Learning all about ice sculptures

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 16/02/2016 (3730 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s amazing, the things you can learn on a blustery Sunday afternoon on the Red River at The Forks.

Recently, architect and artist Luca Roncoroni taught my husband Daniel and I all about ice sculpting.

Roncoroni talks about the quality of Red River ice like a baker would talk about the fine ingredients of his whole wheat bread.

Italian-born Roncoroni holds a master’s degree in architecture from Politecnico di Milano in Milan, Italy, and now lives in Norway. He came to Winnipeg this winter to sculpt Red River ice into beautiful pieces of art.  

“A lot of people don’t think the Red River can be so clear. This year the ice is not so thick because it has been mild but it is still good ice, very clear so you can do nice details.”

This is not Roncoroni’s first venture to Winnipeg. In 2012, he and his girlfriend, Tina Soli, a graphic designer and illustrator, read about the annual warming hut competition at The Forks and decided to enter.

Their orange and blue Wind Catcher won a spot and joined other warming huts on The Forks skating trail that year. In 2015, they won the competition again and brought This Big, an ice installation, to The Forks.

Warming Huts: An Art + Architecture Competition on Ice, was launched in 2009 by Winnipeg architect and event producer Peter Hargraves and this year received 160 submissions from around the world.

Although Roncoroni and Soli’s two entries in this year’s warming hut competition did not make the final cut, Winnipeg’s celebration of winter drew Roncoroni back anyway. This year he came to do another ice installation on the river, just for the love of it.  

With his bag of fine chisels, very sharp sculpting tools of all shapes, and a chainsaw, he sculpted ice and taught passersby a few techniques about the malleability and beauty of ice.

Back home in Norway, Roncoroni works as an architect, mostly in exhibition design.

He fashions either temporary or permanent designs for buildings such as museums or pavilions for music or elite sporting events. In the winter, he works on ice and snow projects.

“I do mostly buildings out of ice and snow like ice hotels and ice bars or set designs for concerts.”

He has done ice sculptures in France, Germany, Finland, and Sweden and has participated in the famous Harbin Ice Festival in China. With a team of 60 artists/architects he has worked on creating full ice hotels complete with chapels and restaurants that people from around the world book for weddings.

Helen Lepp Friesen is a community correspondent for Fort Garry. You can contact her at helenfriesen@hotmail.com