Porch Parade

mcminsen · #1 Posted **Jul 8, 2015, 9:18 PM**

This year's annual art installation on Robson between Hornby and Howe Streets.

July 8 '15, my pics

Klazu · #2 Posted **Jul 8, 2015, 9:38 PM**

Wow, you certainly tried your best to make it look interesting, but my God what a disgrace.

mcminsen · #3 Posted **Jul 8, 2015, 10:09 PM**

The most interesting thing is peoples' reactions.

s211 · #4 Posted **Jul 8, 2015, 10:48 PM**

I'm sorry, but that cost how much?

Delirium · #5 Posted **Jul 8, 2015, 11:04 PM**

the city provided $40,000 (!) for construction of this piece of shit.
there's an article on vancitybuzz about it; http://www.vancitybuzz.com/2015/03/p...-robson-redux/

it was designed by an architectural firm based in Chicago.

“The porch is the architectural element that connects people and buildings to the city,” writes the designers. “It is where you cool off on a hot summer day. It is where you greet neighbours passing by.”

right. maybe if there was a bar where i could get a drink and soak in the atmosphere but this is just lame.

Klazu · #6 Posted **Jul 8, 2015, 11:09 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Delirium

“The porch is the architectural element that connects people and buildings to the city,” writes the designers. “It is where you cool off on a hot summer day. It is where you greet neighbours passing by.”

What a load of bull.

There should be an internal audit to projects like this. Nobody in their clear mind would agree to pay tens of thousands for this. I mean, even I could put this together ALONE in a week.

I am embarrased that someone decided this to be the highlight of Robson this summer.

Please do not post those photos to Canada section. It would be too embarrassing. I mean it!

whatnext · #7 Posted **Jul 8, 2015, 11:41 PM**

I bet Translink had a hand in it, it reeks of Main St Poo-dle.

trofirhen · #8 Posted **Jul 9, 2015, 10:31 AM**

I think perhaps the makers of this, first off, listing "themes", such as 'log cabin? No, too wintry...." "geodesic domes? No, too science-fiction ....."
So they settled on this multicolored wooden structure we see.

I think it's just an attempt to get people to sit out in mid-downtown, consume, and (it seems) possibly watch entertainment of one kind or another, from time to time.

Maybe it seems a bit hokey "Main St, Disneyland," we can call it what we will.
But its objective is to get people into downtown central, sitting comfortably, often drinking... and building designs can be changed in years following ...

Metro-One · #9 Posted **Jul 9, 2015, 10:57 AM**

Haha, maybe if it was a beer garden where you could actually relax and have an afternoon / evening drink where the decks were built to a more tropical beach look, it would be cool!

But this.....wow, super lame!

This seems like such a drippy style Vision creation (not sure if it is their direct responsibility or not though)

I guess to find what works and what doesn't we need to do these experiments though....

DesignerBunny · #10 Posted **Jul 9, 2015, 4:36 PM**

IMHO, this is another big embarrassment for this project. Year after year horrible designs win, and the product delivered is smaller, poorly constructed, and less impressive than promised in their design submission. The entrants should be forced to sign an agreement that if the budget doesn't cover their design, they should put up the rest of the money to make it what they promised. These "art pieces" should fill the entire block as they're made to appear in the original design submissions.

Klazu · #11 Posted **Jul 9, 2015, 4:41 PM**

s211 · #12 Posted **Jul 9, 2015, 5:09 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Klazu

What a load of bull.

There should be an internal audit to projects like this. Nobody in their clear mind would agree to pay tens of thousands for this. I mean, even I could put this together ALONE in a week.

Will. Never. Happen.

Vancouver's bureaucrats and politicians have drunk so much kool-aid that they'd rather commandeer a whole department to write a treatise in defence all of the urbanist reasons why they MUST spend money, as much as possible [of tax money, mind you], on dreck like this, rather than ever admit they're blind as f__k when it comes to exercising fiscal responsibility.

Jebby · #13 Posted **Jul 9, 2015, 7:35 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Klazu

There should be an internal audit to projects like this.

Internal audit? You mean government employees looking into other government employees?

I can tell you what he outcome of that "audit" would be beforehand.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Klazu

Nobody in their clear mind would agree to pay tens of thousands for this. I mean, even I could put this together ALONE in a week.

No one would agree to pay even a penny for this crap...if it were their own money. When you're spending other peoples' money it's a different story.

Vin · #14 Posted **Jul 9, 2015, 7:37 PM**

Shutting down that block of Robson Street is simply non-sensical, especially since the City isn't particularly good at keeping the facilities there clean all the time. It's usually filthy especially at night and on the weekends, with discarded food scraps and containers, spills, etc. To sum up, I don't think the City wants to clean up properly after inviting people over.

The move also messes up Robson's public transportation system. It's not seamless when people from skytrain have to walk multiple blocks to catch the Robson No. 5 bus. The large squares around Robson Square and Art Gallery ought to be enough for people to hang out. The City can build interesting structures there year round.

mcminsen · #15 Posted **Aug 12, 2015, 2:59 AM**

From the Aug.4 '15 edition of Metro newspaper:

"Few pedestrians pause for Robson Street’s 2015 summer plaza

There’s not much of a porch party on Robson Street this summer.
Conspicuously fewer pedestrians are stopping to sit and enjoy this year’s Viva Vancouver Robson Redux installation than they did during previous summers.
Called Porch Parade, the installation of tall, bright, house-shaped structures with porches, railings and Adirondack chairs won the annual competition to transform the 800-block of Robson Street into a summertime plaza.
But at any given time on Tuesday’s lunch hour, only a handful of people interacted with the installation while dozens crowded to eat their lunch on the nearby steps at the Vancouver Art Gallery. The scene is a stark contrast to the past two years where most seats were taken."

For full article go here:

http://metronews.ca/news/vancouver/1...summer-plaza/#

When I checked it out today and took these pics, there were only 4 chairs remaining in the installation and the only occupant of one of them was a bottle and can collector with his huge bags of recyclables. Some of the chairs had been moved over to the shady part of the sidewalk.

Aug.11 '15, my pics

Klazu · #16 Posted **Aug 12, 2015, 4:09 AM**

This installation is so sad. I would be ashamed to have anything to do with it.

IanS · #17 Posted **Aug 12, 2015, 4:25 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by s211

I'm sorry, but that cost how much?

Well into three figures, I should think.

osirisboy · #18 Posted **Aug 12, 2015, 5:04 PM**

This is pathetic. And why are spending money on this??

Also. What does "redux" mean

PaperTiger · #19 Posted **Aug 12, 2015, 5:15 PM**

I was going to say "Great in theory, poor in execution" but it is not even that. The why would anyone want to get up on a stage and "relax" while a never ending parade of people walk by and stare at you? This just totally misses the mark on the psychology of public spaces.

Vin · #20 Posted **Aug 12, 2015, 5:19 PM**

Sometimes I really want to laugh at the primitive ideas this City comes up with. Noboby wants to sit in or near a filthy-looking wooden shack without a lot of clean seating space.
Bring back the No.5 bus already! At least spare us more shame and inconvenience for the rest of the summer.

Quote:

Originally Posted by osirisboy

This is pathetic. And why are spending money on this??

Also. What does "redux" mean

It means "revived". I don't see too much revitalization here: pretty dead I gotta say.