Art in the City: A New Vancouver Art Gallery as a Means of Re-affirming Culture and Vitalizing the Urban Realm

Abstract

This thesis explores the possibility that a well designed and situated urban art gallery might improve a problematic urban condition in Vancouver. The aim is to vitalize a neglected urban space, and connect the waterfront seawall with the downtown core, while exposing the gallery to the public. By playing on the potential of a formally rich urban context— characterized by viaducts, SkyTrain rails, tunnels, underpasses and abrupt elevation changes — the project aims to celebrate the site’s unusual formal qualities while reclaiming it for human, rather than vehicular, activity.