Oakridge Building Types
I spent a lot of time around Oakridge Mall this January. I wandered the neighbourhoods nostalgically remembering past summers when I worked as a landscaper at a residential complex behind the mall.
The neighbourhoods surrounding the mall were developed in the 40s and 50s and are composed of mostly post-war, featureless bungalows and 1980s monster houses on lots where the original housing was torn down.
The area adjacent to the mall is far more interesting. It sat abandoned, as a marshland, until after the mall was constructed in the late 1950s. The housing stock is an eclectic mix of influences including asian woodwork and roof details that filtered back from the post-war occupation of Japan, cinderblock concrete walls and ‘futuristic’ houses from the 1970s jet age/transportation era, the blue mosaic tile characteristic of many apartment buildings around Vancouver developed by the Wosk family, rustic/unfinished siding bringing to life an idea of a simple cottage living, tudor-style exposed cross bracing, and finally, neo-traditional brickwork on a brand-new row house complex.
The graphic above is an analysis of the building typologies around Oakridge. The styles are ordered in a timeline from the 1950s (when Oakridge was first developed) to the present day. The grid at the bottom represents the intersection of 41st Ave and Cambie Street with the shaded quadrants indicating where the building types are found.
Water Usage
These graphics were created to illustrate the results from a water usage survey. In the Fall of 2009, 50 UBC students were interviewed and asked to estimate their personal daily usage of fresh, potable water including cooking, cleaning, showering, drinking, and laundry. They were not asked to estimate industrial water consumption for agriculture or manufacturing. The results of the survey are plotted below.
The survey results were then compared against national averages across the globe. The highest estimate, by a university-educated student, was just over half of the actual average across canada.
And in British Columbia, we’re some of the worst consumers in Canada (and, ultimately, the world).
Distance vs. Shoe Saturation
A fun graphic representing the trials of being a UBC student (living on the wet coast), and how far you can get from the student union building before your battle against the monstrous puddles is lost. Don’t believe me? Check out what this group or this group have to say.
Click on the image to see a larger (and more legible) version.