Conversations at Kitsilano was a ten-day installation and program of events about the Kitsilano shoreline. Led by 2022 Margolese Design for Living Prize winner Jane Wolff, the installation was a unique opportunity to contemplate the site’s future in direct collaboration with the communities that hold, and have held, this place as important.
Traditionally Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) land and site of a former shell midden, Kitsilano Beach has been a contested space since the late 19th Century. The beachfront pool has been referred to as a “jewel of the city” since it was built in the 1930s. In November of 2021 and again in January of 2022, the beach and its iconic oceanfront pool were battered by king tides exacerbated by uncharacteristically strong storms. The storm surges were a brief-but-unnerving glimpse into the shoreline’s future, and exposed the vulnerability of this place. The damage to the pool was extensive, resulting in a year-long closure.
After a summer without the pool, and facing a delayed start to another, a number of questions emerged. Can the city afford to maintain the pool in a future where such storms are more
frequent? Can the city afford not to? What is Kits Beach without the pool?
This distinctive and revealing place tangles interfaces of city and sea; built and natural landscapes; ecology, urban design and engineering; First Nations, real estate and recreation — a rich past, present and future upon which to base Conversations at Kitsilano. The report created out of the two weeks spent at the shoreline provides a method of engagement with these challenges that can be replicated and built upon in communities far beyond Vancouver.
A poster and postcard from the project are also available for download.
Events
A Decolonial Walk with Mary Tasi
Tracing Histories with Michael Barrick
Walking the Tidelands with Christopher Harley
Kits en plein air: A Drawing Workshop with Urbanarium
Walking and Weaving: A Workshop with Lys Divine Ndemeye
A Walk with Johnna Sparrow