Engineering Artist-In-Residence: first term

Ongoing and completed projects

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  Painting on the Sewer Lines

  In relation to the major sewer infrastructure upgrades that took place along Nanaimo St in summer 2019, the Artist-In-Residence Program hosted an event that invited the community to participate by making their mark on our newest sewer pipes.

  Residents were invited to the corner of Charles St and Nanaimo St on July 13, 2019, where they were given the opportunity to paint on six large maintenance hole barrels before they were installed in the ground for the next 100 years. 

  The process of painting the pipes became a collaborative neighbourhood painting. Their handiwork was preserved and will live on as access pipes to the storm sewers in their community. 

  

  

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  Demo Model

  Demo Model is a small structure built by the City’s skilled workers, from materials obtained though the deconstruction of houses under the City’s Green Demolition bylaw. 

  The structure resembles one of Vancouver’s typical craftsman cottages and began its life as a book depository outside the Zero Waste Centre, where it now collects over 1000 used books a month for the Vancouver Public Library.

  The model simultaneously pays tribute to Vancouver’s built heritage and explores the potential for construction material reuse. It was made possible with materials donated by deconstruction contractor UnBuilders and materials recycler Habitat for Humanity ReStore.

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  The All Staff Challenge Series

  Challenges designed to help unify our work culture during the disruptive time of the COVID-19 pandemic and to encourage creative problem solving and collaboration.

  Koh produced a set of creative challenges for internal staff, in collaboration with our Building a city we love program.

  The four internal challenges were launched between June 3 – July 7 2020; each challenge had a 1-2 week time frame for completion:

  1. Hackey Night in Canada: Transforming everyday objects into something new.
  2. Zoomba: Make a short exercise video using only household objects.
  3. Haiku HowTo: Help explain instruction or rules. Five, seven, five beats.
  4. Teeming: Propose new or improved meeting formats. 

  Participation was enthusiastic and the results suggested that future iterations of this kind of project would be well received and highly appreciated among City staff.

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  Data points – City Hall’s new interactive display 

  An interactive display installed to visualize data concerning our city's environmental impacts and demonstrate how they are connected and interdependent.

  The focal point of these relationships is the recent and ongoing changes to the electric vehicle (EV) charging network within the city. Many new EV chargers have recently been installed, two of which are on the north side of City Hall, adjacent to this display.

  Learn about the project launching in late 2020

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  Sewerscape

  Sewerscape is proposed as a semi-permanent installation to be realized alongside major sewer infrastructure changes happening throughout the city. 

  One of the largest sizes of concrete pipes used in storm sewers, a 1.35m diameter and 2.4m long section, will be lined with fine wood and set in a stretch of low turf land to become a piece of street furniture. 

  Once completed, it will create an inviting place to gather and sit while making a concrete connection between our domestic spaces and the public works beneath our streets – a reminder of the systems hidden from view that support our everyday lives.

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  Green Events water wagon

  We currently have three ‘water wagons’ – temporary drinking fountains with bottle fillers – that hook up to fire hydrants to provide safe, waste free, water distribution to public events. 

  Recalling a tradition of public water fountains as a celebratory public feature with the practical purpose of providing drinking water, Koh and the skilled fabrication staff have designed a new water wagon that celebrates the local topography that is tied to our excellent water system. 

  The top of the proposed water wagon will feature a 3D topographic relief of the local area, including Metro Vancouver’s drinking water reservoirs on the north shore. The base of the wagon will feature clear portholes that give a view of the equipment delivering the water, so that the entire wagon gives some insight into the equipment and natural features that contribute to our water delivery system.

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  HereUnder

  An augmented reality (AR) project which if realized, would reveal hidden and future infrastructure through your smartphone’s screen.

  By scanning a QR code on a phone’s camera, an augmented reality layer would be integrated into the live view of the space in front of you. This AR layer would show the underground utilities in the area at scale and open up a wondrous, normally unseen view of the city and its interconnected systems.

  The possibilities of this are near limitless, including being able to see the end result of new construction proposals before they have begun.