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Victoria Heritage Registry Goes Modern

After kicking it around for about a year, Victoria Council has done it.

Victoria has voted to add 10 buildings to its ’heritage registry’. There were already nearly 900 properties on that list, and so one might wonder - what makes this recent addition noteworthy?

It’s noteworthy because it marks the first time buildings erected after 1930 have made the list. All 10 buildings are of fairly recent vintage, built between 1945 and 1975. They were chosen as samples of ’post war modernism’ and worthy of protection.

In case you don’t know what distinguishes post war modernistic architecture, check these photos. As you go through them, see if you can identify the features or characteristics that bring them into the category of ‘post war modernism’.

631 Bay Street Victoria
Bay Street Hydro Substation at 631 Bay Street, Victoria BC

 

780 Yates Street Victoria
Odeon Theatre Building, 780 Yates Street, Victoria BC

 

1501 Douglas Street, Victoria BC
Royal Bank Building, 1501 Douglas Street, Victoria BC

 

1230 Government Street, Victoria BC
Main Post Office and Federal Building - 1230 Government Street, Victoria BC

 

1515 Blanshard Street, Victoria BC
B.C. Electric Company Building, 1515 Blanshard Street, Victoria BC

 

1 Centennial Square, Victoria BC
City Hall Annex, 1 Centennial Square, Victoria BC

 

Bank of Toronto Building, 630 Yates Street, Victoria BC

 

1018 Blanshard Street,Victoria BC
City Brokerage Building, 1018 Blanshard Street,Victoria BC

 

Bentall Building - 1060-80 Douglas Street
Bentall Building, 1060-80 Douglas Street, Victoria BC

 

1609 Blanshard Street, Victoria BC
CNIB Building, 1609 Blanshard Street, Victoria BC

 

OK - just in case you couldn’t tell from the photos (which were taken in the very early morning when traffic conditions were good but lighting conditions were not), here’s the scoop on post war modernism. It’s described on Victoria’s website as ‘…easily recognized by its simple lines, large surface areas of glass or “curtain wall”, extensive use of reinforced concrete and functional geometric forms, creating an open and fluid feeling in structures’.

Now you know.

 

Posted Sunday Jul 13