Vancouver’s Olympic architectural legacy is less about starchitects and iconic buildings than about the very Canadian values of community consultation and environmental sensitivity - with locally harvested softwood getting top billing.
Cannon Design’s speed skating Oval, with its unique undulating wooden paneled roof – one of the longest clear spans in North America - wins points for reusing wood salvaged after a voracious pine beetle infestation destroyed half of British Columbia's pine forests.
The Olympic Park Day Lodge, by Merrick Architects, combines cutting edge green design and stunning views of the surrounding Callaghan Valley. At its centre, Glulam beams follow the upward tilt of the roof, engaging with the coastal mountain range and offering a cathedral like sense of spaciousness and majesty.
At the core of the Walter Francl-designed Trout Lake ice rink, is an arch formed from 70-foot Glulam beams and supported by a concrete buttress wall. Geometry in motion, the building almost disappears into the sloped topography. Organic modernism at its best, the curvilinear white clamshell roof echoes the snow-capped mountains.
Finally, the Athlete's Village is home to a community centre designed by the late Arthur Erickson - destined to eventually become a new mixed-use neighbourhood after the 2010 games - along with a 1.2 million square foot waterfront convention centre and the stylish new Hillcrest curling and Kilarney ice rinks. Olympic architouring looks set to be a key event.
The Bombardier Learjet
Interior of the Learjet
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The Bombardier Learjet
The Staircase House by Cindy Rendely, Toronto
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Coast restaurant, Vancouver
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Supernova by Douglas Coupland
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Talking sticks by Douglas Coupland
Penguin Pretty Vacant by Douglas Coupland
Coyote by Douglas Coupland
Patricide by Douglas Coupland
Penguin Cumshot by Douglas Coupland
Penguin Clash by Douglas Coupland
Matricide Silver Skate by Douglas Coupland
Matricide Beer by Douglas Coupland
Drip Maple Syrup
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Form & Forest by D'Arcy Jones Design
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The Keefer Hotel, Vancouver
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Laneway House, Toronto, by Kohn Shnier architects
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Richmond Olympic Oval by Cannon Design
Read the article: Vancouver Winter Olympic architecture
Territory table and chairs by Samare Design, Montreal
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Territory lounger by Samare design
Territory desk and chair by Samare design
R-Mountie bench and throw by Samare design
Still House by Level Design, Vancouver
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Sunset Cabin by Taylor_Smyth Architects, Toronto
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40R_Laneway House by Süperkul, Toronto
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SHIFT Cottage by Süperkul
The Trans Canada Trail
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Nylon Haneda by WANT luggage
Newberry White by WANT luggage
Nylon Haneda by WANT luggage
Dumont black by WANT luggage
Carl Phare's wooden rollercoaster, designed in 1958, Vancouver
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Fashion by Ying Gao, Montreal
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RBW EV brings a much-loved classic sports car aesthetic into the modern eraThe RBW Roadster and GT hark back to a golden age of sports car design. Under the skin, these British-built machines feature bespoke all-electric running gear
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Add a pop of colour to your wrist this season with these bold watchesBrightly coloured watches, from Rolex, Omega, Patek Philippe and more, are just the thing for the winter season
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At its academy, Prada sets an agenda for the future: ‘Technology cannot replace the ability to work with your hands’Wallpaper* takes a trip to the Prada Group Academy in Scandicci, Tuscany, where Prada CEO Andrea Guerra and CMO Lorenzo Bertelli outline the future of Italian craft on the institution’s 25th anniversary
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The Architecture Edit: Wallpaper’s houses of the monthFrom Malibu beach pads to cosy cabins blanketed in snow, Wallpaper* has featured some incredible homes this month. We profile our favourites below
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Explore the riches of Morse House, the Canadian modernist gem on the marketMorse House, designed by Thompson, Berwick & Pratt Architects in 1982 on Vancouver's Bowen Island, is on the market – might you be the new custodian of its modernist legacy?
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Cosy-up in a snowy Canadian cabin inspired by utilitarian farmhousesInspired by local farmhouses, Canadian cabin Timbertop is a minimalist shelter overlooking the woodland home of wild deer, porcupines and turkeys
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Buy yourself a Sanctuary, a serene house above the British Columbia landscapeThe Sanctuary was designed by BattersbyHowat for clients who wanted a contemporary home that was also a retreat into nature. Now it’s on the market via West Coast Modern
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La Maison de la Baie de l’Ours melds modernism into the shores of a Québécois lakeACDF Architecture’s grand family retreat in Quebec offers a series of flowing living spaces and private bedrooms beneath a monumental wooden roof
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Peel back maple branches to reveal this cosy midcentury Vancouver gemOsler House, a midcentury Vancouver home, has been refreshed by Scott & Scott Architects, who wanted to pay tribute to the building's 20th-century modernist roots
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A spectacular waterside house in Canada results from a radical overhaulSplyce Design’s Shoreline House occupies an idyllic site in British Columbia. Refurbished and updated, the structure has been transformed into a waterside retreat
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Hilborn House, one of Arthur Erickson’s few residential projects, is now on the marketThe home, first sketched on an envelope at Montreal Airport, feels like a museum of modernist shapes, natural materials and indoor-outdoor living
