West Coast Modern Week unveils 2022 lineup
Panel discussions, film screenings, a poolside cocktail party, and the 16th annual West Coast Modern Home Tour are highlights
Bonetti II House, BattersbyHowat Architects, 2021
West Coast Modern Week, presented by British Pacific Properties, takes place at various venues from July 5 to 10
WEST COAST MODERNISM, a distinct architectural style with deep roots in West Vancouver, takes the spotlight during West Coast Modern Week, with events presented by the West Vancouver Art Museum.
It all kicks off July 5 with a panel discussion with the West Coast Modern League, a volunteer-based, non-profit society dedicated to celebrating and advancing the understanding and appreciation of architecture, urbanism, and design of the North American West Coast, with a focus on the southern coastal regions of B.C. The in-person discussion features a multi-disciplinary group of design experts who will critically contextualize the relationship between mid-century West Coast Modernism and contemporary architectural and design practices. It takes places at The Polygon Gallery from 7 to 9 pm.
Film screenings, co-presented by West Vancouver Art Museum and Kay Meek Arts Centre, happen on July 6 at Kay Meek Arts Centre’s Grosvenor Theatre from 7:30 to 8:45 p.m. The evening features “Preview to the West Coast Modern Home Tour”, a 2022 film that gives a sneak peek into the five homes that will be included in the annual West Coast Modern Home Tour; and Outside In: Explore the Forgotten Connections Between Nature and Home, a Telus Original directed by Danny Berish. The latter looks at the science behind a movement of healthy-home design called biophilia, which suggests that building healthier homes can positively affect our blood pressure, heart rate, and stress hormones. The film features interviews with renowned architects about the future of biophilic design; introduces viewers to homeowners experimenting with biophilic principles; and showcases Jennell Stanley, an interior designer and mother, and her process in building a biophilic home from the ground up, focusing on the health of her young family. Following the in person screening is a Q&A with the films’ producers from Black Rhino Creative.
A poolside Cocktail Party takes place on July 7 at a private West Vancouver residence designed by BattersbyHowat Architects from 7 to 9 pm. (The address will be revealed to ticketholders in advance.)
On July 8, the inaugural Barry Downs Lecture Series offers “The B.C. Idiom Revisited: Contemporary Domestic Architecture in the Age of Upheaval”, featuring Michael Prokopow. A cultural historian and curator, Prokopow has written widely about material life, aesthetics, and the history of modernism, and he is currently working on a project on middle class taste in North America between 1940 and 1975. Past curatorial projects have included multiple exhibitions and installations, such as True Nordic: How Scandinavia Influenced Design in Canada, and the Design Exchange, Canada’s only museum of 20th-century industrial design. He’s releasing his new book, Responses: Recent and Contemporary Domestic Architecture in British Columbia, this year. (A West Vancouver Art Museum and Kay Meek Arts Centre co-presentation, the lecture happens at the Kay Meek Arts Centre’s Grosvenor Theatre from 7:30–8:15 pm.)
The 16th Annual West Coast Modern Home Tour (12 to 4 pm) and After-party (4 to 6 pm) are on July 9. Private access allows people to explore spectacular mid-century and contemporary West Coast modern homes perched on the rocky slopes of West Vancouver: the Bonetti House II (Battersby Howat Architects, 2021); Case House (Ron Thom, 1965); Merrick House (Paul Merrick Architect, 1972); Smith House II (Arthur Erickson and Geoffrey Massey, 1966; various renovations by Russell Hollingsworth, 1982-1990, and Measured Architects, 2021-2022); and the Sorrentino House (Fulvio Sorrentino, 1973). The cost is $120 (self-guided tour), $135 (self-guided with after-party), or $150 (guided with after-party).
The week concludes with the West Coast Jazz with the Cory Weeds Sextet concert on July 10 at the West Vancouver Memorial Library’s Readers’ Rooftop. Weeds, a tenor saxophonist and jazz impresario, will be joined by pianist Sharon Minemoto and trumpeter Brad Turner, seasoned veterans of the Vancouver Jazz scene, and three emerging artists: bassist John Lee (who just released his debut CD as a leader called The Artist), vibraphonist Atley King, and drummer Graham Villette. Doors open at 1:30 pm for the concert, which runs from 2 to 3:15 pm.
There are two concurrent exhibitions: A Twist of the Rules: The Architecture of Paul Merrick, at the West Vancouver Art Museum, to July 23; and John Fulker: North Shore Modern, offsite at the West Vancouver Memorial Library, to July 27.
A resident of West Vancouver for six decades, Merrick has had a significant hand in shaping the skylines of West Vancouver, Vancouver, Victoria, and beyond. This exhibition showcases 13 of Merrick’s most important projects spanning his career of 60-plus years, exploring his design hallmarks and granting insight into his process.
Merrick studied architecture at UBC and worked initially with Ron Thom at Thompson, Berwick and Pratt before co-founding his own practice, Paul Merrick Architects (now known as Merrick Architecture–Borowski Sakumoto McIntyre and Webb) in 1984. Over the course of his career, he contributed to the early plans for the development of False Creek and oversaw the design of City Square, the renovations of the Orpheum Theatre and the West
Vancouver Memorial Library, and the retro-fitting of the Marine and the BC Hydro Electra Buildings. His residential projects include the notable Killey residence in Vancouver and his own residence in the Eagle Harbour neighborhood of West Vancouver. Built in 1973, this latter is a feat of wood and glass, nestled in the forest, and frequently classified as “carpenter Gothic”.
For more information, see West Coast Modern Week.
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