GESAMTKUNSTWERK

Westbank has built a practice around long-term commitments to artistry, sustainability and city-building. These commitments underlie an orientation towards projects like Woodwards, Vancouver House, Mirvish Village, Telus Garden and Oakridge – catalysts for larger change that go beyond the borders of the projects themselves. We are here to create. To provoke. To ignite. We are the vehicle for a new movement of cultural expression.

As the practice matures, we have become more ambitious. With every new project reflecting our commitment to the philosophy behind Gesamkunstwerk, or in our recent work the Japanese philosophy behind layering, the net effect is that our work becomes much more complex and far-reaching.

The core of Westbank’s mission is to create a body of work with a high degree of artistry that helps foster more equitable and beautiful cities. Westbank is active across Canada and in the United States, with projects including luxury residential, Five Star hotels, retail, office, rental, district energy systems, affordable housing initiatives and public art. Established in 1992, we are one of North America’s leading developers, with offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Seattle, Shanghai, Beijing, Taiwan, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shenzhen and over 25 billion dollars of projects completed or under development.

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Philosophy
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May 27, 2016

BIG and Beyond: Ian Gillespie on Westbank’s Ongoing Evolution

A great interview outlining principal of Westbank, Ian Gillespie’s vision, where it started and where it’s headed. He says  “I started the business a few days before I turned 30, and I thought I knew everything,” reflects developer Ian Gillespie. “That’s how I could start my own business! And then I got to 40 and thought ‘now I know everything.’ But as long as now, at the ripe old age of 50-something, I’ve realized that it never stops — or at least you hope it never does — the quality of the work will keep getting better and better.”

 

Stan Douglas’ ‘Abbott & Cordova, 7 August 1971,’ Woodward’s redevelopment, Vancouver

 

Rodney Graham’s ‘Spinning Chandelier’ under Vancouver’s Granville Bridge

 

BIG’s Vancouver House

 

Public market space in Henriquez Partners Architects proposal for Toronto’s Mirvish Village

 

The proposed redevelopment from above

 

The proposal from Lennox Street, Toronto

 

Henriquez Partners Architects Woodward’s building, Vancouver

 

For the full interview please visit: Architzer

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