Patkau Architects of Canada fashioned this collection of temporary plywood skating shelters clustered together by a skating trail along a frozen river in Winnipeg.

The shelters are assembled from two layers of flexible plywood attached to a timber frame and floor with seating inside.

A brief description from the architects themselves

Winnipeg is a city of 600,000 residents located on the Canadian prairie. It is the coldest city outside of Siberia. Winter can last six months. So learning to celebrate winter, and take advantage of the opportunities that it provides is essential and most certainly makes a lot of sense.

The Red and the Assiniboine Rivers meet in the center of the city and in winter, when snow is plowed and mile long skating trails are created makes it a fun filled place to be.

But when temperatures drop to minus 30 and 40 for extensive periods of time, and winds make a minus 30 feel like a minus 50, new opportunities to find shelter from the wind enhances the ability to use the river skating trails.

Therefore, a program has been developed to sponsor the design and construction of temporary shelters located along the skating trails. The proposal consists of a cluster of intimate shelters, each accommodating only a few people at a time. They are grouped in a small ‘village’ that form a collective of comfortable living spaces. They stand with their backs to the wind, seeming to have life and purpose as they huddle together shielding each other from earth’s elements.

Each shelter is formed of thin, flexible plywood which is given both structure and spatial character through bending. Skins, made of 2 layers of 3/16th inch thick flexible plywood, are cut in patterns and attached to a timber framework which consists of a triangular base, wedge shaped spine and ridge members (the ridge is a line to negate the gravity loads of snow).

Experiments in the workshop have a full-scale prototype that maps the stresses of bending. Stress points were relieved by a series of cuts and openings. The form of the shelter is a subsequent process of stressing and then releasing stress.

Grouping the shelters into clusters begins with the relationship of two, and their juxtaposition to qualify the size and accessibility of their entrance openings. This seemingly 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 a transitional ‘interior’ space within the larger combination. Together, the shelters create dynamic solar and wind relationships that shift according to specific positioning, time of day and environmental circumstances.

These delicate and ‘alive’ structures move gently in the wind, creaking and swaying left and right 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 predictability, fierceness and beauty of winter on the Canadian prairies.

Via: Dezeen.com

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