Swing City, a utopian fantasy concept of a city, imagined by Roger Kemble, with P. Stephen Babiak and John R. Chislett as contributing assistants. From the October 1968 issue of Canadian Architect, pp 58-65. Presented here are a couple closer detailed cross sections of the concept, post number 2.

Think back to 1968 if you will, and imagine a city filled with ambition, idealism, and poised to begin an explosion of vertical construction. It was the year Vancouver’s International Airport terminal opened, the Pacific Coliseum, as well as the Centennial Museum and H. R. MacMillan Planetarium, and Arthur Erickson’s MacMillan Bloedel Building too. SkyTrain was still almost 2 decades away, but the second drawing prominently features a monorail system, an integral transportation choice in a city which seems to have left the traditional street behind. This plan radically challenges all prior conventions, seeking extremely modern and modular solutions. It seems obsessed with scalability, and not so concerned with feasibility or sustainability. Would these ideals allow uninhibited human achievement, or would it transform the city into the Borg? A final post will include some of the explanatory text that accompanied these drawings.