THROUGH CHORA: CREATING "RECEPTACLE OF BECOMING" AS MEDIATOR OF THE PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE OF THE POST-INDUSTRIAL SITE IN VANCOUVER, FALSE CREEK FLATS

Abstract

Plato’s concept of “Chora” is defined as the interval between “being” and “becoming,” which he interprets as a “receptacle of becoming,”. This paper seeks to examine the inherent Chora of False Creek Flats, a post-industrial site, which is in many ways a symbolic locus of the history of Vancouver. The intent is to envision a future “becoming” of that site by using architectural designs, which incorporate both the past and present structural elements of the area. The proposed interventions are intended to provide the necessary catalyst to transform this stark site into the realm of poetic awareness in order to bring it into the consciousness of Vancouver’s inhabitants. The site’s various history both present and absent are translated through architectural interventions, combining materials, tectonic and programmatic relationships into spatial configuration, so that various elements of the site’s history are revealed and inexplicably linked.