Vancouver Matters is less a book than a bound exhibit, which may partly explain its appeal to us. Using photographs, illusrations, and short essays, the various writers (mostly artists, and students and faculty from UBC’s School of Architecture + Landscape Architecture) present Vancouver as an unfinished work rather than an accomplishment (a subtle dig at “Vancouverism” proponents?).

Each of the 16 chapters explores a particular material condition—stucco, hedge, sugar, blackberry—and explores its imprint on the city’s built-form and culture. The opening chapter on andesite stone, for example, details the history of the Haddington Island quarry—stay with me—and how the stone was brought to Vancouver and used to clad key financial and government buildings that called for a resilient, permanent character. Picture the Royal Bank building at 675 West Hastings St., the former Provincial Court House (now the Vancouver Art Gallery), and City Hall. That many of these structures still stand in a city where redevelopment is very much a part of our identity, may indicate their intended goal has been met.

Beyond history lessons, it’s a beautifully rendered portrait of the city that presents the familiar in a bright new way.

Vancouver Matters was published in the fall of 2008 by Blueimprint, a division of the local publishing house, Simply Read Books.