Just six weeks after pulling the plug on a long-planned new building project designed by the Swiss architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron after its initial budget of C$400m ($296.4m) ballooned to C$600m ($444.6m), the Vancouver Art Gallery (VAG) has initiated another architectural competition.

Perhaps in keeping with the gallery’s desire to play it low-key following criticisms about foreign “starchitects” and escalating costs—and in keeping with the current nativist, nationalist moment in Canada as US President Donald Trump’s planned tariffs threaten the economy —the decision to invite 13 Canadian architects to present proposals was revealed in an article in the local newspaper.