



Client: Vancouver Convention Centre Expansion Project
Location: Vancouver, BC, Canada
Completion date: 2009
Artwork budget: $800,000
Project Team
Artist
Jill Anholt
Jill Anholt Studio
Client
Worksafe BC
Worksafe BC
Landscape Architect
PWL Landscape Architects
Architect
LMN Architects
Overview
This project is a memorial for British Columbia workers located at the Vancouver Convention Centre along the water’s edge. In-depth research revealed a growing diversity of types and numbers of possible occupations over the province’s history from railroad and logging in the early days, to more present-day jobs in high-tech and recreation, carved into in a series of expanding wood members that fold out of a living green roof. The artwork manifests as a growing waveform located along a pedestrian pathway that offers moments for intimate engagement and contemplation as well as forming an iconic landmark from afar.
Goals
Line of Work was envisioned to be come an essential component of the pedestrian experience on the Vancouver Seawall outside of the new Vancouver Convention Centre and its sensitive integration into the building and landscape was vital for the success of both the artwork itself and the project as a whole. As the building construction was well underway at the time the artist was commissioned, a great deal of collaboration ensued within the design team in order to figure out how to install the artwork without affecting membranes and soil retention systems for the green roof.
Process
The artist worked closely with the client representative in order to ensure that the concept and expression of the artwork achieved the goals and ambitions of the project and that the content of the text contained within the artwork was accurate and representative. This required multiple meetings, discussions, reviews and approvals. The artist also worked closely with the design team throughout the project to ensure that her work could be carefully integrated into the green roof structure and that the plantings and the artwork would complement each other