2012/01/30
20 notes

“A collaboration between Emily Carr and St. Paul’s Hospital Art Committee has concluded with the stunning work, Three Views of Vancouver.

Third year student Conrad Brown, along with 2011 graduates, Ruth Skinner and Alexa Stroth, re-purposed redundant medical xray boxes and turned them into a large-scale piece measuring 174” wide by 40” high. The piece stretches down the busy Comox Street corridor of the hospital, using photographs that represent more intimate views of Vancouver, views that are seen every day but rarely represented in print.” (From the ECU website)

Three Views of Vancouver

Conrad Brown
Ruth Skinner
Alexa Stroth

Vancouver, landlocked in all four directions by the mountains, the ocean, the suburbs, and the border, has grown to become a dense metropolis. The North Shore mountains, landmarks of Vancouver, are usually obscured by buildings. These photographs represent more intimate views of Vancouver, views that are seen everyday but rarely represented in print.

To preserve the emblematic view of the mountains while still accommodating a growing population, Vancouver adopted an architectural language of tall residential highrises and lower commercial buildings. In 1989, the city designated council-approved view corridors as a way to control and shape its skyline. The buildings around these corridors act as frames for the views within them. The way that the buildings frame the mountains is the same, whether they are highrises or the houses you pass when you walk down the street. The small views pictured here are not protected by civic by-laws, nor are they enjoyed from expensive highrise condominiums, but they are equally as important and familiar to the city’s residents.

 

Tags: no party conrad brown ruth skinner alexa stroth public art Vancouver