BCBusiness

28 BCBusiness June 2016 THE INTERIOR WORLD R ecognized for designing the podium-based condominium towers associated with Vancou- verism, James Cheng studied architecture at Harvard and apprenticed under Arthur Erickson. He was junior designer on the Robson Square law courts, and his designs include Living Shangri-la in Vancouver and Toronto, the Fairmont Paci†c Rim, Nordstrom Paci†c Centre and international projects such as the Azure residential tower in Dallas and Waiea mixed-use residential tower in Honolulu. Since arriving in Vancouver in 1970, Cheng has seen the practice of architec- ture change: years ago only a handful of architects, like Arthur Erickson, had the opportunity to practise outside of Vancouver, he says. "Now we have archi- tects that practise all over the world, and world architects come to practise in Vancouver." He attributes the change to the livable region strate¥y, the planners who insisted on a walkable downtown and Expo 86 displaying Vancouver to the world. "It's a whole collective of people who made Vancouver what it is, and the world liked it and started to hire us," he says. "That's how I got interviewed for a project in Las Vegas, in Dallas, in Hawaii, because they came to Vancouver and they heard Vancouver was the place to be if you want to study high-density urban living." One criticism of Vancouver architec- ture is the lack of iconic structures—that the buildings are glass boxes that all look the same. To Cheng that reects the prin- ciple of livability and sensitivity to the environment. "West Coast modern, so to speak, is about designing from inside out: we want to design to look at the views, we want to bring the nice weather in, the sunshine and all of that," he says. But that, too, is evolving. People are start- ing to want architecture that stands out from the crowd, and signature buildings designed by high-pro†le international architects make developers more willing to let local architects to be more creative. Other B.C. architects with an interna- tional pro†le include: Bing Thom (Uni- versity of Chicago Center in Hong Kong, Woodridge Library in Washington, D.C.), Patkau Architects (Mishrifah Villa in Saudi Arabia), green building advocate Peter Busby (Meriwether condo tow- ers in Portland, Oregon), and wood building advocate Michael Green (T3 seven-storey wood of¨ice building in Minneapolis). And collaborating with internationally acclaimed architects for more than 60 years is the renowned land- scape architect Cornelia Oberlander, now 95 years old. Her projects include the New York Times Building, National Gallery of Canada, Vancouver Public Library and Robson Square law courts complex. SPANNING BOTH ARCHITECTURE and interior design, Bricault Design recently designed a laneway house in California and is renovating a New York residence to LEED standards. Interior designer Alda Pereira (muse for Vancouver's Alda lofts) focuses on private homes and real estate devel- opments in Canada, Palm Springs and Europe. Mitchell Freedland designs both residential and commercial inte- riors, including the Residences at Hotel Georgia, Metropolitan San Francisco and Grand Horizon Tokyo, while Chil Interior Design focuses on hospital- ity spaces such as Shangri-La, Hilton, Fairmont, Starwood, Marriott and Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts worldwide. B.C. is known for our livable take on furnishings—but Niels Bendtsen, whose iconic Ribbon Chair is in the MoMA per- manent collection, says it is challenging to design and manufacture furniture Here ANd THere (From left) B.C. architects Bing Thom, Michael Green, and Patricia and John Patkau have all designed international projects From leFt: thomas billingsley; grant harder; courtesy patkau architects

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