Chandelier and lantern public art projects approved by Vancouver City Council

Dec 20 2017, 2:50 am

In an unanimous vote this afternoon, Vancouver City Council approved two public art installations for downtown Vancouver – a chandelier on the underside of the north end of the Granville Street Bridge and a series of lanterns in an alleyway through TELUS Garden.

All eight city councillors that were present in the meeting voted in favour of the public art projects proposed by Westbank Corporation for two separate developments. Councillors Raymound Louie and Kerry Jang and Mayor Gregor Robertson were absent.

“We are very happy to see this move forward, it has been in the works for awhile,” said City Councillor Heather Deal.

The chandelier was designed by Abbotsford-born artist Rodney Graham as a community amenity contribution from the $400-million Vancouver House mixed-use development at 1480 Howe Street, located immediately adjacent to Granville Bridge.

The chandelier is 4’x6′ metres in size and rotates slowly as it ascends. At certain times of the day, it will spin quickly to ‘reset’ itself to its normal position. The chandelier installation will cost the developer $1.2 million, with $400,000 spent on the actual installation.

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More work will be performed over the coming months to ensure the public art piece is safely attached to the bridge structure. Westbank is legally responsible for the complete cost of the installation and liable for anything that might go wrong with it.

“The chandelier intended for the Vancouver House installation will be fully engineered by an engineering team over the coming 18 months,” a spokesperson with Westbank told Council. “It is intended to be vetted by a traffic and structural engineer on how it’ll interact with both the bridge and the traffic below.”

The second public art piece that received Council’s approval is a series of lanterns that will be strung above the alleyway of the TELUS city block, from West Georgia to Robson streets, as a part of the near-complete $750-million TELUS Garden office and residential development.

Westbank intends to use the lanterns, designed by artist Martin Boyce, to help animate the newly pedestrianized alleyway space. The lanterns will be about 1.5 metres in height.

During the nighttime hours, both the chandelier and lantern projects will be illuminated by LED lights. Council approval for the art pieces was necessary given that they encroach on public property.

Spinning Chandelier at Vancouver House

Image: Westbank Corporation

Image: Westbank Corporation

Image: Westbank Corporation

Image: Westbank Corporation

Lanterns at TELUS Garden

Image: Westbank Corporation

Image: Westbank Corporation

Image: Westbank Corporation

Image: Westbank Corporation

DH Vancouver StaffDH Vancouver Staff

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