True Symmetry at False Creek
Renaissance classicism finds a place in twenty-first century Vancouver, British Columbia.

By Clair Enlow

Alex Piro

As downtown Vancouver, British Columbia, meets the shore of False Creek, the performance pressure is enormous. Perhaps that is why the spirit of Renaissance classicism has been called on to play a leading role in George Wainborn Park, the last major open space in the city’s massive, decade-long reconstruction effort. The park design begins with a framework of formidable symmetry, and then—subtly but surely—breaks it.

The park has taken shape on the spot where many visitors first spotted the Expo 86 World’s Fair from Granville Bridge nearly 20 years ago. When the towering neighborhood taking shape around it is complete in around 2008, the park will have 10,000 people living at its perimeter and across the waterway.

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