“Gesamtkunstwerk” Arthur Erickson
“Gesamtkunstwerk” was a new word in German used by composer Richard Wagner in the mid-19th century, then adopted by Le Corbusier and the Bauhaus architects in the 1920s as re-making the world through “Total Design”—the integration of all of the creative arts and all scales of designs, “From teaspoons to cities” according to Walter Gropius. This is the only word that adequately describes the intentions by BIG as architects and Westbank as developers for their Vancouver Housedevelopment, with its ground-breaking organic forms in concrete glass and copper, its re-thought interiors and apartment appointments, its integration into the skyline, its tapping into Westbank’s new “Creative Energy” district energy system, its inspiring public art by Rodney Graham, and its creation of significant new public spaces for the enjoyment of all Vancouverites. http://gwerk.ca/about/
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