Architecture in Vancouver

This week I happened to be in Vancouver for a few days and I couldn't escape the feeling I was walking around in an issue of Dwell magazine. So I rushed out and bought a disposable camera to capture some of my favorite buildings on film. Unfortunately, the Pacific Northwest lived up to its meteorological reputation, so all photos were taken under grey skies and mostly in drizzle.

All these shots were taken near Coal Harbour, an area of downtown Vancouver that seems to be almost entirely devoted to the construction of modern residential buildings with a few restarants thrown in. This first shot is of Cardero's restaurant, right on the harbour.

Lift Bar & Grill & View (yes, that's the real name of the place) is pictured above and below, conveniently accessible by seaplane.



One of the many residential developments in Coal Harbour.



That tower really is curved; it's not just the cheap camera.


Even the Westin Bayshore, formerly a drab concrete high-rise, has got into the act with a new convention center.


If you thought that this might be a music post, you probably wanted Matt's Architecture in Helsinki Post. See if you can figure out who was the aussie who led him to venture out to the Middle East on a School night.

Running notes: you can't ask for a much better place to run than Stanley Park, which is right next to all this modernity (some of it is visible behind the photo of Lift). There is a path for runners, cyclists and rollerbladers that follows the sea wall, and its easy to run for about 15 km just by following the path all the way round. Here is a Google Map of a feasible run that takes in all the sights shown above as well as a complete circuit of Stanley Park.