The Forks

1. CARCASS - Sputnik Architecture in collaboration with artist Jonathon Pylypchuk.

Background - Inspired by the decrepit barns throughout our rural landscape, CARCASS, is both a eulogy and a celebration. The warming hut is constructed of laminated wood rafters, and skinned in aluminum and polycarbonate panels. The form is intended to describe the tension between past, present and future; from time pre-historic to time held captive in the imagination. The ‘nested’ pieces by Jon Pylypchuk develop a dialogue between architecture and art.

Sputnik Architecture - Established in February, 2009, Sputnik Architecture is a young architecture firm committed to the exploration of how architecture modifies the human experience. Working on projects varying in scale, from small boats to the expansion of a community college, the thread of interest binding the investigation of these works is the power architecture may having in animating our lives.

Peter Hargraves – Architect - Born in South Africa, Peter emigrated with his family to Canada at the age of eight. At an early age, Peter decided he would become an architect and upon graduating from high school in Winkler, MB, he entered the University of Manitoba to complete a Bachelor of Environmental Design. A two-year hiatus in Toronto separated his undergraduate degree and graduate studies at the University of Oregon. From Oregon, Peter moved to Montreal, Quebec, where he worked on his French while working for a small architecture practice. He and his wife Lisa had their first daughter in Montreal, and with the news that twins were on their way, they decided to move back to Winnipeg to be closer to family. Peter gained his license to practice architecture in Manitoba in 2008 and registered Sputnik Architecture shortly afterward.

Jonathon Pylypchuk – Artist - Jon Pylypchuk's work can be found in the collections of the Mori Museum, Tazmania the Museum of Modern Art New York, Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the Winnipeg Art Gallery. His work has been exhibited at the Royal Academy in London, England, the State Hermitage in St. Petersburg, Russia, and at the Seoul Museum of Art in Seoul, Korea.

Design & Construction Team - Greg Gartrell, Colin Flemington, Ron Loeppky, Peter Hargraves, Jon Pylypchuk, Joshua Adria, Alana Dunsmore, Kwekwe Kivutha, Donna Metheison

2. ICE CUBE - 701 architecture inc. in collaboration with Soul Seeker Images

Background - The warming hut alludes to historic voyageur or aboriginal constructions along the river with the use of the cedar cladding. The form of the hut is developed from the forms of the site by combining the square planters and triangular marker forms of the sun dial to make an angled cube. The cube is formed by a cedar frame work clad with cedar slats and regular intervals. The window boxes provide views of the river trail in two directions as well as back to the Legislative Building. The interior is clad with translucent core-plast panels. A rooftop solar panel provides energy for the interior lights. Because of the structure’s transparent nature, the illumination allows the cube to be a lantern or a beacon in the night time.

701 Architecture Inc. – Architects - Kevin Loewen is a LEED certified Canadian architect who established his practice 701 Architecture in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in 2007. He allows structure in conjunction with environmental concerns to inform and guide his designs and built form. His achievements include the R.A.I.C. honour roll, the A.I.A. Henry Adams Medal and the Adjeleian Aesthetics in Structures Award.

Soul Seeker Images – Artist - Merri-Lou Paterson’s passion as a photographer falls in using images and words to tell a story. Recent exhibitions include From Light to Shadow which featured 10 women’s images and stories about their personal experience with breast cancer. Being part of the Cancer Connections exhibition, which is currently traveling across Canada has also been very meaningful. Soul Seeker Images is Merri-Lou’s true expression of her artwork featuring travel and nature photos from around the world.

Tower Engineering – Structural - Dan Hunnie is a CET and structural project manager of Tower Engineering. Tower Engineering Group Limited Partnership is a full service Consulting firm, specializing in Design Team Management, Structural engineering, Mechanical engineering and Electrical engineering and turnkey Project Management for special projects.

Tower Engineering – Electrical - Gary Hiebert is a principal and electrical department manager of Tower Engineering. Tower Engineering Group Limited Partnership is a full service Consulting firm, specializing in Design Team Management, Structural engineering, Mechanical engineering and Electrical engineering and turnkey Project Management for special projects.

Construction - Kevin Loewen, Gary Hiebert, Dan Hunnie, Dale Paterson, Bruce Froebe, and Guenter Schaub

 

3. SUNSPOT – 5468796 architecture in collaboration with Ewa Trasia

The Sunspot is a product of collaboration between 5468796 Architecture and Winnipeg artist Ewa Trasia.

Background - The Sunspot is an extension of Ewa’s exploration of a ‘dot’; a re-occurring theme in her recent work, as well as an interpretation of the ultimate source of heat --the sun.

The Sunspot hangs from the Historic Rail Bridge at The Forks and hovers just a few feet above the frozen river. Coloured water is sprayed over the sphere's structural frame to form a thin shell of ice. This translucent ice shell renders the interior of the dome with a vibrant and warm glow - evocative of a Tarsia’s painting plates.

A large circular opening at the bottom of the sphere allows skaters to enter the from beneath and experience the transformed sky. The edge of the opening provides a bench to rest on, and the structure itself is a shelter from the wind.

5468796 Architecture Inc. – Architect - 5468796 Architecture Inc. is a Winnipeg-based architecture studio with a diverse range of interests and design expertise. The firm was established in 2007 to challenge convention at all scales, from branding, architecture and design, to detailing and engineering systems.

Ewa Tarsia – Artist - Tarsia is a Polish-born, Canadian artist. She works in diverse media including painting, sculpture, tapestry, landscape design, and drawing. She is known internationally as a printmaker. She has been showcased in international print biennials in Spain, France, Poland, Austria, United States, England, Germany, and Korea. The work in this exhibition represents the evolution of Tarsia’s printmaking into personal techniques that meld the actual plastic printing plate into the final work of art that present as relief paintings. As a printmaker, Tarsia is part of a tradition of artists who acknowledge that their plates—the pieces of metal, plastic, wood and linoleum that they print from—are the true objects of their affection. Covered with marks, lines and subtle traces of colour, printing plates are often as interesting as the images pulled from them. Each plate is visually complex, offering a fully active and engaged surface that, once transformed into sculpture, reveals both the artist’s obsessive process and the beauty that motivates her to continue. As an environmentalist, Tarsia sees the irony of using plastic and paper to create images that celebrate the beauty of the natural world. “It reflects our society,” she says of the work. “Plastic is everywhere.” The success of her artistic career in Canada was celebrated in June 2007 when she was officially inducted into the Royal Academy of Arts.


 

4. Fir Hut – Richard Kroeker in collaboration with Neil Forrest

 

Background - Borrowing inspiration for the design of the FIR HUT from early Native American designs and materials, the project is an exhibition of the combination of these ancient techniques. It uses modern materials (pop cans) in a seamless new whole. Richard learned the technique of thatching balsam fir from the Mi’kmaq people of Atlantic Canada.

Richard Kroeker – Architect – Richard is a native of Manitoba who has practiced both in North America and the United Kingdom. He is Professor of Architecture at Dalhousie University, as well as maintaining a design practice. He has a bachelors degree in environmental studies from the University of Manitoba, and completed his professional architecture degree and professional qualifications at the Architectural Association in London UK. His work has often focused on design for culturally threatened communities.

Recent awards include: Erich Schelling Medal in Architecture – Shelling Foundation, Karlsruhe 2008, Venice Biennale – Canadian pavilion exhibitor – 2008, Barcelona World Festival of Architecture shortlist, Health category – 2008, Nova Scotia Lieutenant Governor’s Masterwork Award – 2006, Environmental Achievement Award – Dalhousie University Senate – 2006, Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture Collaborative Practice Award – 2006, National Post – Design Exchange Gold Medal Award: best new public building in Canada - 2005, Special Projects Award for the Northeast Region of the ACSA (Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture) – 2005, International Competition first place winner: Museum and Research Centre of the Marshes: Iraq – 2004, Cass Gilbert Visiting Professor, University of Minnesota, Department of Architecture 2002 – 2006.

Neil Forrest – Artist – Neil is an artist who has exhibited and lectured in North America, Europe and Asia, and is Professor of Ceramics at NSCAD University. Recent exhibitions are Wurzelwerk, Scaffs and Thicket. His work in ceramics has been published in books, craft magazines and architectural journals. Forrest studied at Cranbrook Academy of Art, Alfred University and Sheridan College of Crafts and is involved in several research collaborations that examine ceramics for architecture.

5. Apparition - Antoine Predock Architect in collaboration with Scatliff+Miller+Murray Landscape Architects

 

Background – Apparition - A haunting, ambiguous object enmeshed with the icy realm - snow drifts on this geologic microcosm while glaciers in miniature advance and recede in the aluminum folds. Solar-fueled lighting within the wooden structural armature focuses the entry aperture with an inviting, glowing promise of inner respite.
Antoine Predock- Architect - Antoine Predock is the Principal of Antoine Predock Architect PC. The studio was established in 1967. Predock attended University of New Mexico and later received his Bachelor of Architecture from Columbia University.

Predock first gained national attention with the La Luz community in Albuquerque. The Nelson Fine Arts center was his first national competition win. Mr. Predock has built from his desert beginnings and completed work ranging from the famed Turtle Creek House, built in 1993 for bird enthusiasts along a prehistoric trail in Texas and the Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College to a new Ballpark for the San Diego Padres that reinvents the concept of a ballpark as a “garden” rather than solely a sports complex. His influence extends to international sites with the National Palace Museum Southern Branch in Southern Taiwan and the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

In 1985, Antoine Predock was awarded the Rome Prize and in 2006 he was honoured with the American Institute of Architects highest award, the 2006 Gold Medal. Antoine Predock is the 2007 recipient of the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum's Lifetime Achievement Award.

Scatliff+Miller+Murray – Architects - Scatliff+Miller+Murray (S+M+M) Inc. is a landscape architecture and planning consulting firm with over 20 years’ experience creating exciting, innovative, award-winning urban design.

With a record of accomplishment and reputation for innovation and creativity, S+M+M is the recipient of numerous awards from the Canadian Association of Landscape Architects. They have received the “Excellence on the Waterfront” Top Honor Award in Washington, DC and a Design Award from the International Downtown Association for Winnipeg’s Assiniboine Riverwalk. More recently, their collaborative work on The Forks Skate Plaza received the Consulting Engineers of Manitoba Infrastructure Merit award, and a CSLA National Honour. One of their most prestigious awards is the People’s Republic of China highest award, the Planning & Residential Development Association Ideal Community Award of Excellence, for Spring’s Vitality Environmental Design in Beijing. This project also received a People’s Republic of China, Ministry of Construction Environmental Design Award.

PCL Construction – Construction – PCL will be assisting the team in the construction of the Warming Hut, to continue the collaboration between all 3 design teams concurrently working on the Canadian Museum For Human Rights.
 

The Warming Huts taking shape

As posted on Winnipeg Free Press website by Mike Deal