To the editor,
The smug provincialism and ignorance of the local supporters of the proposed 27-storey development at Granville and Hollis might get a bit of a shake if they would take a look at a few hot modern cities. Get your eyes away from your navels, and see the dynamic architecture in Montreal, in London, in Paris…cities that offer plenty of the old and the new. What they will see is that there is something called "location'" or "context." The supporters of the Granville and Hollis sky-sniffer think they're part of a new wave, of new thinking. They're not.
There are locations in the city more suitable for interesting high-rises. Rather than rolling over and giving in to corporate greed and complacent ignorance, the city government should have the common sense and guts to insist that developers commission architects who have the creative juices to come up with interesting buildings whose proportions fit into the context. This design will simply look ridiculous in the proposed location, an embarrassment like the stink from the harbour.
By Heather Laskey
