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"AD Travel: Vancouver\nOur look at a few of the homes, gardens and shops found in the Canadian city that is hosting the 2010 Winter Olympics.\nVancouver, British Columbia, known for its over-the-top scenery, modern architecture and progressive politics, is much more than just a pretty face.\nCanada's most eminent architect, Arthur Erickson, gained international fame for his large-scale urban projects, many of them bold marriages of concrete, glass and water. \"I have often thought that I was more of a landscape designer than an architect,\" Erickson once wrote, and a visitor to his home and garden in Vancouver's West Point Grey neighborhood is hard-pressed to argue the point. Above: What Erickson refers to as the moon-viewing platform juts out over the reflecting pool. Three hues of azaleas front several varieties of Himalayan rhododendrons. (May 2005)\nTo create what residents James and Martine Thom call a \"house of light,\" architects Brian Hemingway and Fook-Weng Chan situated the house on Bowen Island, British Columbia\u2014fifteen miles from the skyscrapers and tumult of downtown Vancouver\u2014between existing trees and a rocky bluff. Above: \"The skylighted gallery, on the left\u2014which is the central circulation spine of the house\u2014emphasizes the intricate, ever-changing play of light on the walls, windows and floor,\" explains Chan of the west elevation. The kitchen, right, extends out to a deck where the Thoms often have breakfast. (August 1990)\n\"I've been coming here since the '60s. Back then I slept on the beach. I love the ocean, so when I decided to build my first hotel, I chose an eight-acre beachfront site between Pacific Rim National Park and Clayoquot Sound, with spectacular views of Cox Bay. I wanted the hotel to look as if it had always been here; therefore, its style is Canadian West Coast traditional,\" says Tim Hackett, the Canadian builder and developer who created Long Beach Lodge on Vancouver Island with architect Michael Nixon. Above: Designer Kimberly Williams created the great room. The raven mask was made by Chief Bill George. Kravet fabrics on armchairs at right and rattan pieces by window. (November 2003)\n\"Every single square inch of space had to be accounted for,\" Patricia Gray says of the small Vancouver apartment she designed for Kevin Louie. He knew it was for him as soon as he saw it. \"You open the door and look straight out to a view of the harbor and the mountains. You're living in the city, yet you see seaplanes landing, ferries and cruise ships,\" Louie says. Above: The bedroom and adjacent flex space can be separated via a pocket door, the track of which is recessed seamlessly into the ceiling and the floor. A 2005 bronze by Colin Kwok is on the bedside table. Telephone from Bang &amp;amp; Olufsen. (December 2006)\n\"I think it is the best gardening climate in North America,\" says one of Vancouver's many professional gardeners, who are encouraged by an almost ideal climate, with abundant rainfall\u2014some sixty inches a year\u2014and mild winters, with freezing temperatures a rarity. The initial inspiration for the Segal's collage of gardens was the steep and irregular topography of the site. Above: Planters set into curving tile steps display impatiens, fibrous begonias, alyssum and geraniums. Intriguingly grotesque shapes of Sequoiadendrons resulted from a fortuitous pruning error, affecting the growth pattern. Nepeta and lamium cascade from pedestal planters.  (December 1987)\nAccording to Canadian designer Paul Lavoie, Axis Decorative Arts, a mise-en-sc\u00E8ne of French Moderne, \"is a must-stop on every visit\" to Vancouver. \"You go to Axis because you're looking for the best of the French,\" he says. \"Their pieces are of exceptional quality.\" (July 2005)\nInform Interiors, located in a warehouse area near Burrard Inlet, \"is a great foil for the traditional\u2014everything is chosen for its pristine simplicity,\" designer Paul Lavoie remarks. It is also the place to find \"the contrast item, architectural with a twist.\" Above: Lavoie and co-owner Nancy Bendtsen share a handwoven, tubular-plastic Anemone chair. At left are a Tom Dixon S chair and a Mario Fortuny-designed lamp. (July 2005)\nMartha Sturdy's loft-like shop showcases the overscale pieces she's known for. Once a successful jewelry designer, she began creating items for the home in the '90s. Now, Sturdy often works in resin to create colorful tabletop pieces, such as clean-lined bowls and vases, above. (October 2003)\nLocated in a slightly improbable industrial neighborhood in East Vancouver, William Switzer &amp;amp; Associates is a family business with \"wild variety and exceptional quality,\" says designer Paul Lavoie. \"Bar none, they represent the finest line of reproductions imaginable. They don't mess with the originals.\" Above: Lavoie and co-owner Allan Switzer admire the hand-tufting on a Rollin Apollon chair. (July 2005)\nUno Langmann is Vancouver's leading source for European paintings, which includes works by Danish masters, reflecting the owner's heritage. Above: Among the European paintings and decorative arts at the gallery are, center, an 18th-century oil from the studio of Jean-Sim\u00E9on Chardin and a William IV table. (July 2005)\nVancouver Architectural Antiques, located in a 1912 Woolworth's in the Mount Pleasant neighborhood, has a little bit of everything, \"from gramophones to stained-glass windows from historic houses in Vancouver,\" says designer Paul Lavoie who prizes the shop for its lighting as well as the expertise of its owners, Eric and Judith Cohen. (July 2005)"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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