78 replies to this topic

[aastra]

No can do. But I can put a 16-story building on Chard's property.

[Mike K.]

Somebody please forward that to mayor and council.

Does anyone see the problem with that? No? Didn't think so.

[Scaper]

I will, but the house is 22 stories, do you think that is what a 16 story building would look like? or would it be taller?

[aastra]

So call it 14 or 15. Even better.

[Scaper]

Thanks for these photo shops Aastra!!

by the way
I sent it with a very good letter to Our Lovely Mayor!!

I also sent it to David Chard too...with also a very nice letter:)

Cheers all.

[Ms. B. Havin]

Calling the Bank of Commerce Building a "massively scaled concrete tower," Seggers (p.97, Exploring Victoria's Architecture) writes that it "suffocates View Street and masks out from numerous directions one of Victoria's major skyline features, the diaphanous polychrome spire of St. Andrew's Cathedral."

"Suffocate," "diaphanous" -- pretty clear what he's getting at, regardless of the weasel words that don't come right out to say it.

As for view cones, I can't see the "diaphanous" (huh?) spire of St. Andrew's, even though from where I'm sitting right now, it's in front of the CIBC Bldg. (i.e., between the "massively scaled concrete tower" and me). I think a "massively scaled" Douglas Fir is blocking my view of the diaphanous spire. But I can see the CIBC Bldg, and best of all, I can see the Sussex Bldg., which looks divine (like a cathedral) when the rising sun strikes its east facade. As far as I'm concerned, those highrises are my excellent view(cone).

PS: I didn't vote, b/c I can't really decide one way or the other. I think viewcones are useful, but only as a general tool for orchestrating an interesting street.

[Holden West]

BTW, for those of you without a PhD, "diaphonous polychrome" means intricate and multicoloured.

The Cathedral marks the southern pole of what the Hallmark Society once called the "Heritage Axis"--the Synagogue being the northern pole. They claimed the construction of the Juliet condo drastically affects the view of the spire, although the view down Blanshard street was actually ruined half a century ago by the Carnegie extension. If you're coming south on Blanshard, the spire is only briefly glimpsed now anyway.

[aastra]

That lowrise office block across from the Ministry of Health is the prime culprit re: blocked views of St. Andrew's. But then what are we suggesting? That people are congregating on the corner of Fisgard and Blanshard to take in views of the cathedral? It's ridiculous.

[AnonAnnie2]

Apply view corridors / cones to nature...what image comes to your mind?

[Ms. B. Havin]

A clearing in the woods? A valley between mountains? A painting by Claude Lorrain?

[aastra]

[AnonAnnie2]

Great examples! (love the pictures!!)....
so the question was....are viewcones a useful tool?

In each nature-case put forward are they useful?

To me, yes they are, to others maybe not-so-much.

Did nature intend them to be a 'tool'? Possibly, but how?

How could nature have intended them to be a tool? for what purpose?

The structures we create, the buildings we construct mimic nature in many ways.
(IMHO).

At the end of the day, we layer; layer-on-layers of buildings, creating a depth of view and those view-scapes change daily be it a new building, an old one removed or a cloud passing by or the sun full blaze. Cones and Corridors.....great subject to capture in pictures.

Another project! yah you guys!!!

[Holden West]

Living in Shangri-La

Amid a development nightmare, an opulent paradise opens its doors

By John Mackie, Canwest News ServiceJanuary 24, 2009

Cheng said it was a challenging project, because the site was constrained by the city's "view corridor" policy, which stipulates that mountain views must be retained from certain areas.

"We have a site 700 feet long, and we could only build on the last 100 feet of it for the tall building," says Cheng, who has designed several high-profile skyscrapers in Vancouver.

"A large part of the look is formed by the view cone."

[Rob Randall]

At the end of the day, we layer; layer-on-layers of buildings, creating a depth of view and those view-scapes change daily be it a new building, an old one removed or a cloud passing by or the sun full blaze. Cones and Corridors.....great subject to capture in pictures.

The DRA advocated a change to the massing of The Falls that opened up a view toward the Chateau Victoria hotel. Many saw this as preserving the harbour view from the Chateau's Vista 18 lounge but we also saw the benefit of being able to see the Chateau through the V-opening between the Falls' towers.

[G-Man]

^ Really?

Anything that can hide that monstrosity is a good thing in my mind.

[Rob Randall]

Aesthetic weaknesses aside, there was no benefit to walling it off.

[Holden West]

[Vancouver] City Planners take new look at urban vistas

The Globe and Mail

Unlike Calgary, which lost its chance to preserve views of the Rockies 25 years ago, or Toronto, which has allowed a highway plus a wall of condo towers to go up between the city and its lake, Vancouver set an aggressive policy almost two decades ago to protect more than two dozen designated view corridors.

But now the city is entertaining re-examining that controversial policy, one that has its fierce defenders and its equally fierce critics, especially the architects who have had to slice off or squish parts of buildings to make them fit around the corridors.

And the city's head planner is signalling that he's definitely open to change.

"I've got a serious appetite for shifting those view corridors," says Brent Toderian, a former Calgary planner hired two years ago, who has been working hard to set new directions in a city famous for its urban planning. "The view corridors have been one of the most monumental city-shaping tools in Vancouver's history but they need to be looked at again. We have a mountain line and we have a building line where that line is inherently subjective."

[G-Man]

or Toronto, which has allowed a highway plus a wall of condo towers to go up between the city and its lake,

What the hell?

What was Toronto to do exactly build a subterrenean city? How would you protect views of the lake from the other side of downtown exactly?

Just an example of how ridiculous AND subjective the discussion of view cones is.

[aastra]

You know, because the folks working in the skyscrapers of downtown Toronto had wonderful views of the lake before, whereas now there are some midrise and highrise apartment buildings a fraction of the height of those skyscrapers that are sort of in the way.



I think the Calgary example is even sillier. Views of the Rockies...from where? I suppose Calgary's skyline is so gigantic that it's actually blocked out views of the Rockies from everywhere? Maybe we need viewcones to preserve views of the moon? It's possible for a building to block a particular view of the moon.

[D.L.]

some people can't see two inches beyond their nose