WARMING HUTS 2009 - 2020: AN ART + ARCHITECTURE COMPETITION ON ICE

*Winner of the 2020 National Urban Design Award of Excellence for Community Initiatives
*Winner of the 2022 Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) International Prize 

Since 2009, Warming Huts: An Art + Architecture Competition on Ice has celebrated two things; innovative design and cold weather. At the end of January each year the frozen Red and Assiniboine Rivers at the heart of Winnipeg become a winter destination centred around the Forks National Historic Site of Canada. Sputnik has been involved in the competition since the beginning, taking on various roles, from project coordinators to fabricators and designers. Winnipeg is often referred to as one of the most frigid large cities on the planet. This competition, along with the skating trail, attracts designers from around the world and encourages locals to rediscover their city. Every year new designs are submitted online, the winning submissions make it through a blind jury process and are invited to Winnipeg to realize their vision. Once in place the warming huts face the jury of  public opinion and remain up as long as possible, with the more robust huts returning year after year. The Warming Huts competition has been honoured by numerous articles and awards and is an open competition, endorsed by the Manitoba Association of Architects.