Competition / Warming Huts: An Art + Architecture Competition on Ice V.2017 / The Forks North Portage Partnership

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, endorsed 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. This call for entries is open to all professional designers (or teams of designers) who have a proven portfolio of design work. Each design team must include an artist and a member of a recognized architectural association. Membership includes registered architects and intern members. The organizers encourage the formation of multi-disciplinary teams.