ΒΕΕ-ΖΕΕ

specialization-not

"...the importance of going to a new field and "looking" stupid. there you can ask the right questions..."David Gersten, Winnipeg, February 2013

#the uncomfortable place

Labels: lectures, winnipeg

miniature houses and a ladder to the moon

Steven Nunoda, Ghostown, 2011, and Ladder to the Moon, 2012, die-cut tarpaper/wood, sumi paper, projected video, installation view.

Part of the My Winnipeg: The Artists' Choice exhibition at Plug In ICA during February/ March 2013 (Photos are taken during the opening).

About the two projects from the curatorial statement [link]:

"Steven Nunoda’s Ghostown recalls memories endured by both of his parents during the Japanese interment during the Second World War. The installation consists of 80 miniature tarpaper scale models of the cramped shacks Japanese Canadian workers were forced to build for their own incarceration. Looming over the collection of shacks, Nunoda’s Ladder to the Moon provides a beacon of hope and child-like creativeness, as the piece was inspired from a conversation with Nunoda’s own daughter."

Note: Winnipeg has been the home for Marshall McLuhan among other people.

Labels: art, winnipeg

Plug In ICA

Plug In Institute of Contemporary Art, Winnipeg, Manitoba

about the building:

460 Portage Avenue (co-owned and commissioned with the University of Winnipeg) was designed by a collective comprising three ﬁrms: David Penner Architect, Peter Sampson Architecture Studio and DIN Projects.

460 is conceived as actively participating in its environs while also allowing the city to be brought inside. A shortcut enables pedestrians to pass through the building without actually entering. This portal is programmed as a gallery space that will expose passers-by to the gallery’s featured exhibits. A unique four storey interior space links the multiple occupants of the building in a manner that is both social and yet elusive, allowing simultaneous glimpses of goings on in disparate parts of the building. The process of revealing prepares the visitor for the building’s other curiosities such as a rooftop terrace space that will permanently feature a new installation by Dan Graham. The overall architectural aim has therefore been to favour the experiential dimension rather than the formal qualities of the building as object. [via Plug In website]

Labels: art, winnipeg

warming huts

Assiniboine river, Winnipeg, Photo credits: Bee-Zee

While walking on the iced Assiniboine river on a Friday night I was able to experience most of the 2013 warming huts. Woolhaus, in the photo below, is a pavilion out of felt.

Woolhaus night photo, Photo credits: Bee-Zee

Artist Myung Kweon Park describes:

Woolhaus emphasizes the experience of sensory contrast through its expression of a single material: felt. Upon entering the hut, visitors are engulfed in a world of extreme insulation. The suspended dark grey sleeves of felt absorb heat, light and sound; creating an interior environment that is isolated from the intense cold, brightness and noise of the frozen Assiniboine River. Woolhaus was conceived more as a piece of clothing than a building - something which you enter into and maintain constant contact with, like a warm sweater. In contrast to conventional buildings, where occupants pass through a material threshold and enter a space, the material of threshold is both material and space. Interior spaces are not designed; rather, the occupant is free to define their own spaces through interacting with the woolen tubes. The opaque nature of the hut encourages exploration and inevitably, surprise. Curious visitors must enter the hut to know what the interior experience holds, and the further they go, the more insulated they are from the outside conditions.


Woolhaus competition entry, Myung Kweon Park. Image credits: Myung Kweon Park [Via Bustler]

Woolhaus competition entry, Myung Kweon Park. Image credits:
Myung Kweon Park [Via Archdaily]

Hugge House, known also, among the Manitoban circles, as the fluorescent pavilion, is designed by Plain Projects, Urbanink and Pike Projects.

Hugge House night photo, Photo credits: Bee-Zee

During the night, I could not experience the fluorescent paint, one can see during the day. It did transmit however, the coziness, as described by the team below:

Hygge House is cozy. It is a simple wood framed structure; a reproduction of one of the most cherished symbols of Canadiana – the wilderness cottage. Within Hygge House, artifacts of cottage life set a stage for an authentic depiction of the comfort and familiarity of the weekend getaway. The entire interior of Hygge House is painted fluorescent yellow. Coating the contents not only creates a warm, inviting space, sheltered from the wind – it also creates a stage set where the visitors to Hygge House become essential components of the experience. Although the house is full of mounted antlers and fish, warm blankets, a working wood stove, old baseball hats, comic books, plaid shirts and old tine matches, Hygge House is only truly achieved when people come together. Hygge House becomes a place for warmth and togetherness.


Hugge House competition entry, Myung Kweon Park. Image credits: Plain Projects, Urbanink and Pike Projects. [Via Bustler]

Landscape architect Liz Wreford-Taylor (front) and her Hygge House co-creators while relaxing in their yellow warming hut on the river:


Hugge House [Via: Winnipeg Plain Projects]

Another winning entry which I found quite interesting is the Smokehouse by Cantabrigian team aamodt/ plumb architects.

Smokehouse competition entry. Image courtesy: aamodt/ plumb architects [via msn news]

Smokehouse competition entry. Image courtesy: aamodt/ plumb architects [via warminghuts.com]

The architects describe the Smokehouse:

The elemental, pure form of the hut, almost the very symbol of home, rendered in the stark black of charred wood, is nestled in soft white snow. Inside, layers of thick ivory felt line the walls and seating, creating a nest-like interior reminiscent of ancient gathering places strewn with animal pelts. On closer inspection, one discovers the felt layers embossed with delicate patterns and textures, a subtle sanctification of intimate space. The room has a unique sound, or absence thereof: it is silent, like the sound of new snow on the street. One enters and leaves through the same door, stooping to duck under the felt draftstop, bending to join temporary community within. The communal nature of the experience is revealed only upon entering as you join the visitors gathered in the quiet warm space. It is this unfolding of subtle surprises that lie behind the formal quietude of the hut.

It is inspiring to think of your cold city in such a positive way, both as an architect, and a citizen. This experience makes me realize one can take advantage of the difficult urban/ rural aspects of specific areas. To learn about all winning proposals, visit the link [CLICK here].

Labels: winnipeg