With the Sochi 2014 Opening Ceremonies today, we thought we’d highlight one of the projects that we were involved in for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.
PFS Studio was engaged by the City of Vancouver to design and implement the plaza at the heart of the new Southeast False Creek community, which served as Athletes Village during the 2010 Winter Olympics. The Plaza was the focus of celebrations for the Athletes Village.
The conceptual plan for the plaza was endorsed by VANOC and the City of Vancouver, and featured a public art installation. The public space, designed for both daily use and special events, uses symbolic elements to reference the industrial history of the site.
Shipbuilding was a dominant activity in the area and is referenced in abstractions of the traditional skill of lofting – scaling drawing to make full-size patterns – and of ship components – bulkheads, masts, and transoms. The monumental curved lighting stands are reflective of a ships hull and the salt and timber benches reflect aspects of the site’s industrial past. Opportunities for children’s play and for interpretation of the historic evolution of the site are integrated into the design.
PFS Studio received a Regional Honour Award from the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects for the Southeast False Creek Plaza.
Top photo by Bob Matheson, Lower Photos by Scott Massey