Atop the hill on 16th Ave just east of Crowchild and west of Motel Village stands one of Calgary’s most notorious new building projects. The Hub is a student housing complex designed by Toronto-based architecture firm ARK. And many people in Calgary do NOT like The Hub.
The design element of this 28-story dormitory tower that seems to have raised the ire of Calgarians is the deliberate misalignment of the windows. Richard White of the great blog Everyday Tourist spoke to ARK, who said the off-kilter windows aren’t only meant to make the building visually interesting; they allow each dorm room to be unique on the inside. That may not be of any consolation to those folks who find the lack of order in these window columns upsetting. After passing The Hub several times last week, I finally had to pull over and post a cheeky video.
Maybe it’s because the building can be seen from so many different parts of the city, with no nearby buildings of comparable height, that it seems so obnoxious. Regardless, if art is supposed to invoke a reaction and generate a conversation, The Hub has certainly done that.