Fashion Monday with JJ Lee

Sacred Spaces is a special series on CBC Radio One looking at the idea of spiritual places in the Lower Mainland. I focused on the design of religious spaces. Mark Ostry of Acton Ostry Architects met me at the first religious building they ever designed, Har El Synagogue, where he gave me a tour of the building. For more info on Acton Ostry, check out their site .

I've lately been thinking about Raymond Moriyama of Moriyama & Teshima Architects I interviewed him for The Current just before the opening of the World Urban Forum this summer. We spent a great couple of hours together talking about a sensitive topic. Moriyama designed hundreds of buildings around the world but one of his most important recent works is the Canadian War Museum which, as Anna Maria Tremonti said, is "a bittersweet irony considering-- as a boy--- he was one of the 20,000 Japanese-Canadians interred by the federal government during World War Two." Well, Moriyama and I toured his old neighbourhood. We started our trip into the past in a taxi headed to a part of the downtown eastside that used to be known as Japantown. It's after the letters section of the June 15, 2006 edition of The Current Listen. I think what he had to say about Vancouver was absolutely reasonable, valid and understandably tinged with his personal experience. Local architects, how...

(aired November 6) Sick of nylon or rubber raincoats? I sure am, especially the raspy hand of the fabric and the ridiculous scratchy sound it makes when you walk. It's like that episode of Seinfeld when George Constanza wore a nylon business suit. Any way, isn't it time to make the jump to an organic fabric. As reported before On The Coast during my segment of VBD, natural fibers like hemp and bamboo are finding their way onto the runway. And maybe it's time for waxed cotton to make it into your wardrobe. Yes that's right, for once I am ahead of the curve and in touch with the climatological and fashion zeitgeist. I have been thinking about how waxed cotton or oilskins will be next year's fall outerwear fabric. The origins of waxed cotton is mixed into the history of the British imperial expansion. Originally, sailors made raingear out of linen sailcloth proofed with linseed oil. When the linseed aged, it would yellow which is the origin of the bright yellow rainc...

This morning I spoke with Leila Zeppelin, the lead designer of the Air India Memorial and the Ceperley Meadow Playground redevelopment. She is with Lees & Associates , a landscape firm with a focus on cemetery and memorial design. The conceptual drawings were presented at a public meeting last Thursday held by the Vancouver Parks Board. It was met with no objections and now Parks board staff will draft a resolution to be voted on in the future. And now, the Air India design concept is no longer under wraps, however, there are no images online as of yet. Check the Vancouver Parks Board for more info . The proposal calls for a terraced picnic area that cascades to a redeveloped playground. The playground will use natural elements like rocks, boulders and driftwood to create create the play area instead of standard playground equipment. With collective spaces and apparatus that encourage group play like disc-shaped swings and giant hammock under a driftwood arc, Zeppelin hopes the des...