Proposed bike share station along $1.4M cultural art wall is a "desecration"

Proposed bike share station along $1.4 million cultural art wall is a "desecration"

Proposed location of the Mobi bike share station against the "Wheel of Everyday Life" art wall at Burrard Place. (submitted)

Should there be a Mobi bike share station on an intricate art wall in a newly built public space within the Burrard Place complex?

The developer that built the complex and funded the public space and art wall installation has essentially given a hard no to the proposal.

The 50-ft-long bike share station with a solar panel pole would be placed right up against a large concrete art wall as a contribution by the developer. It would be situated within a mid-block pedestrian pathway immediately north of the complex’s office building.

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The public art installation and public space opened just two weeks ago. The art wall, called the Wheel of Everyday Life, carries a kaleidoscopic mandala-like pattern, with its embedded pattern radiating from the centre point of the installation.

“It underlines a sense of togetherness in our shared time and space. It aims to link the mundane with universal and cosmic forces,” said Gunilla Klingberg, the Swedish artist who designed the installation.

A waterfall feature with seating is situated on the Burrard Street end of the art wall, while the laneway end of the art wall — a wider pedestrian area with special pavers — is being eyed as the specific location for the bike share station.

The problem at hand is that the bike share station would obscure the public art piece, and throw off the integrated public realm concept. The art wall and public space carried a combined cost of $1.4 million.

Proposed location of the Mobi bike share station against the “Wheel of Everyday Life” art wall at Burrard Place. (submitted)

The “Wheel of Everyday Life” art wall within the mid-block pedestrian space at Burrard Place. (submitted)

This art wall “is a significant landmark public artwork situated in the heart of downtown Vancouver. It is an expansive visual expression along what is now a key pedestrian route,” said Jan Ballard, the principal of public art consultancy firm Ballard Fine Art.

“If a bike share station is installed at the wall, the visibility and multiple public engagement opportunities would be severely impacted. We must protect the intent and integrity of Gunilla Klingberg’s artistic expression and the developers’ creation of meaningful public space.”

Vancouver-based Hindu scholar Jeffrey Armstrong explained that the mandala is an ancient symbol used in meditation, prayer, and healing, and represents peace and stillness. In particular, the bike share station’s solar panel pole would directly obscure the mandala at the centre point of the installation.

“First the city encourages art and then it creates a visual and energetic barrier to its enjoyment. A bright-blue, branded metal bike structure placed in a soothing monochromic public space is a mixed metaphor that depicts a city arguing with itself,” said Armstrong, adding that the bike share station in such a configuration is a “desecration of an urban oasis.”

The “Wheel of Everyday Life” art wall within the mid-block pedestrian space at Burrard Place. (submitted)

Jon Stovell, the president and CEO of Reliance Properties, says Burrard Place already has a Mobi bike share station. It is located next to the bike lane outside the entrance into Burrard Place’s office building — at the northeast corner of the intersection of Burrard and Drake streets.

If the bike share station is installed against the art wall, it would be just 30 metres away from the existing bike share station.

Stovell adds that there are also three bike rental shops in the immediate area.

The existing Mobi bike share station at Burrard Place is about 30 metres away from the proposed new bike share station location on the “Wheel of Everyday Life” art wall. (Google Maps/Daily Hive)

Map showing existing Mobi bike share stations near Burrard Place. (Mobi)

The existing Mobi bike share station at Burrard Place is about 30 metres away from the proposed new bike share station location on the “Wheel of Everyday Life” art wall. (submitted)

the offices at burrard place 1280 burrard street vancouver

The Offices at Burrard Place in downtown Vancouver, with the existing Mobi bike share station depicted on the lower left. (Reliance Properties)

Daily Hive Urbanized has reached out to Mobi bike share’s operator and the City of Vancouver for comment.

Burrard Place’s first two buildings recently reached completion, entailing a 550 ft (168 metres) residential tower — currently the third tallest building in Vancouver — and a 14-storey office building, which includes a new replacement Jim Pattison Toyota Downtown dealership in the lower levels and 120,000 sq ft of office space in the upper levels leased to Lululemon.

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