In Vancouver, greenery sprouts up everywhere despite its density. There are green parks, green roofs, green balconies, and even green bikes. The Vancouver Convention Center with its tiers of green roofs inspired me to design an Architectural Dessert Masterpiece of it. Unfortunately, my health challenges in the following months prevented me from executing it and I have since forgotten the plans.
I spent much time exploring the engaging architecture of the Vancouver Convention Center and comparing it to the stand-offish convention center in Pittsburgh. Both convention centers pay homage to the natural environment of their respective cities. Vancouver’s mimics the mountains across the inlet with its sloping green roofs. The roof of Pittsburgh’s convention center mimics the curves of the suspension cables on the Three Sisters Bridges and intended to have a waterfall cascading down its curve and into the river, but this ended up being infeasible. Both convention centers provide popular connections to the waterfront trails, but Vancouver’s Convention Center invites people to engage with the building while Pittsburgh’s repulses. Both have outward facing tenant spaces. Vancouver’s is filled with popular bars and restaurants. Pittsburgh’s has a underutilized Jimmy John’s. Vancouver’s architecture creates an inviting and human-scale design while Pittsburgh’s oversized blank walls are oppressive.
And if that list of contrasts isn’t enough to convince you of my opinions of Vancouver’s and Pittsburgh’s convention centers, in the thousands of photos I’ve taken in Pittsburgh, none are specifically of the convention center. I took numerous photos of the Vancouver Convention Center because it was interesting and because I intended to recreate it in desserts. However, I only have photos of Pittsburgh’s Convention Center as a building that happens to be next to a bridge or that is noticeable from bird’s eye views of the city.
Vancouver’s Greenery
Vancouver’s Convention Center
Pittsburgh’s Convention Center
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I can’t wish this on anyone but if you take a bolt bus from Washington DC to Pittsburgh, it releases passengers in the lower level of the convention center. What is so notable about that? The intermediate stop from Washington DC to Pittsburgh on a bolt bus is in Morgantown. I don’t like using exclamation points but I will use one here! I don’t know only guess that Vancouver is a good place for boarding cruise ships?
The good thing about the Bolt/Mega Bus stop in Pittsburgh is that it is covered and mostly protected from the elements by the massive convention center building. I once took the Mega Bus between Pittsburgh and Cleveland. The Cleveland stop was in the middle of a sea of parking lots. That is the last place you want to stand around waiting in February with the freezing wind barreling off the lake. I went back to using Greyhound after that trip.
I’ve only taken the one cruise and so don’t have any point of comparison, but I thought Vancouver was great for boarding the cruise ship. I think it was quick and efficient. The most memorable part of boarding was realizing that I didn’t have a concrete plan for how to find my friends once we were on board.
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