image030%20(Small).jpg

http://www.songsthelordtaughtus.com/temp/Image032%20(Small).jpg

[paradigm4]

^^^^That's because it is :)

Some pictures of Woodwards from the east:
http://www.songsthelordtaughtus.com/temp/Image026%20(Small).jpg

omg that shot does not look like Vancouver! The only thing recognizable is Harbour Centre, but even that could be any old city's revolving look out tower.

I think it's a combination of the lack of podium towers, any mountains or water landscape, and such a plain jane empty park. wow...

[SpongeG]

it could play texas in a movie ;)

[djmk]

:previous:

is that crab park? i have never been there but it looks pretty.

downtown does look a lot different from that angle

[leftside]

Perhaps these pictures from Crab Park are a little more familiar:
http://www.songsthelordtaughtus.com/temp/Image025%20(Small).jpg

http://www.songsthelordtaughtus.com/temp/Image024%20(Small).jpg

[officedweller]

Nice - I like the shots from the east. The towers look like they're in another city - because they look rectangular! (even though they aren't in reality).

[vanman]

Update from Wednesday:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v643/vannmann/IMG_0102.jpg

[rather_draconian]

As promised pictures from the roof. Weather wasn't the best today.
I've come back and editted and added some more pictures




Thanks a lot for your pics jlousa. Here are my thoughts:

-Downtown eastside looks so nice from above; if one day that neighbourhood gets rid of its sketchyness, I can totally see it becoming some sort of artsy hipster neighbourhood.

-I really can't make my mind up on Spectrum...I think the colour looks like a last minute decision. Remove those colour strips, and it will look like anything else in Yaletown east.

-Bentall 5 looks good. If only it were TALL.

[rather_draconian]

That's a great picture too, vanman.

[raggedy13]

Thanks for the pic, vanman. Nice to see the second tower starting to make an impact on the skyline.

[officedweller]

From the Globe:

http://images.theglobeandmail.com/archives/RTGAM/images/20081030/wgas30/_done_1030gastown_1000big.jpg
Abbott & Cordova, by Vancouver artist Stan Douglas. (Stan Douglas and David Zwirner)

A night to remember (or forget)
A controversial photograph depicting Vancouver's Gastown Riot goes on display in New York before settling into its Downtown Eastside home

From Thursday's Globe and Mail
October 30, 2008 at 4:16 AM EDT

VANCOUVER — A controversial new artwork by Vancouver artist Stan Douglas goes on display today at the David Zwirner gallery in New York. The piece - Abbott & Cordova - depicts a scene from the 1971 Gastown Riot, an episode of Vancouver's history that members of the city's police force would rather not revisit.

The work is a scale version of a huge photograph (9 by 15 metres) due to be installed in June in the atrium of the redeveloped Woodward's building in Vancouver's troubled Downtown Eastside. Enclosed in glass, the piece shows police rounding up protesters, who were demonstrating against the use of undercover cops and for the legalization of marijuana.

News reports from the time state that police charged on horseback and beat the crowd with batons.

One eyewitness was quoted in The Globe and Mail saying the officers behaved with "almost a satanic arrogance."

Earlier this year, just days before Douglas was about to start recreating the scene in the parking lot of the Pacific National Exhibition in east Vancouver, current Vancouver Police Department Chief Jim Chu left a message at his studio asking whether the artist would come in to discuss the project.

Douglas, who declined to meet with Chu, said the chief expressed concern that the artist was bringing up a subject the department had been trying to forget for 30 years.

A spokesman for the department, Tim Fanning, confirmed that Chu had made the call. "He did, and the concern was purely from a public-affairs standpoint," Fanning said. "The VPD has a very positive history with the community it polices and so, something like this, which isn't considered a shiny moment in our history, is obviously not one that we would like to see.

"We're all for art," he added. "And a lot of our members are very artistic themselves and appreciate it, but who wants to have a piece of history that isn't something that they are proud of put up?"

The architect in charge of the Woodward's development, Gregory Henriquez, said he believes the artwork will be a very important part of the building's public space. "Luckily, we don't live in a society where the police chief has any say over public art," he said.

Henriquez praised Woodward's developer, Ian Gillespie, for commissioning such a robust piece. "Most public art sponsored by developers is very soft in the tooth," he noted. "But this site is a controversial one, and kudos to Ian for taking such a big risk on art that reflects its history in a way that is meaningful to the neighbourhood."

Douglas spent a lot of time researching the events of Aug. 7, 1971, collecting not just photographs taken that night, but talking to many people who were there - hippies, bystanders and undercover police officers.

In order to make sure he knew how to effectively photograph people and horses in motion, Douglas, 48, first made three other works that also go on display today in New York. One is an image of a crowd watching a horse race at Hastings Park, but the remaining two capture other significant moments in Vancouver's police history: the 1912 Free Speech Demonstration and the 1935 Battle of Ballantyne Pier. The latter was the culmination of a strike by longshoremen and saw a clash between the union and the Vancouver police and the RCMP. "The RCMP have denied having anything to with it," Douglas says. "But I have a photograph of them on horseback chasing people into Strathcona."

As for Abbott & Cordova, Douglas says he can't predict what the reaction in Vancouver will be. "This is a public work of art and I am not interested in making portraits of great men or great moments in history," he says. "I'm interested in small moments that had the possibility of making change that was not fully realized. This is one of those moments, and I'm hoping it will help people to remember. Because in certain respects, this is a moment that has been forgotten."

[raggedy13]

^Very cool. This is a part of Vancouver's history I'm not familiar with. I'll for sure be checking this out once Woodward's is complete. Thanks for the article officedweller.

I really agree with this bit from Henriquez:
Henriquez praised Woodward's developer, Ian Gillespie, for commissioning such a robust piece. "Most public art sponsored by developers is very soft in the tooth," he noted. "But this site is a controversial one, and kudos to Ian for taking such a big risk on art that reflects its history in a way that is meaningful to the neighbourhood."

Vancouver really needs to improve in the controversial art category. The loss of the Device to Root Out Evil was ridiculous. However I think I like this new piece all the more.

[flight_from_kamakura]

wow, this is really neat.

as an aside, gillespie seems to me to be rather exceptional for vancouver, an odd sort of duck. whenever one sees him around, he's invariably surrounded by handsome uber-trendy young-team types. i'm guessing that he's really plugged in to the broad spectrum of activities that would best be described under this rubric of "international cosmopolitanism", a lot more than some of our asian developer guys, for instance. it's not just that the image here is pushing the envelope. it's the level of sophistication of the aesthetic and that he's giving it such pride of place in his development. just a personal observation.

[dreambrother808]

thoroughly impressed:)

[giallo]

Not only am I impress that such a piece was commissioned by and for a large and important Vancouver building, I'm also blown away by the photo itself. It's gorgeous.

[jlousa]

I'm still not sure about the piece, but it is magnificent in person.

[djmk]

i like that.

however, i always thought there were more people at that riot.

also, an interesting note, its interesting how the vancouver has changed over the years.... in the pic, not one asian (maybe a back of a head), no east indians, no natives, one black guy, the cops where ties and really cool helmets.

[Metro-One]

Asians have been part of vancouver since the city started (China town), remember this is a reenactment, so the artist had to use who ever showed up i am guessing. Also we should bring back the old uniforms!

On a side note, i know everyone likes to rip on police officers but sometimes i feel sympathetic. Think about working in a city where everyday you deal with the same drug dealers, theifs and vandals (the people who destroy the fabric of a city) and you arrest them (after being cursed at and spit on) then just to see the same asshole on the street again the next day dealing the same drugs or stealing cars again because our judicial system is retarded. I think seeing that day in and day out would add a lot of stress in my life and it would be hard to not start cracking some skulls. Not in the situation above but in many recent situation if you actually research who these victims are of "police brutality" they are often re=peat offenders or gang related thugs who deserve a beating in my opinion.

Even in police brutality situation there is a grey area. In the end i do like this piece of art, but people also should remember the flip side of the coin.

[subdude]

Not only am I impress that such a piece was commissioned by and for a large and important Vancouver building, I'm also blown away by the photo itself. It's gorgeous.

Really sucks you in doesn't it?

[NewfBC]

Amazing..

but.. I don't think it's all that necessary for the Woodwards development.. this is what residents will see (real life) when they walk out the door into the downtown east side 'war zone'. :)

Ron.

[raggedy13]

Updates from today:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3200/3078422621_a2213b0b80_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3044/3078419583_145ab594b4_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3005/3079255658_16371b485f_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3236/3079252688_e7b99dba38_b.jpg

[jlousa]

Great pics, only one more floor to do on the shorter tower. Both the SFU school and the Abbott tower will be topped out by mid month.

[excel]

thanks for these updates.

[vanman]

Sweet update Raggedy!

[raggedy13]

Here are two photos that help show the impact of Woodwards (by photokarsky at flickr):

April '06:
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/55/134641751_c2b52c548a_o.jpg

Nov 30/08:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3115/3082211014_74b458a09f_o.jpg

And a slightly different angle
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3084/3082210630_a8df739086_o.jpg

[David]

that angle from canada place looks great! looks like an entirely different city while still looking exactly like vancouver...

[officedweller]

Pic by me today

http://img386.imageshack.us/img386/9534/pc130920ht2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img386.imageshack.us/img386/pc130920ht2.jpg/1/w600.png (http://g.imageshack.us/img386/pc130920ht2.jpg/1/)

[raggedy13]

^Lookin' good, thanks officedweller. Looks like the podium along Hastings is coming along nicely too.

And is that snow on Burnaby Mountain?

[entheosfog]

^Lookin' good, thanks officedweller. Looks like the podium along Hastings is coming along nicely too.


I noticed they have quite a bit of glass up already on the podium. I should have got a pic today. oh well.

[officedweller]

And is that snow on Burnaby Mountain?

SFU classes / exams were apparently cancelled on Friday.

[vanman]

Thanks for the update.

[osirisboy]

SFU classes / exams were apparently cancelled on Friday.

thats funny. meanwhile in ottawa theres a blizzard AND a transit strike but they havent canceled any exams.

how many times in a given winter does SFU get snow? surely they get enough to warrant them having proper snow removal/salt trucks so they dont have to shut down every time it snows. (oops this is the woodwards page not the weather one)

woodwards looks good and the second tower is topped off now. how many floors does the one along hastings have

[zivan56]

SFU has a real plow or two...along with many smaller ones (and salt+sand). They spent over $200,000 on snow removal alone in 2002. I don't believe they are allow to plow anything further down from the intersection due to being part of the City of Burnaby.

[SpongeG]

the union for translink will also not "endanger" their drivers so any snow or ice on the hill and they are stopped

[Metro-One]

Well one has to remember that SFU Burnaby is located on top of a small mountain, and that often snow events here are around the zero degree mark, and wet snow is much more dangerous than dry snow and can be compacted into ice very easily. It is not getting up the mountain the is the problem so much, but getting down! During these snow events any classes or exams at harbour Center or SF Surrey remain open.

[jlousa]

Stumbled about this pic from another site, credit says flicker.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3223/3114003402_714cdceb9d_b.jpg

Appears to be from Saturday evening, no snow but the road is salted.

[ckkelley]

:previous:

Cool shot.

[raggedy13]

Great find, jlousa. Quite a nice pic. Thanks.

[Coldrsx]

amazing shot... surreal almost

[MapleLeaf]

Yeah...really amazing shot. :worship:

What kind of effect is this? Long exposure time?

[touraccuracy]

it would be HDR. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_dynamic_range_imaging)

it involves taking multiple photos at different exposures and combining them, i believe.


cool shot, though.

[MapleLeaf]

Ah, cool. Thanks. :tup:

[urbanlife]

This project is really impressing me, after have the architecture firm come down to Portland and talk to us, I have been impressed with their work and would love to see it all in first person. I am hoping it will be sometime this summer.

[Mike Stewart Realtor]

That picture is breathtaking!!

[hollywoodnorth]

whats the new dates for completion? I know it was Spring 2009 originally.......now?

[SpongeG]

driving in west bound along hastings it looks really good - the red actually works for me now and totally works when driving in that way

[Mike K.]

It's great. One of the best new towers in the city.

[jlousa]

Completion is just around the corner, the W-43 tower is set for ~May. The Abbott tower should be shortly later.
Here's the latest newsletter

http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/4/11/1862053/Dec2008Newsletter.pdf

[hollywoodnorth]

Completion is just around the corner, the W-43 tower is set for ~May. The Abbott tower should be shortly later.
Here's the latest newsletter

http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/4/11/1862053/Dec2008Newsletter.pdf

and the retail? and SFU?

[jlousa]

They will be ready to turn over to the tenants for buildout shortly, could only guess as to how long they will take for TI. But I think it's safe to guess most of the retail will be open by fall/winter/09.

[hollywoodnorth]

They will be ready to turn over to the tenants for buildout shortly, could only guess as to how long they will take for TI. But I think it's safe to guess most of the retail will be open by fall/winter/09.

any truth to the rumors of a Tim Hortons opening up? Seems like perfect turf for them.

Residents of Woodward’s can look forward to the convenience of grabbing a steamy morning latte or picking up some groceries, necessities, or cash on the way home from work, with the new London Drugs, Nesters Food Market, TD Canada Trust [B]and a well known coffee shop (brand to be announced shortly) soon to be located at Woodward’s.

[hollywoodnorth]

also this is cool >>

It has also been announced that The National Film Board of Canada will be leasing space at Woodward’s redevelopment. The addition of NFB is particularly synergistic with the new Simon Fraser University School for the Contemporary Arts.

[osirisboy]

i was under the impression that it was to be a starbucks

[Yume-sama]

i was under the impression that it was to be a starbucks

I would be surprised if it wasn't.

Aren't young, trendy, white / asian people their core audience? That's pretty much all that will be around Woodwards.

Not enough elderly conspiracy theorists will be hanging around to justify a Timmy's.

[SpongeG]

there aren't many starbucks down that area - only 1 on water street can't think of any along hastings

its almost 3 blocks between starbucks in that area!

the shame

[agrant]

Yea man. All those homeless people must be crying mad about that.

[SpongeG]

i know eh

it just starbucks is afraid of the DTES

its like being in another city when you can't see starbucks

[hollywoodnorth]

heheh ya I would think Tim Hortons would do great business in that area with all the cops, security guards alone ;)

But really lower income people are more Tim's target market....which the area will always be full of.....from students to SRO and Social Service Housing dwellers.

[SpongeG]

speaking of coffee... and vancouver

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3285/3144369105_a0b36201f5.jpg?v=0
http://www.flickr.com/photos/johnnyfirebird/3144369105/

[officedweller]

Yeah, people making themsleves feel good thinking that the cups will be recycled just they put them in the spots for metal and glass beverage containers...

[SpongeG]

how could they even miss the garbage though

maybe it was burried in snow???

[Spork]

most of the garbage cans seem to be full with christmas and all of this snow slowing down city works crews.

[osirisboy]

i noticed this a lot lately with garbage cans over flowing. it was 100 times cleaner during the strike. WTF is going on.

[leftside]

There's another Starbucks 2 blocks south of Woodwards at Abbott/Keefer.

I can't wait to see what happens to this area once 1000 new people move in and 1500 students are in the area every day.

[jlousa]

Unforntunately I can't tell you which coffee shop it'll be yet.;) But the answer has been guessed correctly already.

[giallo]

It'll be a Timmy's. I just know it.