'Origami Tower' Architect Fires Back at Tyee Critic

[Editor's note: On Feb. 10 The Tyee published an opinion piece by UBC professor of landscape architecture Patrick Condon critical of the "Origami Tower" proposed to abut the east façade of Vancouver's Waterfront Station, which appears to loom over station and street. Condon questioned whether such a "flashy signature building" reflected democratic planning and the best of Vancouver urban design, "sensitive to context and the public realm."  The Origami Tower is designed by Adrian Smith and Gordon Gill Architecture of Chicago, creators of many skyscrapers iconic for their height and shape in Dubai, Jeddah and other global cities. Upon reading Condon's article, Adrian Smith wrote him this letter, and has agreed to allow The Tyee to reprint it in full here.]

Dear Prof. Condon,

I read with interest your recent article about Vancouver planning and its related architecture, most of which you have attributed to the locally based architectural community. I believe the central points you were making in this article were that 1) Vancouver has a special relationship between the public and private realm, one for the most part, is balanced and pleasant, which I would agree with; and 2) that there is room for the occasional and well placed "special" building to create points of interest and uniqueness in contrast to the existing fabric of the city, which I also agree with.

The problem I have with your essay is the grossly exaggerated association you attribute to non-Canadian or non-Vancouver firms wanting to enter Vancouver's tranquil context and assert Burj Khalifa or Kingdom Tower type edifices into Vancouver in an attempt to mindlessly destroy the public realm with over-scaled, out of context monoliths that are out of step. My problem is not with your fear of this happening but with the association it conveys as it relates to what we as architects were trying to accomplish on the proposed privately owned parking lot between two somewhat historic buildings on a mid-block site next to the gaping rail yards that separate your city from its shoreline. This site is not precious. It is not within any public realm view corridors and is hampered by a failing Gastown District to the east that is in desperate need of the type of uses that this proposed building would bring to the area.

The planning community in Vancouver has ignored this area of the city for too long and not paid adequate attention to the fact that this station is a major gateway to the city and that its context is the appropriate location for responsible high density because of its closeness to this transportation hub. In my mind, to ignore this and to ignore the rights of the owner of this property is a public disservice. This has not just come about because of the concept that we presented this month at the design review board but has been a long-standing area of neglect since this owner has tried on three other occasions to obtain planning consent, using local architectural design talent to no avail.

One is nevertheless correct in condemning the contrived nature of the solution but it would be appropriate to understand the punishing constraints placed on the owner by the City planners and by extension the entire planning community of Vancouver regarding this seemingly benign parcel for no apparently good reason.

It would be more helpful if you would muster your considerable power and influence as a leader of the planning community to focus your attention on the real problems of bureaucracy and self-interest versus the fear of a few international architects playing on your turf.

Sincerely,

Adrian Smith FAIA, AIBC, RIBA
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