{"product_id":"9781459701748-unbuilt-victoria","title":"Unbuilt Victoria","description":"\u003cmeta content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\" http-equiv=\"Content-Type\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFor most people, the city of Victoria, British Columbia, is a time capsule of Victorian and Edwardian buildings. \u003cem\u003eUnbuilt Victoria\u003c\/em\u003e examines some of the architectural plans that were proposed but rejected and lets the reader decide whether any of these projects deserve to have come off the drawing board.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eUnbuilt Victoria \u003c\/i\u003ecelebrates the city that is, and laments the city that could have been. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor most people, resident and visitor alike, Victoria, British Columbia, is a time capsule of Victorian and Edwardian buildings. From a modest fur-trading post of the Hudson’s Bay Company it grew to be the province’s major trading centre. Then the selection of Vancouver as the terminus of the transcontinental railway in the 1880s, followed by a smallpox epidemic that closed the port in the 1890s, resulted in decline.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eVictoria succeeded in reinventing itself as a tourist destination, based on the concept of nostalgia for all things English, stunning scenery, and investment opportunities. In the modernizing boom after the Second World War attempts were made to move the city’s built environment into the mainstream, but the prospect of Victoria’s becoming like any other North American city did not win public approval.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eUnbuilt Victoria\u003c\/i\u003e examines some of the architectural plans that were proposed but rejected. That some of them were ever dreamed of will probably amaze, that others never made it might well be a matter of regret.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rarewaves","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55419591131510,"sku":"9781459701748","price":25.48,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0092\/7504\/8033\/files\/orig_13566445_35078_20250507051942.jpg?v=1748608509","url":"https:\/\/www.rarewaves.com\/products\/9781459701748-unbuilt-victoria","provider":"Rarewaves.com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}