Vancouver Sun: Homes away from Home: Barcelona

Gaudi’s Barcelona not our Vancouver

Neighbourhoods, buildings and homes exquisite pointer to contribution of planning to urban attractiveness, sustainability

Afew years ago, I was surprised to read that Granville Island had taken over from Stanley Park as Vancouver’s No. 1 tourist attraction. I still question whether this is true, but there is no disputing Barcelona’s No. 1 tourist attraction. It is an architect: Antoni Gaudi.

While I was familiar with images of his work, I did not appreciate his creative genius until I saw his projects during a recent visit to Barcelona.

Born in 1852, Gaudi was the leader of a group of architects known as the Catalonian Modernistas. Their work was inspired by the Art Nouveau movement, which spread throughout Europe at the turn of the 20th century. However, the Spanish version was more eclectic than that of other countries.

A number of Gaudi’s major works are in L’Eixample, ( the extension) a master-planned mid-19th century “ suburb” of Barcelona. The area is characterized by a very formal grid of wide streets lined with mid-rise buildings and central courtyards. It is a form of city planning that dominates much of Europe, and is now starting to become increasingly popular with Vancouver planners.

One of the striking features of L’Eixample is the network of small plazas formed by cutting off the corners of each building at every intersection. From the air, the district looks like a series of geometric doughnuts, with a few diagonal streets increasing accessibility and interest.

The initial plan included a significant number of public green spaces; however, many were not built. Instead, they were replaced by more buildings. Sound familiar? Many of the remaining public spaces were designed as linear parks, filled with children’s play areas. Unlike North American kids, most of Barcelona’s children grow up in dense apartment neighbourhoods.

In the heart of L’Eixample is Gaudi’s most famous project: the still-unfinished cathedral La Sagrada Familia. Gaudi started it later in his life, but was not concerned that it would not be completed before he died since, as he noted, his client had all the time in the world. It is now scheduled for completion in 2026, the 100th anniversary of his death.

It is one of the most dominant buildings on the city’s skyline, and appears, up close, like a hallucinogenic vision of a medieval cathedral. According to guidebooks, it is Spain’s most visited monument.

Two other notable Gaudi works can be found along Passeig de Gracia, L’Eixample’s most fashionable street. La Pedrera, with its wavy facade and highly decorative wroughtiron balconies, was designed as a mixed-use apartment and office block. On the roof are decorative and whimsical chimneys, around which nightly musical concerts are held in the summer. Another major work is Casa Batllo, one of three extraordinary houses on a prominent block known as the Manzana de la Discordia or Apple of Discord. ( In a play of words, ‘ manzana’ means both apple and city block.) The two adjacent houses designed by two of Gaudi’s Modernista colleagues have very different esthetics.

With its ornate tiled curvilinear facade, the Casa Batllo is one of the most extraordinary houses I have ever visited. This six-storey-and-attic residence was a renovation of an earlier building and is designed around a very large central light well, faced in decorative blue tiles. The hue is darkest at the top floor and becomes lighter on lower floors to compensate for the brightness of the sun. Similarly, the windows at the top are smaller than below for the same reason.

The curvaceous windows with blue and green stained glass and flowing walls and ceilings are inspired by the sea, while the front facade is topped by a sculptural element representing St. George and the Dragon.

In many ways, the house is an early testament to sustainability, with its careful attention to natural ventilation and reuse of materials.

Many of the doors and windows are designed with movable louvres to facilitate air movement through the rooms. The incredibly ornate windows, some of which fold open to create large openings, and large light well allow natural light into every room. Much of the decorative tile work recycles broken ceramics and glass, a Gaudi trademark. While these buildings are breathtaking, one of Gaudi’s most remarkable projects is Park Guell, originally planned as a new residential subdivision on the outskirts of Barcelona. Inspired by Ebenezer Howard’s new Garden City movement, it was initiated by Eusibi Guell, a wealthy and visionary industrialistturned property developer and politician.

Guell hired his friend Gaudi who designed the new community like a large work of art. One of the goals was to bring its wealthy residents into closer contact with nature. Another was to transmit Christian values, while enhancing local traditions. This was to be achieved through conditions on the sale of the 60 large triangular lots. In order to allow residents to fully enjoy the natural setting, only one-sixth of the property could be built upon, in sharp contrast to the rest of the city.

Visiting Gaudi’s projects, I could not help but think of some of Vancouver’s more creative architects, such as Richard Henriquez and Paul Merrick, who over the years have often infused their projects with works of art, and on occasion, whimsy.

I also thought about how Barcelona has truly enhanced its attractiveness as a place to live and as a tourist destination, through its community planning, imaginative architecture and public art.

Let me add....I think there's a lesson for Vancouver here!

Minimum parking requirments for 4-pack and 6-pack townhouses?

Gordon Price is one of the most prominent urban thinkers in this city, and I am always interested to see the latest posts on his blog pricetags. Today, it's an item about a recent decision in Seattle to reduce parking requirements for new townhouses in certain neighbourhoods in Seattle, covering about 8% of the city. The goal is to deter the development of 'four packs' and 'six-packs' which is the somewhat derogatory term used to describe higher density townhouses that are often built as infill developments on 50 and 60 foot lots.

The homes are usually built in two rows, one fronting the street, and one fronting the lane. In between is an 'auto-court' that leads to garages under the units. Sometimes the units have their principal entrances off the 'auto-court'. While the area between the units can be quite tight, and the 'auto-court' can be bleak, the concept is clever, in that it allows townhouses to be built on small lots in an incremental fashion.

A few weeks ago I went to Seattle to explore neighbourhoods offering this form of development. I took some photos which I shared with a few people around Vancouver. However, Gordon's post has prompted me to post a few photos here. There is no doubt that eliminating the parking requirements will significantly improve the design of these projects; however I can understand why many Vancouver neighbourhoods would not support zero parking....although with suitable design, I think they might support some four-pack and six-pack projects with appropriate design.
Here is another project that is not as attractive from the street, but does have a better courtyard character.While I have been advocating for years that we should consider making our minimum parking standards the maximum standards, I am the first to admit that completely eliminating parking requirements for townhouse developments may be going a bit too far, too quickly. That being said, I do support eliminating parking (except for visitor requirements) for some very well located apartment projects, if a developer is willing to take on the market challenge. After all, eliminating underground parking in a dense urban centre can save $50,000 from the cost of building a small apartment.

Now, as for the four-packs and six-packs, I am actively looking for a Metro Vancouver site where I might be able to design and develop an improved 'Vancouver version' of this form of townhouse infill project as a 'demonstration project'. With improved design, I think it would be an excellent housing choice for those wanting a ground oriented form of development, at a price comparable to an apartment.

So if you know of, or have a 50 or 60 foot lot for sale in an area that might be suitable for rezoning, just let me know. I'll be happy to buy the property, or partner with someone interested in rezoning and redevelopment, and possibly moving into one of the units, and/or keeping one or more as a future investment. I can always be reached at geller@sfu.ca.

Happy Chanukah, or whatever!

Chanukah, which is how I was brought up to spell it, is often considered the Jewish version of Christmas. It begins at sundown tonight, and continues for 8 nights. From Wikipedia:

Hanukkah also romanized as Chanukah, also known as the Festival of Lights is an eight-day Jewish holiday commemorating the rededication of the Holy Temple (the Second Temple) in Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabean Revolt of the 2nd century BCE. Hanukkah is observed for eight nights, starting on the 25th day of Kislev according to the Hebrew calendar, which may occur at any time from late November to late December.

The festival is observed by the kindling of the lights of a unique candelabrum, the nine-branched Menorah or Hanukiah, one additional light on each night of the holiday, progressing to eight on the final night.

From the Hebrew word for "dedication" or "consecration", Hanukkah marks the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem (Second Temple) after its desecration by the forces of the King of Syria Antiochus IV Epiphanes and commemorates the "miracle of the container of oil". According to the Talmud, at the re-dedication following the victory of the Maccabees over the Seleucid Empire, there was only enough consecrated olive oil to fuel the eternal flame in the Temple for one day. Miraculously, the oil burned for eight days, which was the length of time it took to press, prepare and consecrate fresh olive oil.

In my house, Chanukah is celebrated with my children and their friends, and lots of fried foods, along with some smoked salmon, smoked meats, and dreidels! It's a wonderful, happy holiday.

There's something wrong with Market Dimensions' City of Vancouver Budget Survey Report

In preparation for a discussion re the forthcoming City of Vancouver budget deliberations on Bill Good's CKNW Civic Affairs Panel, I decided to read the Budget Survey Report commissioned by the city. I was suprised by some of the statements in the Executive Summary.

For example, on page 7, the Exec Summary says residents think the city should pay more attention to green projects or infrastructure....including placing charging stations in public areas for electric vehicles. For the life of me, I couldn't believe that Vancouver residents thought this was something warranting further attention. So I started to plow through the detailed statistics in the appendix, but never found any clear support for this. But more importantly,

On page 4 it says "after a declining trend in the past two surveys, signs of recovery are evident in residents' perceptions about the change in quality of city services. While 28.1% see a decline, 37.1% think the quality has improved.....

HOWEVER, at the top of page 61, the detailed survey results show that 46% say things are worse or much worse. In fact, whereas during the past 11 years only 4% to 8% said things were much worse, this year 35% said things were much worse. 35%! And yet this is completely ignored in the Executive Summary.

I think there is something wrong with the Executive Summary of this report, and I invite people to review the document themselves and let me know if I am mistaken. And if I am not wrong, then I would like to know why a professional firm would present such a distorted view to the public and City staff and Council. You can find the document at http://vancouver.ca/ctyclerk/cclerk/20101130/documents/rr1_appendix2.pdf

Dundarave Festival of Lights: November 28 to January 7, 2011

I spent a good part of Saturday with my daughter Georgia and former Vancouver Social Planner Susan Anderson decorating a Christmas Tree as part of the Dundarave Festival of Lights. Geller Properties, which is proposing an infill development in the 2000 Block of Esquimalt Avenue is happy to be a Tree Sponsor. Funds raised from the sponsors support the North Shore Emergency Lookout Shelter, providing services to the homeless and those in need. Yes, sadly, there are people on the North Shore in need too.

Susan was happy to help out since she lives across the lane from the proposed redevelopment and wants to see it approved. Like many West Vancouver residents, she knows there is a growing need for more well-designed housing choices in the area.

The Dundarave Festival of Lights can be found at the foot of 25th Street and continues until January 7th. A number of different events are planned including a Christmas Wassail and Bonfire Night on December 18th. Details can be found at http://www.dundaravefestival.com/ Thanks Georgia for helping out. And congratulations to Mary and all the organizers for what seems like a very well organized and successful event.

Helping the Homeless: a few propositions and provocations

France Bula reported this morning that the City and Province have reached an agreement on the funding for additional homeless shelters this winter. While I was pleased to read this, I couldn't help but think about some other cost effective approaches that might be worthy of further consideration to help the homeless. So here's what I posted on Frances' Blog. I'd welcome any comments, or better still, I'd encourage anyone who agrees with some of these ideas to help promote them and make them happen.

When I first started volunteering with the Building Community Society in the DTES, my first proposition was that we should build more shelters as a short term solution. I was attacked by a number of community organizers for proposing this, noting that shelters are nothing more than stop-gap. But the realty is that they are an effective way to get people off the streets. I think the current administration should be complimented for getting some new shelters in operation. But they can be surprisingly expensive to operate, so other solutions are required.

Two years ago this administration also supported proposals from Gregory Henriquez and myself to create additional housing stock using prefabricated modular housing, located on ‘temporary sites’. It could then be relocated to other future development sites. I was encouraged by the city’s interest; however, other than a subsequent announcement by Kerry Jang that he would like to explore the idea further, nothing has happened. I have offered to meet with Kerry Jang and Dennis Carr in the housing department to discuss this approach further. Both indicated an interest in getting together, and I expect to meet with them in the coming weeks.

However, the real purpose for this note is to suggest some other things that the Mayor and city could be doing, in concert with the Province, the private sector, and the non-profit sector to further address homelessness. I have written about some of these ideas before, but here they are again, since they may warrant further consideration.

1. house the homeless in existing apartments, rather than wait for purpose built housing to be completed. This is the approach followed by Toronto’s Streets to Homes program, with considerable success. In addition to getting instant housing, Toronto also arranged for a variety of support services. This program took more than 2000 people off Toronto’s streets in a cost effective way. I don’t understand why we haven’t tried it. To those who say it’s because we don’t have available rental stock, I say, nonesense. We have hundreds of units coming available every month…many would be suitable.

2. help create more employment. I have supported Shirley Chan’s BOB and EMBERS in the DTES. I am convinced that with a concerted effort by City Hall, these organizations and others could do much more. We need to talk about this, and do something about it. While I appreciate many of the homeless are not able to work a full time job, or even a part time job, many could benefit from some employment programs. Christmas is a time when many of us feel a bit more charitable…perhaps we can help get a few more people working.

3. one reason the homeless have a hard time getting a job is that they don’t have an address, and they don’t have suitable clothes and they often need support with hygiene. Since the shelters do not offer an ‘address’, I would like to think that we could come up with a creative way to give people an address, if only for the purposes of job applications. Why not Post Office boxes for the homeless who want them? the city doesn’t have to provide them…just promote the idea.

Similarly, the city could be helping people get cleaned up…..why aren’t there free barber shops for anyone who wants to get a haircut and shave in order to get out and find work? Again, the city doesn’t need to hire barbers and hairdressers…just be a catalyst…talk about the idea, promote it and it may well happen. there are lots of retired barbers and hairdressers who I suspect would be happy to help out…

Similarly, the city could help find clothing for those who need clothes… Many of us have clothes we would happily donate to those looking to keep warm or clean themselves up to get work. Often, we just need a nudge and info on where to take things to follow up. I think the city could work with other social agencies to help in this effort.

Many people can’t find work because they need dental work and other similar assistance. Again, I know there are some volunteer programs operating in the DTES, but we need more. I’d like to think the city could make this sort of thing happen. Perhaps what is needed is a public call to get dentists to help out, in the DTES, or in their own offices. I’m convinced that some real help could be offered in a short period of time.

4. family/friend reunification..I know that many are on the streets to escape unhappy family lives. But many more have cousins and uncles or grandparents or just friends with whom they might like to be reunited, if only they had some encouragement and assistance. There are lots of us who love surfing the internet who could volunteer some time to help people reconnect. I am told the Salvation Army has such a program…But so much more could be done. Just as libraries have a day when people can bring back their overdue books without fines, we should establish a day when people are encouraged to reestablish overdue relationships.

I’m sure some of you are probably thinking that I have lost my mind by suggesting that the Mayor should be doing some of these things…

I know that many people have mental illnesses and addictions that need to be addressed. These are major challenges. But I know there have been successes in other communities with the kind of programs I am suggesting.

I would like to think that this Mayor, with all of the publicity and attention his office can muster, could and should play a role in promoting a broad range of intiatives to help improve the lives of the homeless and destitute. And why not do so at this particular time of year.

Last year Pete McMartin, one of my favourite columnists, wrote about school kids who helped create Holiday Greeting Cards for the homeless and others in the DTES to send to family and friends…they got stamps and helped find addresses …. it was a lovely story and I’m convinced that so much more could be done along these lines.

So to conclude, yes it is important to build new, suitable designed permanent housing. And yes, additional shelters are helpful, especially if they have lockers (and too many do not). And yes we need more facilities for those with mental illnesses and addictions…..

But there are many more small, complimentary things that could be done. They take leadership and caring, and I’d like to see some of these ideas discussed, and if valid, implemented this holiday season.

Official Opening! University Highlands Elementary School

It's not often that I spend Tuesday morning in a school gymnasium with Andrew Petter, George Abbott and Derek Corrigan listening to 175 children singing a song. But that's what happened this past Tuesday as hundreds of public officials, proud parents, and local residents gathered to hear the ringing of school bells to celebrate the official opening of the first new school at UniverCity.

As one of the onlookers said to me, it's gratifying to see a dream come true.

Here's the story.

While there is much talk these days about the City's Olympic Village in South East False Creek, many people forget about the City's highly successful first phase redevelopment of the South Shore of False Creek which began in the 70's. I worked on this new community as the Federal Government's Special Coordinator. To ensure a broad social and economic mix, it too had a high level of social engineering. In order to attract families to what had been a derelict industrial area, the city planners included a school as part of the intial phase of development. If you take a look, it was designed to look not unlike the adjacent housing development, the False Creek Cooperative.

Twenty five years later, when I was appointed President of the SFU Community Trust, I wanted a new school to be an integral part of the new community at SFU, and built as part of the first phases of development. I was convinced that this would help attract new families and contribute to the sense of a complete community.

During the initial planning charrette when three different architectural teams developed conceptual plans, it became obvious to me that the best location for the new school had unfortunately already been taken.... by the East Academic Anex, part of the university. However, as one of my early professors once suggested, "If you have a mistake, make a feature of it".

In this case, I decided to approach the university administration with the proposition that the building be converted to an elementary school. I suggested this might accelerate the timing of the school, and contribute to the community's proclaimed 'sustainability', since the most sustainable building is one that is already built!

As you can appreciate, this led to a lot of head scratching and complex negotiations involving the Minister of Education, the Minister of Advanced Education, the City of Burnaby and its School Board and many others. But where there's a will there's a way, and while it took a lot longer than I would have liked, thanks to the efforts of MLA Harry Bloy and many, many others, the school opened this fall with 175 students. At the opening, Greg Frank, with whom I worked many hours on the school planning advised me that there is already a need to think about expansion!

UniverCity has been founded on four cornerstones of sustainability: environment, economy, equity and....education. Now the fourth cornerstone has been realized. Congratulations to Gordon Harris, President and CEO, and David Gillanders, Chair of the Board of Directors for making it all happen. And thanks to former President Michael Stevenson and all those university officials who didn't do their best to get me fired when I suggested converting much needed academic space into an elementary school!

ps...The if you look at the two illustrations above, you'll observe that the elementary school, including its signage, is quite similar to the conceptual drawing prepared by Paul Nowarre ten years ago...although there is a slight change in the name of the school!