The Warming Huts will be back on the frozen Red River Mutual Trail in the new year offering Winnipeg winter enthusiasts a unique artistic take on the now world famous architecture competition.
This year, new huts will beckon adventurers and architect enthusiasts alike. With the competition being in its sixth year, an Art Installation category was added to the contest to allow for more unique design entries.
“We’ve always received great designs, but this year they really push the artistic envelope,” says Paul Jordan, Chief Executive Officer, The Forks Renewal Corporation. “The competition has always allowed architects and artists to design something unique, but with the addition of a new category we’ve seen even more creativity emerge.”
For the 2015 submissions, entries either fell into a Shelter or Installation category. The submissions were then reviewed by a “blind” jury, meaning they have no background information on who submitted the designs or where they are from. The jury, who reviewed more than 100 submissions from around the globe, chose two winning Shelter designs and one Installation.
The winners are Recycling Words, designed by KANVA Architecture from Montreal, Canada, and The Hole Idea, designed by Weiss Architecture & Urbanism Limited from Toronto, Canada and This Big, designed by Tina Soil & Luca Roncoroni from Droebak Akershus, NORWAY who won in Warming Huts v.2013 for their entry, Wind Catcher.
“Over the years, we’ve pushed the envelope on the word “Warming Hut”,” says Jordan. “More and more, we’ve seen the designs resemble less of a hut and become more about attention to design and detail. The completion has become a competitive space for artists and architects to dream and see their dream into reality. And the best part is that it’s really allowed us to make high-end art and architecture accessible to everyone.”
For the fifth year, the University of Manitoba’s Faculty of Architecture continues to share their students’ talent by submitting a hut entitled Mirror Cloaking.
“The Faculty of Architecture, with its large and very successful undergraduate Environmental Design Program, is honoured and pleased to participate again in the Warming Huts event,” says Ralph Stern, Dean of the Faculty of Architecture, the University of Manitoba. “It is a great opportunity to underscore the fundamental interrelationship between design and environment in a prominent location celebrating both Winnipeg and Manitoba.”
Over the years, the Warming Hut competition has also attracted some great additions. This year, Kelvin High School, with the help from Red River Mutual, has designed and will be constructing a hut entitled 6043.
After much success, RAW:almond will also be bringing their unique restaurant experience back onto the Red River Mutual Trail. A separate competition in mid-August brought in many submissions from around the world for the 2015 design.
Warming Huts v.2015: An Art + Architecture Competition on Ice, supported in part by the Manitoba Association of Architects (MAA), was announced in July of 2014 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.
“Endorsing the 2015 Warming Huts initiative is a perfect way to wrap up our 100th anniversary,” said Lee McCormick, President of the Manitoba Association of Architects. “While the huts may not be permanent, they offer the community a perfect winter opportunity to explore the world of architecture and the role that architects play in our daily lives.”
Warming Huts v. 2015: An Art + Architecture Competition is made possible through the generous support of: the Canada Council for the Arts, Manitoba Association of Architects, University of Manitoba, Faculty of Architecture & Partners Program and KGS Group.
Construction of the huts will commence in early January and, weather permitting, will be on the Red River Mutual Trail the third week of said month. Several huts from previous years will be brought back out to join the new ones.
