MADE Winter Design Exhibition

MADE (Media Architecture Design Edmonton) is pleased to announce a Call for Submissions to architects and designers for projects that speak and respond to Alberta’s winter. Accepted projects will be in included in an exhibition that will take place in 2017.

Snow is a defining feature of the landscape in Alberta. In our northern climate, snow and the cold are often implicitly recognized conditions that shape our built environment: the form of buildings and their relationship to the sun; access and circulation in spite of or because of snow; the way snow interacts with a structure; and finally how a building’s envelope addresses the impact of cold, snow and ice.

Too often, however, the design and presentation of architectural projects are shown in the limited time span of a verdant summer environment. Living with the cold and snow, conditions that encompass more than half of the year, requires a considered approach to thinking about public space and the built environment. A deep understanding of the local climate and conditions is required.

In recent years, architects and designers in Alberta have shifted their approach to winter. More and more discourse has been devoted to what it means to be a “winter city”, and how architects and designers respond to the snow and the cold inherent to our climate.  The exhibition will foster further dialog around the design of public space and the built environment in winter. It will ask the question: how can successful designs improve our experience of winter?

Go to joinmade.org/alberta-winter for more information.