Vancouver is yellow.

There is a wonderful two-page spread in this month’s Walrus magazine wherein Todd Falkowsky explores the signature colours of Canadian cities–colours that seem to identify uniquely with specific urban landscapes. The artist pulled the predominant colours from piles of photographs taken in each of the cities. Hence Toronto is shaded by the blues of its street signs and reds of its transit system; Whitehorse (pictured above) identifies with the glowing green of the Aurora Borealis, Yellowknife a blue-white shade of snow.

Here is a link to the online version of the article:

http://www.walrusmagazine.com/articles/2008.02-detail-todd-falkowsky-revealing-urban-colours/

Falkowsky left out Vancouver. If I were to choose Vancouver’s colours, off the top of my head, three colours stand out: slate grey mountains, blue grey ocean, evergreen Stanley Park. Is it really so dark and dismal here? Yes, actually. Or so it’s easy to believe in the thick of winter. More come to mind–overcast grey rainclouds, cool grey raindrops.

But it’s really not all so dull. For the sake of trying to add a little warmth to the picture, there is also:

Davie Street’s Bubblegum bus stop benches. Red, green and yellow dragons of the Chinese New Year parade. The incandescent glow of Trout Lake’s Illuminares Festival. The proud rainbows of Vancouver’s vibrant gay community.

And yellow: The giant lemony sulphur pile. Granville Island’s cadmium-coloured Bridges Restaurant. The golden rays of an English Bay sunset.