Yule Heibel's documents
"Blue Bridge blues," by Yule Heibel (Focus Magazine June 2009)
This article (published in the June 2009 issue of Victoria BC's FOCUS Magazine) argues that city council should reconsider its decision to move destroy the 1924 Joseph-Strauss-built bascule bridge ...
"Embracing complexity and density [in Victoria BC]," by Yule Heibel (Focus Magazine May 2009)
[Note the correction provided by the author (see below).] Based on a closer look at Victoria, BC, this article argues that cities need density and that urban density is a bonus that relates directl...
"It's the people, stupid," by Yule Heibel (Focus Magazine April 2009)
Inspired by Seattle-based community organizer Jim Diers' presentation in Victoria BC early in 2009, this article makes the case that urban density is good for cities: it's good for their economies ...
"Victoria's Urban Forest," by Yule Heibel (Focus Magazine March 2009)
Urban forests are more than just trees in cities: they are the complete ecosystem, including the trees and understory shrubbery and plants, soil conditions, water drainage, and wildlife. Victoria h...
"Housing 2.0," by Yule Heibel (Focus Magazine February 2009)
Using the Wikipedia model, along with modular housing, to solve homelessness: As web 2.0 development has shown, people are able to unleash creativity and energy when they see how to move forward an...
"Building bridges and start-up muscle in Victoria," by Yule Heibel (Focus Magazine January 2009)
Technology, the arts, and the built environment all have crucial roles to play in connecting the people and ideas that create a vibrant, thriving city. Inspired by Ben Casnocha's review of Boulder,...
"Ditch height restrictions; adopt 'good design' prescriptions," by Yule Heibel (Focus Magazine Feb.
A survey of downtown's landscape shows that restrictive zoning is bad for our savannah brains. The article looks up, at skylines, specifically Victoria's, and applies the lessons of evolutionary ps...
"The death of a good idea," by Yule Heibel (Focus Magazine Jan. 2008)
This article follows up on the plans initially proposed by Vancouver developer Westbank Corporation to partner with the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria (AGGV) to provide a stand-alone downtown sate...
"Not just another brick in the wall," by Yule Heibel (Focus Magazine Dec. 2007)
An article about Victoria's first "greenwall" or "living wall," for Gateway Green, an office building proposed for the corner of Fisgard and Blanshard Streets. It argues that living walls can re-c...
"Victoria's genius locus: perspectives from the water," by Yule Heibel (Focus Magazine Nov. 2007)
This article follows up on October 2007's "The Belleville Plan: it's all wrong" with a question: "If the Belleville Street task force got it wrong, what's needed to make it right?"
"The Belleville Plan: it's all wrong," by Yule Heibel (Focus Magazine Oct. 2007)
Victoria ought to be building its cultural tourism infrastructure; this plan doesn't do it. The Belleville Plan, which attempts to re-design Victoria's working harbour as a warehouse for mass tour...
"Of ducks and decorated sheds," by Yule Heibel (Focus Magazine Sept. 2007)
A "Learning from Las Vegas" inspired look at Victoria's love of decorated sheds ("quaint" Tudorbethan fakery), and a question: will we ever get a new duck?
"Biophilic design: taking love to the street," by Yule Heibel (Focus Magazine Aug 2007)
This article looks at a specific "problem" section of road and intersection in Victoria, and argues that a biophilic re-design would help solve them. Illustration by Robert Randall.
"A soft-core view of Victoria," by Yule Heibel (Focus Magazine July 2007)
An article about qualities in architecture and Victoria's built environment, using some concept developed by Grant Hildebrand in his book, The Origins of Architectural Pleasure (1997).
"AGGV downtown: will it fly?" by Yule Heibel (Focus Magazine June 2007)
The Art Gallery of Greater Victoria is on a space mission: desiring to launch a 25,000-square-foot satellite into downtown's orbit, its dream is fuelled by a developer's rocket, which could fly - o...
"Spatial micro-climates: how to make a corner," by Yule Heibel (Focus Magazine May 2007)
In terms of street vibrancy, the higgledy-piggledy organic street layout of older cities may have a natural advantage over the hard-edged grid of newly-built Victoria. What can we do to compensate?...
"The 'right height' debate," by Yule Heibel (Focus Magazine April 2007)
The recent approval by city council for a 24-storey building as part of the redevelopment of the Hudson Bay site was given as a reward for the developer's commitment to preserve the circa 1921 Edwa...
"Private affairs in public spaces," by Yule Heibel (Focus Magazine March 2007)
Have parts of downtown Victoria - Centennial Square for example - been conceived as though their creators thought the best way to experience them would be from the privacy of a moving car?
"Discovering change," by Yule Heibel (Focus Magazine Feb. 2007)
Would the architect of Victoria's most charming and celebrated buildings (Francis Rattenbury) be rolling in his grave if he knew his work had helped encourage decades of city-visioning based on avo...
"Consuming downtown," by Yule Heibel (Focus Magazine Dec. 2006)
A look at what brings people downtown, keeping in mind that we can't rely on retail consumerism alone.
