Background
The British Columbia Centre was a development proposal slated to be completed by 1975. At 208 metres (682 feet) it would have been the tallest skyscraper in the city (and taller than the Living Shangri-La, which currently holds the record). With the defeat of W.A.C. Bennett's Social Credit government in 1972, the plan was scrapped just as the construction phase was about to begin. The New Democrat government of Dave Barrett responded to fears of the dark shadow that the building would cast downtown, and commissioned a redesign from another architectural firm, Arthur Erickson Architects. The reconceptualization Erickson came up with was of a skyscraper laid on its side, the "B.C. Centre on its back."
Erickson biographer Nicholas Olsberg describes the design as follows:
Arthur came in and said 'This won't be a corporate monument. Let's turn it on its side and let people walk all over it.' And he anchored it in such a way with the courts — the law — at one end and the museum — the arts — at the other. The foundations of society. And underneath it all, the government offices quietly supporting their people. It's almost a spiritual progression.
Read more about this topic: Robson Square
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