The Vertical City

I love Vancouver. How can you not? Ocean, mountains, mild winters, awesome snow just minutes away, green all year round - and most of all amazing neighbourhoods like the downtown and West End. Cities around the world are looking to Vancouver to learn how to make great communities.

But there is one thing I hear many people say, and I can't argue with them - Vancouver's buildings are on the boring side. It doesn't help that this is such a young city (just over 100 years old), so it doesn't have the beautiful, old character buildings of cities like New York or Montreal. But that's no excuse for us to be living in a homogenous sea of concrete and glass. Chicago is a great example of a city known for it's verticality yet it also fosters great diversity in the design of tall buildings. It probably helps that Chicago was the birthplace of the modern skyscraper, but that tradition of pushing the envelope remains intact.

Now I'm not suggesting Vancouver start learning from Chicago, as I think both cities are amazing. I do think that city hall needs to start encouraging better design - so I've spent some time putting together a group of buildings that I think are excellent examples for Vancouver developers to look to for inspiration - some complete, some under construction, some just designs. It's a shame that the Ritz Carlton tower has been put on hold, as it was a unique design, but even it was still relatively simple. Here are my examples:

Aqua Tower, Chicago
http://www.lakeshoreeast.com/AQUA/home.html

What I love most about this tower is how simple it is to achieve this design - the floor slabs just vary in size at each level - the structure of the building never changes.

World Trade Centre, Bahrain
http://www.bahrainwtc.com/

Windmills between the two towers help power the building!

Dubai Towers, Dubai
http://www.dubaitowersdubai.com/

There are dozens of great buildings being built in the United Arab Emirates, this is just one. The Sheik of Abu Dhabi has even hired Vancouver's former city planner, Larry Beasley, to help them start developing more sustainably.

Jupiter Mills and Elphinstone Mills Towers, Mumbai
http://indianskyscraperblog.wordpress.com/2008/02/25/mumbai-jupiter-mills-tower-75-floors/

The picture says it all - follow the link to learn more.

Puerta de Europa, Madrid
http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/cx/?id=puertadeeuropa-madrid

These two towers make a huge statement and really do feel like a "gate to Europe". The City of Vancouver is currently working on plans to redevelop the area at the north end of Granville Street bridge (including the removal of the "loops") and a project similar to this would be an amazing gateway into downtown.

Waves, Mumbai
http://indianskyscraperblog.wordpress.com/2007/12/30/mumbai-waves-80-fl/

Chicago Spire, Chicago (formerly Fordham Spire)
http://www.thechicagospire.com/

It's unfortunate that due to the recession they have temporarily stopped construction on this building. But the foundation is done, so there is no doubt this tower will be completed eventually. Architect and Engineer Santiago Calatrava is probably better known for his bridges, but in recent years has been designing some amazing buildings. (Personally, I think Arthur Erickson took cues from this building and another of Calatrava's projects in his design of the Ritz Carlton - Vancouver).

These are just a few examples of well designed tall buildings that I like - I could go on for pages. I also like the Shangri-La tower here in Vancouver, which I know some don't. I like it for it's simplicity and also, no doubt, because there is finally a tower that the city has allowed to break the otherwise flat skyline. Being the first at anything often has it's advantages. But we do need more diversity in design of new towers here in Vancouver before the city really does become too bland.