Winnipeg is a city of 600,000 residents located on the Canadian
prairie. It is the coldest city of its size outside of Siberia. Winter
can last six months. So learning to celebrate winter – learning to take
advantage of the opportunities that winter provides – makes sense.
The Red and the Assiniboine Rivers meet in the centre of the city,
and in winter, when plowed of snow, skating trails many miles long are
created. But with temperatures that drop to minus 30 and 40 for long
periods of time, and winds that can make minus 30 feel like minus 50,
creating opportunities to find shelter from the wind greatly enhances
the ability to use the river skating trails. Therefore, a program has
developed to sponsor the design and construction of temporary shelters
located along the skating trails. Our proposal consists of a cluster of
intimate shelters, each accommodating only a few people at a time. They
are grouped in a small ‘village’ (or ‘herd’, or ‘school’, or ’flock’, or
‘flotilla’) to form a collective … of ‘something’ … irreducible to a
single interpretation. They stand with their backs to the wind like
buffalo, seeming to have life and purpose as they huddle together
shielding each other from the elements.
Each shelter designed by award-winning Patkau Architects
is formed of thin, flexible plywood which is given both structure and
spatial character through bending/deformation. Skins, made of 2 layers
of 3/16th inch thick flexible plywood, are cut in patterns and attached
to a timber armature which consists of a triangular base, and wedge
shaped spine and ridge members (the ridge is a line to negate the
gravity loads of snow). Experiments in our workshop with a full-scale
prototype mapped the stresses of bending. Stress points were relieved by
a series of cuts and openings. The form of the shelter is a resultant
of this process of stressing/deforming and then releasing stress.
Grouping the shelters into a cluster begins with the relationship of
two, and their juxtaposition to qualify the size and accessibility of
their entrance openings. This apparently casual pairing is actually
achieved by a precise 120 degree rotation. Three pairs (one with mirror
reflection) are then placed in relation to one another through a
secondary rotation of 90 degrees to form the cluster and define an
intermediate ‘interior’ space within the larger grouping. Together, the
shelters create dynamic solar and wind relationships that shift
according to specific orientation, time of day and environmental
circumstance.
These are delicate and ‘alive’ structures. They move gently in the
wind, creaking and swaying to and fro at various frequencies, floating
precariously on the surface of the frozen river, shaking off any snow
that might adhere to their surfaces. Their fragile and tenuous nature
makes those sheltered by them supremely aware of the inevitability,
ferocity and beauty of winter on the Canadian prairies.
photos ©James Dow
Источник: http://www.evolo.us/architecture/winnipeg-skating-shelters-a-masterwork-in-contemporary-architecture-patkau-architects/ |