Arts Commons | 18m | 4s | City of Calgary | KPMB

DiscoStu said:
A bigger plaza around the library sounds nice in theory, but I'm glad they didn't got for it as I think it would've ended up being an empty wasteland. Apart from the library itself, what exactly would be the draw to hang out at that location? Every successful plaza has a perimeter of things that people are drawn to...shops, amenities, architecture, art/cultural institutions, etc. As things stand, the library is facing the ass-end of city hall, a senior's residence, the Salvation Army, and is book-ended (heyooo) by two parking garages. Exciting stuff.

That, and there's already a plaza a block away in Olympic Plaza, that already looks to serve the same purpose. Instead of trying to make one great plaza, you'd probably have two mediocre ones.

The library that we did end up with already has a decent enough outdoor public space, and it's not exactly bustling out there (at least not with the demographic one typically hopes for).
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reminds me, what happened to the idea of blasting a hole through city hall for easier east west access to the library and east village?
 
potatopizzafan said:
They installed movable walls in the atrium so it can be used as an e/w corridor after hours.
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I never noticed this, I'll look for it next time I'm in city hall. I know there are doors on the plaza side and it is a straight shot through to doors that go out onto 3rd Street but never noticed any movable walls.

As long as Macleod is so hostile no one will cross whatever happens to Olympic plaza to the municipal plaza and then onto the Library or they will rarely do it. There's honestly nothing in City hall's plaza to make you want to cross Macleod. That isn't changing with the Olympic Plaza redesign (I don't think).
 
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lemongrab said:
That Rex/Group 2 design is interesting...and terrifying! Does anyone know of any real life stacked clusters with that scale of overhang? I found some good examples here: https://www.amusingplanet.com/2016/01/buildings-that-look-like-stacked-boxes.html - but nothing looks quite as ambitious
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While not a box, The Busan Cinema Centre in South Korea has a pretty extreme cantilever. And it's actually used where there are theatre spaces in there, unlike some buildings where the overhang is just a roof

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www.archdaily.com

Busan Cinema Center / Coop Himmelb(l)au

Completed in 2012 in Busan, South Korea. Images by Duccio Malagamba . In 2005, the Busan International Architectural Culture Festival in South Korea organized a design competition for a new Busan Cinema Center that...
www.archdaily.com www.archdaily.com
 
CalgaryTiger said:
I never noticed this, I'll look for it next time I'm in city hall. I know there are doors on the plaza side and it is a straight shot through to doors that go out onto 3rd Street but never noticed any movable walls.

As long as Macleod is so hostile no one will cross whatever happens to Olympic plaza to the municipal plaza and then onto the Library or they will rarely do it. There's honestly nothing in City hall's plaza to make you want to cross Macleod. That isn't changing with the Olympic Plaza redesign (I don't think).
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I see lots people using the municipal building to access the library actually. Its the fastest way to get there fron Stephen ave, and people like to take the fast way
 
potatopizzafan said:
I see lots people using the municipal building to access the library actually. Its the fastest way to get there fron Stephen ave, and people like to take the fast way
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They also like the way where they dont have to step past screaming or fighting people going the City Hall Station way. Me n my dog take 9th when we go through the Library into EV.
 
Trees along Macleod are still there, with some on the outside of the construction fence... I really worry about the phase II of Arts Commons eating up more Olympic Plaza. Typically these renos include a larger space for people outside the theatres that would push it on to Stephen Ave or into Olympic Plaza... Not ideal.

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