Unbuilt Projects

[CT (Chinese_T)]

Sculpture designed by Micah Lexier for The Guardian/Arriva Courtyard in 2008.

https://web.archive.org/web/20210421065630/https://canadianart.ca/news/micah-lexier/

 

[The Familia]

lol glad we dodged that mess.

 

[FriendlyDrunks]

I kinda like it, maybe add a few big wooden beads...

 

[darwink]

Think these are two haven't seen before:

Unveiling of Eau Claire project, Calgary, Alberta.
Published in the Calgary Herald, January 9, 1974. Proposal for 3rd Street terraced Hotel is showcased by architect James Murray. Donald C. White, the president of Eau Claire Estates Ltd. looks on to right.

Alternate view of Canadian Pacific's proposed downtown redevelopment plan, Calgary, Alberta.​

​Published in the Calgary Herald, December 4, 1963. The proposed plans included two high-rise office buildings, a department store, mall, plaza, and a motel addition to the Palliser Hotel.

Proposed Canadian Pacific redevelopment plan, Calgary, Alberta.​

​Published in the Calgary Herald, December 4, 1963. The proposed plan occupied 9th Avenue SW, between 2nd Street and Centre Street SW. It included a new department store, mall, plaza and two high-rise office buildings.

 

[darwink]

Where First Assembly Church is on Elbow Drive in Bel-Aire, ~1967

 

[darwink]

Civic Centre on the Bow, 1910s, Mawson, but haven't seen this one before.

City Hall, Fountain, two flanker buildings.

 

[AtlanticAvenue]

Civic Centre on the Bow, 1910s, Mawson, but haven't seen this one before.

City Hall, Fountain, two flanker buildings.
View attachment 623104

My god that’s beautiful

 

[Roaring Flames]

I've always found those "Paris on the prairies" proposals from the early 1900s really fascinating

 

[Surrealplaces]

This building would've been hella cool.

 

[Dārayavauš]

I've always found those "Paris on the prairies" proposals from the early 1900s really fascinating

Would be a great alternative history to see a century of designs like this come to fruition in Calgary

 

[CT (Chinese_T)]

A friend of mine from Dallas came across an unbuilt Calgary project the other day and sent me some pictures asking if I knew anything about it. I was quite shocked, to say the least...
It seems to be an updated version of this proposal from 1978, seen in "The Boom Years" book, called the "Calgary Commercial Complex."

The project is called the Calgary Gateway Center.

From what I can tell, this is a proposal from 1984/1985, designed by Michael H.K. Wong Architects. It looks to be around 230m tall and occupies the site directly east of the Harry Hays building.

The project also contains a large observation ring that would sit on the Bow River, far before the "Blue Ring" was ever conceived. The ring is shown in renders in different locations across Canada but it is titled the "Calgary Ring." Perhaps the architect tried to pitch it elsewhere after the Calgary proposal fell through?

Here is the website from which the images were found: https://www.mhkw.com/Calgary Gateway Center.html

 

[Mountain Man]

That ring would have been super cool! Glad we didn't get a very tall building right beside the river though.

 

[DiscoStu]

Man, so much 80's corporate goodness in those renderings. Could've been a neat one...even though we basically built that tower with Eight Avenue Place.

Love the ring too, that would've been cool.

 

[Nimbus]

Wonder how that ring would have handled the flood if it was built?

 

[Mountain Man]

Wonder how that ring would have handled the flood if it was built?

I thought the same thing. I'm sure it would have been engineered to withstand a flood.