November 29, 2023 In Architecture, Arthur Erickson, Burnaby, Inspiration

Glass House on Deer Lake

My husband Damian found this article about a house we saw a few years ago when we were out on a walk at Deer Lake.

I looked into it, trying to find out how I could get access. Turns out only if you’re an architectural student at BCIT. If you’re ever in the area, it’s a beautiful walk and a nice surprise to come across this amazing house amongst the trees along the trail.

 

“How did this modernist gem end up on a public body of water in Burnaby?” 

The house tries to hide among the trees on the south shore of Burnaby’s Deer Lake, but it’s too beautiful for that.

Passersby call it “the glass house” for the panoramic panels that stretch from floor to ceiling and wall to wall. With so much glass, the house is transparent enough for nosy hikers on the lake trail to peer into the living room, with its sweeping and enviable views of the water.

Is that sisal carpeting? Is that teak furniture?

Whether it’s your first time strolling by or your hundredth, you can’t help but stop to ask what this modernist gem, the only structure actually on the lake, is doing out here in the wild.

 

Here’s a link to the article: Read Here

Historic Places | Baldwin House

Christopher Cheung 22 Nov 2023The Tyee

Christopher Cheung reports on urban issues for The Tyee. Follow him on Twitter @bychrischeung.

Arthur Erickson at the Baldwin House, 2003

 

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March 16, 2023 In Architecture, Inspiration

Observation is a constant…

I just finished listening to a very inspiring interview with Phyllis Lambert. So wonderful to hear her thoughts on ‘The Seagram Building’, (for which she acted as director of planning). Lambert has just come out with a new book of photography – ‘observation is a constant that underlines all approaches‘.  Also found at Amazon Books

At 92 years old, the founder of the Canadian Centre of Architecture (CCA) lived through the rise of modernism, the era of highway building and urban renewal, and the backlash that led to a resurgence of high-density, neighborhood-focused development.

And she helped lead the way. Born in Montreal to the Bronfman family, which built the Seagram’s liquor empire, Lambert was a talented artist from an early age.

Lambert hired Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, a German-born architect whose minimalist glass-and-steel houses had caught her attention. Under her influence, the Bronfmans gave Mies an unlimited budget, and the resulting tower—a sleek, black-hued rebuke to the fusty architecture of Park Avenue, fronted by a rare bit of public open space—became one of the world’s most influential buildings after it was completed in 1958.

architecture-history.org

“My own use of the camera began in 1954 as I started to think about what a new building in New York – the Seagram building – could be. While in Rome during Easter, through the lens of a camera, I had hardly used, I began to observe the quality of buildings: how they sat on the land, their articulation, and how architectural details related to a building as a whole.” – Phyllis Lambert

Here’s a link to CBC’s Radio Interview: Listen Here

The Current with Matt Galloway – March 16, 2023: Renowned Canadian architect Phyllis Lambert on how to build better cities

 

 

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