Forks Announces Invited Architect”: World Renowned Frank Gehry to Design Warming Hut

Forks Announces Invited Architect”: World Renowned Frank Gehry to Design Warming Hut in Winnipeg
Global Call for Submissions Brings Entries For 3 Spots

The Forks, Winnipeg – The warming huts, and Winnipeg, are ready to welcome one of the world’s leading architects to their midst.

It has been confirmed that Frank Gehry, architect to such iconic projects as the Guggenheim in Bilbao, the Dancing House in Prague, The Experience Music Project in Seattle, the Cinematheque francaise in Paris, and the Strata Center in Cambridge, is building a humble warming hut in Winnipeg.

“This is the finest acknowledgement of an architecturally based competition you can ever hope to receive,” says Jim August, CEO of The Forks North Portage. “When you ask arguably the most well-known architect in the world to design a $10,000 warming hut and he says yes, you know you are on to something.”

Gehry’s warming hut, still to be designed, will join four others for Warming Huts v.2012: An Art + Architecture Competition on Ice. Three of the spots are being juried this weekend, and the fourth goes to the University of Manitoba architecture department.

"I have a lot of very talented young designers in the office. They came to me and were very excited for us to enter,” says Frank Gehry. “They got me excited about it."

The competition for the remaining three spots is global in scope. Jordan believes the very fact that the competition is based in Winnipeg is a large part of the appeal to participate.
“The competition has really struck a chord with the community. Many have never worked in these conditions and are frankly fascinated with the concepts of snow and ice,” says Jordan.

The competition, supported in part by the Manitoba Association of Architects, was announced September 2011 with an open call for submissions through the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC), the American Institute of Architecture, online at archiforum.com, and other prominent architectural websites.

A jury comprised of participants from the first year’s competition will take those applications over this coming weekend and emerge with three winning entries.

“We’re expecting to receive over 150 submissions this year,” says Jordan. “Given the calibre of our first two years we are like kids in a candy store waiting to open the packages this weekend.”

A separate competition is being held locally for a fourth hut within the University of Manitoba’s Faculty of Architecture.

Teams must consist of architects and/or landscape architects paired with an artist. Each is given a small sum of money to create and construct their warming huts. All winning submissions will be given approval by an engineer before building is started.

To view last year’s exposition and the submission process go to www.warminghuts.com

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