YVR – Gateway to Vancouver 2010

Flying dirty on approach to YVR

Ask most Canadians what they know of YVR, Vancouver’s international airport, and they’ll likely talk about an ugly incident involving four Mounties, four tasers, and a confused and angry Polish traveler. The Polish traveler died. YVR was thrust into the spotlight for all the wrong reasons, and the Mounties are still trying to repair their tarnished reputation.

Perhaps that’s why YVR offered a tour to members of the Travel Media Association of Canada (TMAC). The association held its annual conference in Richmond last February. Richmond is a suburb of Vancouver and YVR was one of several Richmond sites we were invited to visit.

I learned a lot about Canada’s second busiest airport on that tour. Like how it conserves energy – sidewalks and escalators, for example, slow down when they’re not in use. Colours and textures calm crowds and minimize noise. Aquariums are strategically placed to calm as well as entertain. Circular seating areas with flat screen TVs are designed in such a way that when you sit inside the circles you can hear the TVs, outside, you can’t. Each YVR gate has a specially designed counter and foot hold where laptop owners gather to work while waiting for their flights.

Spirit of Haida Gwaii: The Jade Canoe by Bill Reid Photo by: Reinhard Kraasch

A painting of BC forest, mountains and sea by Canadian Group of Seven artist, Lawren Harris, was selected as the colour palette for YVR’s interior. Huge glass curtain walls give travelers spectacular views of the ocean and the mountains. Wood, a British Columbia resource, is widely used throughout. What really impressed me about YVR though, is its outstanding collection of Northwest Coast native art. According to the airport’s art foundation, it’s what drove the vision for the new YVR terminal. Anchoring the collection is Bill Reid’s The Spirit of Haida Gwaii: The Jade Canoe. Canadians know it from the back of the Canadian $20 bill. I also loved walking through Pacific Passage, an entry point for US travelers. My passage view was dominated by a giant Thunderbird sculpted by Connie Watts.  But it really doesn’t matter what vantage point you enter YVR from, beautiful native art greets you at all points.

In times of troubled international flight, I think YVR is a facility that attempts to lift our spirits to a higher plane. That makes it a welcoming gateway for those headed to the 2010 Winter Games.

Tags: 2010 Winter Games, 2010 Winter Olympics, airport, art, art collection, Bill Reid, Canada, Canadians, gateway, Group of Seven, Haida, Lawren Harris, Northwest Coast art, The Spirit of Haida Gwaii: The Jade Canoe, Travel Media Association of Canada, travelers, Vancouver 2010, Vancouver International Airport, YVR, YVR Art Foundation