A New Vancouverism

Despite its perennial perch at or near the top of multiple livable cities rankings, Vancouver has found it difficult to shake one common critique: that all its buildings look alike. As explored partly in Douglas Coupland's symbolically titled book City of Glass, Vancouver's downtown is dominated by a wide cluster of similar-looking glass condo buildings. It's a "podium-and-tower" style, with a few floors that fill up most of the block and then a significantly narrowed tower jutting up from the middle, rising like a tall candle on a big, flat cake.

While the reputation has stuck, the reality has evolved. Development patterns in the city are starting to change, which has some Vancouverites thinking and dreaming about how the city will be reshaped in the coming years. A recent exhibition explored how the perception of Vancouver's urbanism – or Vancouverism – can be expanded or updated.