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New book: Unbuilt Victoria


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#1 D.L.

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Posted 20 November 2011 - 05:08 PM

There's a book which will be released next year called Unbuilt Victoria by Dorothy Mindenhall.

Dundrun Press - http://www.dundurn.c...nbuilt_victoria

From Amazon:

Product Description
For most people, resident and visitor alike, Victoria, British Columbia, is a time capsule of Victorian and Edwardian buildings. For its first 50 years the settlement flourished as the capital of the province. A smallpox epidemic in the 1890s closed Victoria's port, causing the city to go into decline and shelving plans for the Canada Western Hotel, for a replica of the Parthenon in Beacon Hill Park, and for the grandiose Italianate facade that was to complete City Hall.

Victoria tried to reinvent itself as a tourist destination, but it wasn't until the modernizing boom after the Second World War that attempts were made to drag the city's built environment into the mainstream. Unbuilt Victoria examines some of the architectural plans that were proposed but rejected. That some of them were ever dreamed of will probably amaze; that others never made it might well be a matter of regret.

About the Author
Dorothy Mindenhall is an architectural historian with a particular interest in the Victorian era. She was a contributor to Building the West, a publication about the architects and architectural environment of early British Columbia, and is involved in various projects for heritage conservation. Dorothy lives in Victoria.

http://www.amazon.ca...l/dp/1459701747


[old proposal for the Wharf St. parking lot]

#2 Nparker

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Posted 20 November 2011 - 05:15 PM

This one is going at the top of my Xmas wish list...even if I can't get it until 2012.

#3 rjag

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Posted 20 November 2011 - 10:24 PM

Haha, Pamela Madoffs worst nightmare!!!!

#4 Ms. B. Havin

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Posted 20 November 2011 - 10:36 PM

Cool. I have a copy of Building the West - great resource. Looking forward to this book by Mindenhall.
When you buy a game, you buy the rules. Play happens in the space between the rules.

#5 Rob Randall

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Posted 20 November 2011 - 10:43 PM

Haha, Pamela Madoffs worst nightmare!!!!


It's worse than that. Mayor Haddock had a heart attack in 1971, at the height of the fierce controversy over those cylindrical towers.

#6 MarkoJ

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Posted 20 November 2011 - 10:45 PM

Most certainly will pick this book up when it comes out.

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#7 gumgum

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Posted 21 November 2011 - 06:40 AM

I'm glad those buildings on the cover never got built.

I will be picking up this book.

#8 Phil McAvity

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Posted 21 November 2011 - 06:49 AM

It's worse than that. Mayor Haddock had a heart attack in 1971, at the height of the fierce controversy over those cylindrical towers.


Wow, this is the first i've seen/heard of these towers! :confused:
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#9 aastra

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Posted 21 November 2011 - 08:38 AM

For most people, resident and visitor alike, Victoria, British Columbia, is a time capsule of Victorian and Edwardian buildings.


I'd also love to read this book but it bugs me when people say stuff like this. Most people couldn't even guess which buildings are Victorian and which ones are Edwardian and which ones were built in the 1940s and later. Also, the "long gone greats" thread illustrates how exaggerated the "time capsule" notion really is. Just sayin'.

#10 Mike K.

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Posted 21 November 2011 - 08:39 AM

This is awesome!

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#11 Rob Randall

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Posted 21 November 2011 - 09:13 AM

I'd also love to read this book but it bugs me when people say stuff like this. Most people couldn't even guess which buildings are Victorian and which ones are Edwardian and which ones were built in the 1940s and later. Also, the "long gone greats" thread illustrates how exaggerated the "time capsule" notion really is. Just sayin'.


Not to mention the oft-discussed fact here that many of those Victorian buildings were completely stuccoed over and "modernized" in the 1950s and recently restored. It's hard to write a sentence describing Old Town without asterisks, footnotes and "however..." as all is not what it seems.

Wow, this is the first i've seen/heard of these towers!


The Reid Site is discussed here:

http://vibrantvictor...read.php?t=1760

Other projects are discussed here:

http://vibrantvictor...read.php?t=2401

#12 aastra

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Posted 21 May 2012 - 11:49 AM

I can't find it but I know I once posted something about how UVic doesn't have a defining photo op or some such thing. I think somebody disagreed with me. Anyhow, I'm reading "Unbuilt Victoria" by Dorothy Mindenhall and what do I learn? The Gordon Head campus was designed to be that way!

One element of the plan was that there was to be no "flamboyant architectural statement."


"No one building must be allowed to dominate or upstage another..."



#13 Holden West

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Posted 21 May 2012 - 12:06 PM

UVic has no equivalent to Camosun's clock tower, or even an architecturally significant central gathering point. The closest is probably the space in front of the library. So the most significant thing is the space between things. Oh well.

Here's a rendering of some planned but unbuilt apartments from the archives:


"Beaver, ahoy!""The bridge is like a magnet, attracting both pedestrians and over 30,000 vehicles daily who enjoy the views of Victoria's harbour. The skyline may change, but "Big Blue" as some call it, will always be there."
-City of Victoria website, 2009

#14 aastra

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Posted 21 May 2012 - 02:15 PM

It's funny, I'm reading this book and getting the sense that a lot of urban planners just begin with the basic premise that the established street layout is always wrong. Streets need to be closed and superblocks need to be created in some places, whereas in other places buildings need to be knocked down wide new routes need to be introduced. It's as if it's not really development if you aren't trying to drastically alter established flows.

#15 phx

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Posted 21 May 2012 - 02:31 PM

UVic has no equivalent to Camosun's clock tower, or even an architecturally significant central gathering point. The closest is probably the space in front of the library. So the most significant thing is the space between things.


Isn't there a water feature or something there?

#16 aastra

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Posted 21 May 2012 - 08:32 PM

It used to be just a slightly sunken space but they added the Petch Fountain in the early 1990s. Anybody know the exact year? I can't remember.

#17 UrbanRail

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Posted 21 May 2012 - 09:25 PM

I just ordered the book today from Amazon, it was their last in stock copy!

Looking forward to reading it.

#18 UrbanRail

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Posted 21 May 2012 - 09:33 PM

Not to mention the oft-discussed fact here that many of those Victorian buildings were completely stuccoed over and "modernized" in the 1950s and recently restored. It's hard to write a sentence describing Old Town without asterisks, footnotes and "however..." as all is not what it seems.



The Reid Site is discussed here:

http://vibrantvictor...read.php?t=1760

Other projects are discussed here:

http://vibrantvictor...read.php?t=2401


I would also like to add, that during the 50s and 60s, architecture was designed to be less people friendly and more auto-oriented. Actually this trend continues, although things are changing slowly.

#19 Bob Fugger

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Posted 22 May 2012 - 07:30 AM

I can't find it but I know I once posted something about how UVic doesn't have a defining photo op or some such thing. I think somebody disagreed with me. Anyhow, I'm reading "Unbuilt Victoria" by Dorothy Mindenhall and what do I learn? The Gordon Head campus was designed to be that way!


That's sounds about right: I think UVic tries to be all things to everybody and therefore succeeds only in being nothing to anyone.

Now this is how you make an entrance! :thumbsup:



#20 Sparky

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Posted 22 May 2012 - 09:08 AM

I just ordered the book today from Amazon, it was their last in stock copy!

Looking forward to reading it.


Munroe's had 10 in stock yesterday when I picked mine up.

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