Vancouver and the Stanley Cup

With Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final now over (my sincerest condolences to Vancouver), let's take a look at the urban experience surrounding the event, and how TransLink dealt with the crowds.

Last Friday, screens were set up in downtown Vancouver to allow fans to watch the games broadcast from Boston. The city estimates that over 70,000 fans turned out, filling the streets and businesses in the area. Although they lost the Boston games, those who came downtown to watch the home games, were reminded of the Olympics and the excited atmosphere that overtook the city. Vancouver is ideally set up for such gatherings/events and the mood of the people was, and is testament to this. Many businesses closed early to allow staff to go watch the games and restaurants/bars did their best to accommodate the lines which started forming well before the games were due to start. Again, much like the Olympics, which overtook the City not too long ago, people were encouraged to use transit, bike or walk.

The lessons learned from the Olympics enabled TransLink and the City to effectively manage massive crowds within a downtown environment. With anywhere between 100,000 - 150,000 expected to attend game 7, TransLink used the following methods to streamline access:

• asked riders to buy return tickets early (avoiding long lines after the game)
• set up portable fareboxes that required exact fare
• increased SkyTrain service to run an hour later than usual
• extra buses on standby, and extended hours
• an additional third ferry 
• re-routing buses due to street closures

They also added a note on their website that there would be a "zero-tolerance policy for open liquor and rowdy, dangerous, and unsafe behaviour." Although they were well-prepared for the crowds, they weren't prepared for the riots, which were reported to be inflicted by only a "small group of troublemakers."

An article from Sports Illustrated reported that Vancouverites "woke up this morning to news reports that portrayed this beautiful city in out-of-control chaos, a sharp contrast from the goodwill engendered from its successful Olympics 16 months ago."

The riots are an unfortunate event that overshadowed the positive aspects of yesterday: that Vancouver has an wonderful urban environment that is conducive to large crowds filling the streets, coming together to cheer on their team. After the Winter Olympics last year, Chicago Tribune writer Philip Hersh said:

"One cannot overlook the passion and general goodwill of the people who both put on the Games and celebrated them until all hours in a city that never before had allowed itself such continuous, unrestrained fun."

Although the riots will possibly affect events in the future, the passionate and generous atmosphere of Vancouver was still present throughout most of this past week. So instead of the images being focused on in newspapers and online, let's remember the Stanley Cup through the following images:

flickr: dai.rong

flickr: John Biehler

flickr: Ariane Colenbrander

flickr: Mike Wu

flickr: Suraky

flickr: Suraky

flickr: Suraky

flickr: Rick Chung

flickr: patiopatio

flickr: kardboard604

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A review of the Architectural Registration Exams

I am exactly half-way through writing the Architectural Registration Exams. On Monday, I wrote my fourth (of seven) but I don’t know yet whether I passed it or not, so I could be slightly more than half-done or slightly less. So far the process has been exhausting and often frustrating. I’m finding that I need about 6 weeks to study for an exam, if I spend 20 hours or so per week studying. This varies by exam, of course, but that’s probably a decent average. I know many people don’t spend that much time studying, but I like to be prepared and I’ve been passing, so I guess it’s paying off.

20 hours per week is a part-time job. In addition to my full-time job. 7 exams at 6 weeks each: if I take a week off between each exam that is essentially an entire year, assuming I pass every single exam the first time. Currently, I’m only working 4 days a week because I couldn’t stomach the thought of 60 hour weeks (40 of them paid) for an entire year or more. I know that many people do it, but don’t know how. Forget work-life balance! I’m lucky that VIA has been very accommodating.

In my experience though, the time spent studying for the ARE’s isn’t really the hard part. The hard part is that it’s difficult to stay motivated when the content of the exams favours American codes and business practices and the study material itself is expensive, poorly written and often full of mistakes. That’s why it would be great to be able to write an exam written for Canadian interns, based on Canadian content. (If only such a thing existed. Oh wait… It does!)

So far the AIBC is the only provincial (and territorial) licensing association that continues to require its interns to pass the ARE’s as opposed to the Canadian ExAC. Although it’s difficult to say exactly why the AIBC insists on sticking with the old system, I’ve heard a couple of “reasons.” The usual one involves the importance of having reciprocity with American jurisdictions. It’s hard to believe this is anything other than an excuse. First off, why would it be more important for an architect in Vancouver to have reciprocity than, for example, one in Toronto? It seems unlikely that only BC architects work across the border. Secondly, if all Canadian architects are licensed based on the ExAC, then a new reciprocity agreement will need to be negotiated with NCARB. If reciprocity really is that important, then a new agreement will be reached sooner or later.

The other reason I’ve heard for not offering the ExAC in BC is the financial burden of administering the exam. When you consider the expense involved in continually developing and updating content that crosses so many areas of expertise, not to mention invigilating and marking the exam, this reason has the ring of truth. However, if the majority of the cost involved comes from creating the exam questions, doesn’t it follow that the more provinces to provide the exam, the cheaper it is for everyone? And why is the AIBC the only association that can’t afford it? (I was an intern in Quebec as well, so I know for a fact that dues are higher in BC!) This reasoning makes me feel that the AIBC isn’t as committed to supporting its interns as other provincial associations.

In 2010 the AIBC surveyed interns regarding their working conditions and progress towards becoming registered. The most significant response, in my mind, was that over 70% of respondents felt that they had not been adequately compensated and over 60% felt that the time and energy spent towards registration had not been worthwhile. The comments specifying why they felt this way were diverse, ranging from the length and difficulty of the process itself, the lack of compensation and work-life balance, and the direction of the profession in general.

It’s clear that the process of becoming a registered architect is long and difficult and the ARE’s are a large part of this. It’s not necessarily a bad thing that the process is hard. Architects have a lot of responsibility and require a very broad knowledge base in order to do the job well. As with any respected profession, becoming a member should be challenging and rigorous. But it should also be worthwhile. Although I’m half-way through and committed to finishing the NCARB ARE’s, I’m also looking forward to when the AIBC finally adopts the ExAC, because I think it will make the registration process a lot more accessible and fulfilling to BC’s interns.

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Monday News Roundup

Here's what you missed out on last week!

Saying Goodbye to 'Leave it to Beaver' Urbanism? (Sustainable Cities Collective)
An exploratory tour of the iconic front yard and lawn. Long protected by cultural position -and zoning setbacks -is the classic Leave it to Beaver lot configuration really part of a sustainable future?

Cardboard bank in the Netherlands (Dezeen)
Amsterdam architects have created a bank using giant cylinders of cardboard and paper to enclose meeting rooms and multi-ply cardboard for textured patterns.

Urban farming in a box (Swiss Info)
Swiss entrepreneurs Urban Farmers are pushing the concept of local production and have come up with a pioneering solution to many of the problems of conventional farming methods.

How walkable is Seattle? (Seattle PI)
Walk Score just released its latest list of most-walkable cities in the nation, and Seattle made the top 10!

Law and Order and Parking Lots (Sightline)
In this post, we take a look at how Northwest municipalities deal with parking at drinking establishments. Who gets it wrong, and who gets it (almost) right?

When Design Kills: The criminalization of walking (Grist)
It's a plain fact: When you design streets solely for cars, people die as a result. So why don't we design streets for the reality of human needs and behavior?

Report: Centers, Cities, Clusters (Sustainable Cities)
This report focuses on sustainable economic development through case studies from Barcelona, Boston, and Curitiba highlighting innovative strategies for economic development in urban cores.

The Modern List Manhattan (Build LLC)
As an architectural laboratory and one of the greates social experiments ever conducted on earth, NYC is one of the best places for the design-minded to observe, research, and learn.

Retro Futuristic Space Colonies (Wanken)
A lot of great futuristic visualizations came out of the 1970's including these brain warping space colonies that could accomodate up to 10,000 people.

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County Courthouses

Michigan is extremely lucky to have such unique and beautiful county courthouses. In other parts of the United States, the original structures are often demolished and replaced with ugly, box-like buildings, but the county seats of Michigan seem to have a reverence for their historic courthouses. Sometimes, the buildings are restored and used not for government purposes, but as museums or tourist centers. In the case of the Muskegon County Courthouse, the building -- an imposing castle-like structure -- has been converted into the base for the local Board of Education.

Whatever their current use may be, Michigan's county courthouses are worth checking out. Most of them have beautiful ornamentation and exterior detail, and some are even adorned with mascarons or other gargoyle-ish figures. A common feature is a cupola or dome, though there are several exceptions throughout the state.



The solidly-built Muskegon County Courthouse in Muskegon.




The recently-restored Eaton County Courthouse in Charlotte. It was built in 1883.




The Lenawee County Courthouse in Adrian.




Built in 1904, the Ingham County Courthouse in Mason was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.




The beautiful Chippewa County Courthouse in Sault Ste. Marie was built in 1877 and is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places.




The Van Buren County Courthouse in Paw Paw, built in 1901. This building has some fantastic ornamentation.




Traverse City's Grand Traverse County Courthouse, built in 1900, is a very plain structure free of almost all exterior ornamentation.




The Hillsdale County Courthouse in Hillsdale -- quite similar to the Van Buren County Courthouse.

Of course, there are many more lovely courthouses in this state, and as I continue to explore Michigan, I'll be sure to visit the county seats and photograph their courthouses.

I'd also like to congratulate the Detroit Tigers for their champagne-soaked series victory over the New York Yankees!

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