Sure wish I had found this coolio little book BEFORE I got to Vancouver; I would have saved myself a lot of time in assembling architectural walking tours of the city. Douglas & McIntyre also produce Toronto and Montreal editions which I have added to my Christmas wish list (http://www.dmpibooks.com/book/a-guidebook-to-contemporary-architecture-in-vancouver).
As much as I love to just wander and randomly discover a city, I had my six-year-old in tow and knew I’d have to be clever in the use of my time. This book focuses on the development between Expo 86 (I worked at the BCTV pavillion) and the 2010 Olympics, and the projects are organized by neighbourhoods and surrounding municipalities. The commentary provides not only detail on the building/project itself but places it in context of what is happening in the surrounding community. While I fantasized about visiting (most) every building in the book on some crazy twenty-four hour whirlwind tour, my reality was eight sites, nasty late fall weather, and a hunger to see more.
And, if you have small children and still crave a cultural experience, self-guided architectural tours are an excellent (and usually free) experience that can satisfy everyone. Always applying discretion and rudimentary manners of course, kids can run and climb stairs and touch architectural elements inside, then do the exact same thing outside with the landscape design (zen gardens exempted). Concrete, wood and stone are, after all, meant to last and if the Little Sweeties are absorbing the principles of design through osmosis and you’re feeding your soul simultaneously then all the better. With four children eighteen months apart I would have lost my sanity without access to the museums and beautiful public buildings around Ottawa.