FIFA World Cup screens hide eyesore at Vancouver's perfect viewpoint of soccer ball | Daily Hive

FIFA World Cup screens installed to hide eyesore at Vancouver's perfect viewpoint of Science World soccer ball

Branded banner screens installed to conceal the fencing and unkempt closed waterfront area on the Southeast False Creek seawall, the location of the ideal sightlines for Science World's "The Beautiful Dome" transformation into the FIFA World Cup's adidas Trionda soccer ball, as seen on June 12, 2026. (Kenneth Chan)

In recent days, you may have seen photos and videos of Vancouver at its visual best — sweeping aerial drone footage of the landmark geodesic dome of Science World transformed into a giant replica of the official match soccer ball of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

That massive adidas Trionda ball — fully completed just last week — is backdropped by the False Creek waterway, BC Place Stadium, the rest of the Downtown Vancouver skyline and its dense urban surroundings, and the North Shore mountains.

The only 2026 FIFA World Cup tournament logo on the dome also faces this southeastern perspective.

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Naturally, residents, visitors, and media will seek to replicate this view in the northwest direction, but from ground level in Southeast False Creek, with the sweeping aerial perspective from above already seen by millions of people around the world through social media and early broadcast coverage. Arguably, for decades, this stretch of the seawall pathway offers one of Vancouver’s most iconic skyline vantage points, with both Science World and BC Place Stadium prominently featured.

Of course, people hoping to photograph the dome can do so from other locations without obstructions, but those viewpoints do not quite provide the same impressive composition with the quintessential Vancouver skyline and stadium backdrop.

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Aerial drone perspective; June 2026 completion of Science World’s “The Beautiful Dome” transformation into the adidas Trionda soccer ball for the FIFA World Cup. (Kenneth Chan)

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Ground-level perspective, above the safety fencing; adidas FIFA World Cup Trionda soccer ball transformation of Science World, as seen on June 4, 2026. (Kenneth Chan)

Downtown Vancouver skyline with BC Place Stadium and Science World from the Expo decks on the Southeast False Creek seawall. (Engel Ching/Shutterstock)

Although we are still in the very early days of the tournament’s 39-day run, this installation appears poised to become a defining visual icon and photo opportunity of the entire FIFA World Cup — much like the ignited Vancouver Olympic Cauldron at Jack Poole Plaza during the 2010 Winter Olympics, and perhaps in more ways than one.

Soon after the Olympics got underway, one issue that emerged was that security fencing around the Olympic Cauldron and the International Broadcast Centre/Main Press Centre at the Vancouver Convention Centre obstructed views, preventing people from capturing clear photographs. A few days into the Games, in response to the growing public and media outcry, Olympic organizers moved the fencing closer and an eye-level opening was cut into the fencing to provide an unobstructed view.

Security fencing surrounds the Olympic Cauldron at Jack Poole Plaza during the 2010 Winter Olympics, as seen on Feb. 13, 2010. (Sergei Bachlakov/Shutterstock)

Similarly, for Science World’s soccer ball transformation, tall fencing stands in front of the very best ground-level perspective of the Trionda.

As previously reported by Daily Hive Urbanized, these elevated walkway decks over this section of the False Creek waterway, immediately south of Science World and forming part of the continuous False Creek seawall, were suddenly closed and fenced off in February 2025. These decks on either side of Science World were originally completed in 1984 for the Expo ’86 World’s Fair and intended to be temporary, with a five-year lifespan. Instead, they remained in place for decades and evolved into becoming a beloved major waterfront public space.

The poor condition of these decks had previously been known. In early 2024, the City began the process of seeking a potential contractor to demolish and/or replace the decks, but any demolition work would not begin until sometime after the FIFA World Cup.

However, in February 2025, the City determined that the decks — concrete slabs supported by creosote timber piles — had deteriorated to a condition that required the precautionary safety closure of the pedestrian and cycling pathways, as well as an adjacent open grassy area.

Then, in May 2025, in an effort to eliminate a lengthy detour, the City completed a temporary permanent compacted gravel pathway for pedestrians and cyclists immediately adjacent to the decks, beyond the fence line.

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Condition of the Expo-era deck and piles next to Science World. (City of Vancouver)

This closed and fenced area extends between just south of Science World’s entrance and the eastern edge of the Creekside Community Centre building in the Olympic Village neighbourhood.

Ever since the decks were closed, for nearly a year and a half, this high-profile closed public space behind the fencing has become increasingly unkempt, with overgrown grass and weeds and even graffiti left by people who climbed over the previous shorter fencing.

On Wednesday evening, just one day before the tournament kicked off in North America, as visitors and media had already begun arriving, Daily Hive Urbanized observed that the area still remained in a very poor condition. Taller six-foot fencing had been installed in some locations to replace the previous waist-high fencing. Some people were also observed attempting to photograph the giant soccer ball through the fencing and reaching above the fencing, or posing for photos with the ball and fencing in the background.

Sometime the next day, on Thursday, banner screens carrying official FIFA World Cup branding were installed over the fencing, concealing much of the unsightly area behind it.

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Fencing on the Southeast False Creek seawall obscuring views of Science World’s “The Beautiful Dome” transformation into the FIFA World Cup’s adidas Trionda soccer ball, as seen on June 10, 2026 before the installation of branded screens. (Kenneth Chan)

In response to an inquiry, the City told Daily Hive Urbanized on Thursday afternoon that its crews — not just the general public — have been unable to maintain or even enter the deck area because of safety concerns, and that the banners were installed to mitigate the visual impact during the tournament.

“For safety reasons, the deck area that has been fenced off around Science World is unable to be accessed or maintained as we do for other areas of the seawall. To address this, we increased some of the fence height and covered it with FIFA World Cup 2026™ Vancouver branded screens. This complements the branding along the match day spectator route between Main Street Science World station and the stadium,” the City told Daily Hive Urbanized.

“We thank everyone for staying safely behind the fencing and encourage people looking to capture pictures of Science World without the fencing to visit the north and south parts of the seawall.”

To the City’s proactive credit, the branded screens substantially improve the view. Although the fencing remains, visitors are now greeted by tournament-branded graphics rather than a neglected-looking central waterfront space, creating a far more polished setting for photographs of the Science World soccer ball — succeeding in making one of Vancouver’s most prominent tournament viewpoints appear far more presentable.

Previous condition as seen on June 10, 2026:

science world soccer dome fifa world cup june 10 2026

Improved condition as seen on June 12, 2026:

science world soccer ball dome fifa world cup fencing june 12 2026

Branded banner screens installed to conceal the fencing and unkempt closed waterfront area on the Southeast False Creek seawall, the location of the ideal sightlines for Science World’s “The Beautiful Dome” transformation into the FIFA World Cup’s adidas Trionda soccer ball, as seen on June 12, 2026. (Kenneth Chan)

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Adidas FIFA World Cup Trionda soccer ball transformation of Science World, as seen on June 2, 2026 from the Plaza of Nations. (Kenneth Chan)

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Adidas FIFA World Cup Trionda soccer ball transformation of Science World, as seen on June 2, 2026 from the Northeast False Creek seawall. (Kenneth Chan)

But in many ways, the fencing has become a symbol of a broader challenge facing Vancouver.

The City and its tournament partners have successfully delivered an actual world-class temporary attraction that is drawing global attention, but the surrounding public realm tells a more complicated story about aging infrastructure and deferred renewal.

Once the tournament concludes and the soccer ball eventually disappears, the future of the public space that will replace these False Creek seawall decks, now over four decades old, will remain an unresolved question.

In late 2024, Vancouver Park Board commissioners approved the design concept of the new East Park on a vacant parcel in the Olympic Village, just south of Science World and the decks. But they deferred the finalization of the design concept for the future public park’s northernmost area — the footprint of the closed decks, within a waterfront area and the segment of the seawall’s pedestrian and cycling pathways, as a second phase. Controversially, previous preliminary concepts shows the decks would not be replaced, and instead the new replacement pathways would be built much further inland — potentially behind a new line of trees and bushes as part of an idea to naturalize the shoreline, with the open view eliminated.

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Highlighted era shows the Expo-era decks immediately north and south of Science World, slated for eventual demolition. (City of Vancouver)

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November 2024 approved concept for East Park at the Olympic Village. (Vancouver Park Board)

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Preliminary concept: Removal of the Expo-era public space platform decks for a naturalized shoreline, with the pedestrian and cycling walkways pushed to the south away from water’s edge. (Vancouver Park Board)

Location of the new three-acre East Park space (highlighted in red), and the future changes to the three-acre Creekside Park South area (dotted red line). (Vancouver Park Board)

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