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'Love huts' to keep skaters warm

Artists, architects will liven up river trail

By: Alison Mayes

8/01/2010 1:00 AM | Comments: 21

 

 

Skaters on Winnipeg's river trail will soon be able to thaw out in five imaginative new warm-up "love shacks," including one that resembles a tinfoil igloo and one in the form of an ice-covered hanging orb.

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On Thursday, organizers at The Forks released the designs for five shelters to be part of The Warming Hut: An Art + Architecture Exposition on Ice.

Five teams, each consisting of architects paired with an artist or landscape design firm, have each received $9,000 to design and construct a warming hut.

Paul Jordan, chief operating officer at The Forks, expects Winnipeg skaters to find their own ways to generate heat in the huts.

"You can stop and warm up, you can change your skates, or you can do whatever you want -- which often happens," he said with a laugh.

"We call them 'the love shacks' for a reason."

The exposition is being touted as a Canadian first.

"We see this becoming an annual event that eventually morphs into a competition," Jordan said.

This year's huts were commissioned, but in future years a call will go out for entries in the hope of generating international interest. Each year's warming huts will be saved and reused, so the collection will grow.

From Jan. 25 to 27, the public can watch the huts being built on the central plaza at The Forks. The completed huts can be viewed on the plaza from Jan. 28 to 30, before they are placed on the Assiniboine Credit Union River Trail.

The exposition has funding from the Winnipeg Foundation, Manitoba Association of Architects, The Forks and Manitoba Homecoming 2010.

The highest-profile participating architect is Antoine Predock, designer of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, who lives in Albuquerque, N.M.

"He is totally into this," Jordan said. "He's wanting to come up and build (his hut), and actually go for a skate."

Predock is teaming with local landscape architecture firm Scatliff+Miller+Murray on a hut called Apparition. The igloo-like shelter is described as "a haunting, ambiguous object" with inviting, solar-fuelled lighting. In the design drawings, it resembles crumpled aluminum foil. It appears skaters may have to crouch or crawl to enter it.

The huts vary in size. Jordan estimates they'll hold three to seven skaters each.

"We want people to love them, we want people to hate them, we want people to have their favourites," Jordan said, adding that The Forks will take steps to protect the huts from damage or vandalism.

Sputnik Architecture is working with artist Jon Pylypchuk on a hut entitled CARCASS, inspired by decaying barns and made of wood, aluminum and polycarbonate.

A hut called Ice Cube, by architect Kevin Loewen and photographer Merri-Lou Paterson, will be a cedar-clad cube with a rooftop solar panel to power interior lights. Because the interior will be translucent, the cube will glow at night.

Architect Richard Kroeker and artist Neil Forrest are creating Fir Hut, which uses the aboriginal technique of thatched balsam fir, but also incorporates pop cans.

Artist Ewa Tarsia is working with 5468796 Architecture Inc. on Sunspot, a large orb that will hang from The Forks Historic Rail Bridge. Its frame will hover just above the frozen river and be sprayed with coloured water -- bright orange in the design drawings -- to form a thin shell of ice.

alison.mayes@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition January 8, 2010 B1

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21 Commentscomment icon

I would like to ride my SkiDoo to the forks. I'm guessing on a good Friday /Saturday there would be about 1000 just like me.

Oh, I forgot, its about the shacks. Not a big fan of this love affair with abstracts.They don't fit.

But hey "The exposition is being touted as a Canadian first.".

Gotta be first.Knock yourselves out.

I think that this is a fantastic idea! Our city needs to do more to bring awareness to the public about what architecture is. This is a great way to have people engage with design concepts and possibilities. Can't wait to see them. Hopefully it will encourage more to use the river this year and in the years to come. As well, it will be exciting to see this event grow and become part of our culture!

Winnipeg's river Skating Trail has had warming shacks, encircled with fir trees for a few years now. For those who haven't been out skating on this fantastic Trail, you've missed alot.

I'm stunned at how many commenters obviously don't realize that for years there have been warming shacks along the River Trail. With my young family I've skated the trail many times and have always felt (and been) safe.

Hey Null, lacinwpg, canadiantyranny and JTP -- When you get a chance, you may want to get out of the suburbs and experience Winnipeg culture for yourself before making ignorant comments ;-)

This is a great idea. It helps to brighten up the winter and make the skating trail even more enjoyable. I hope they succeed in making this an annual event. Embrace winter and enjoy!

not neccessary the huts we have now are small enough and good enough to not have any squatters. Unless you rent out those new shacks and have snack bar vendors attached to them with the provision these huts get locked up or towed away when not in use.

here is another idea why don't the forks rent out ice fishing shacks on the red river?



good idea in concept but how long before they are vandalized? The homeless will love them too...somewhere for them to get out of the wind.

No doubt these will be lovely places for a stabbing to take place or for the voilent drunks to sleep in.

One great city!

Kudos to the architect of this idea! Way to go. I can't wait to get on my skates and hit the trails.

Love it, Love it, Love it!

forget about "love" on the trail... anyone entering one of these things is going to find squatters.

Not that is a terrible idea supply shelter to those that need it, but if you are looking for a place to warm up skaters, this is not going to qualify without security.

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