The Vancouver Code
The power of a creative city lies in its capacity to foresee problems, to handle changes, and ultimately to reinvent itself. The new poto:type should be an antidote to the vertical sprawl, the non-complexity, and the dissolution of a communal sense resulting from an overdose of podium-tower architecture.
Volumetric decoding
The clear demarcation between the tower and the podium is dissolved by the numeric play in the building volume. This creates a greater inter-dependency between the upper and lower volumes which took on the same formal expression. Podium can be tower, and vice versa. Moreover, building height is constrained by the size of courtyard for adequate sun exposure.
Programatic decoding
These building blocks interweave public and private functions into a new mixed-use urban fabric. Most public amenities such as shops, offices, day-cares, police stations are found on the lower levels. These public functions animiate the plazas and courtyards around which the buildings are organized, creating a self-sufficient community.
Social decoding
The interlocking buildings surround many internal courtyards and public plazas, striking an equilibrium between development and social spaces. These courtyards and plazas promote encounters, conversations, surveillance, co-ownership within the neighbourhood, turning compartmentalized condo-living style into an adhesive communal experience.
(From competitor's text)
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