WINNIPEG — In just a few weeks the warming huts will be ready to roll out onto the frozen river for yet another Winnipeg winter.
The designs of six new huts set to take their homes on the river trail were unveiled at The Forks on Thursday morning.
Three of the winners were selected by a jury who had no background information on who submitted the designs or where they came from.
“The Warming Huts competition continues to gain the attention on the world stage and bring great art and architecture to Winnipeg,” said Paul Jordan, Chief Executive Officer, The Forks Renewal Corporation. “This year we saw over 160 entries from all across the globe including Estonia, Iran, India and Bangladesh. The competition attracted fantastic designs and narrowing it down to the top three was difficult for the jury. ”
The winners of the international art and architecture competition were two American creations along with one from Russia.
This year, The Forks was also looking to place a greater emphasis on art than in previous years.
Artist and throat singer Tanya Tagaq, from Nunavut, was asked to design an installation. Her inspiration came from indigenous storytelling, animals from Canada’s North and indigenous traditions and people.
For the sixth year, students and faculty from the University of Manitoba architecture program also designed two huts.
The six new huts will be added to ones from previous years that are still in good condition. There could potentially be as many as 25 on the trail this year.
RAW:almond will also be popping up once again along the frozen river. The unique restaurant also received submissions from around the world this year for its 2016 design. Jordan said between the pop-up restaurant and the warming huts, Winnipeg is able to offer a one-of-a-kind winter experience.
“It’s going to be a totally unique experience. The world is starting to catch on to this, and this is why we are getting so many applications to build a hut. Now people are actually coming to skate this trail because it’s cool,” said Paul Jordan, CEO of The Forks Renewal Corp.
Construction of the huts will start in January.
Comments