Warming Huts: An Arts + Architecture Competition on Ice

Description

Started in 2009, Warming Huts: An Art + Architecture Competition on Ice has been melding world-class design and art with Winnipeg’s famous winters. The competition has seen entries from across the globe and caught the attention of international architecture publications and awards, as well as admiration from newspapers such as the New York Times.

Warming Huts is an open competition, supported by the Manitoba Association of Architects. Proposals for the competition are submitted online at www.warminghuts.com. Once entries are submitted, a blind jury selects designs that best “push the envelope of design, craft and art.”

Nearing the end of January, competition winners travel to Winnipeg to begin construction on their warming hut. The weeklong building blitz gives designers a chance to watch their vision come to life while allowing the public to watch them at work.

Warming huts are then brought out to the Red River Mutual Trail for visitors to skate to, interact with, and enjoy. Warming huts will remain out until the end of the skating season.

COMPETITION FORMAT:

Warming Huts + Art Installation
Three teams will be selected as winners of the WARMING HUTS COMPETITION: Arts + Architecture Competition on Ice from submissions of designs for a warming hut or art installation. Winning entries will be placed along the Red River Mutual Trail located on the Assiniboine and Red rivers in Winnipeg, Manitoba. A jury will select the winning designs based on their creativity in use of materials, providing shelter, poetics of assembly and form, integration with the landscape, and ease of construction.

Deadline for Submission:

The deadline for submission to the Warming Huts Competition:
Tuesday, October 3, 2017, 2:00pm CST.

Site:

The huts or installations are placed along the Red River Mutual Trail at The Forks in Winnipeg, Manitoba (www.theforks.com). The Forks is located in downtown Winnipeg, at the junction of the Red River and the Assiniboine River. The intersection of the two rivers historically has made the area a popular meeting place for over 6,000 years. In recent times, the site has developed into a popular destination for tourists and locals alike, with over four million visitors annually.
In winter, the rivers are also used as an alternate route to access downtown by foot, bike, skates and skis. There are opportunities for curling, hockey and much more. With many access points, the Red River Mutual Trail, is a link between communities in Winnipeg. The Red River Mutual Trail is regularly groomed and monitored for any safety concerns. There will also be extra security at night in an attempt to prevent people from loitering or damaging the huts.
Weather in Winnipeg during the months of January and February can be extremely cold with temperatures reaching below -30C. Teams are encouraged to engage the effects of solar radiation, wind chill, and the constantly shifting landscape of the snow covered river. The depth of the ice on the Assiniboine and Red River at the end of January can be as deep as 1 meter thick.

Competition Jury:

The jury reviews every project and through a process of elimination selects ten projects for scrutiny. From the list of ten finalists, the top five will be ranked in order and the three highest ranking projects will then undergo a technical review. Based on the outcome of the technical review, the winners will be declared. NB: Team information is not provided to the jury until after the projects are ranked. This is referred to as a “blind” jury.
Jury Members: Kevin Loewen, Graham Hogan, Richard Kroeker, Clare MacKay, Sasa Radulovic, Bob Somers, Johanna
Hurme, Michael Scatliff, Jim August
Winning entrants will be notified and requested to develop construction drawings for submission to a technical committee. Design development will involve input from the technical committee to ensure that construction is feasible and within budget.