Canada’s participation at this year’s Venice Biennale is an exhibit entitled Arctic Adaptations: Nunavut at 15, presented by Toronto’s Lateral Office. It celebrates the 15^th Anniversary of Canada’s newest territory, Nunavut, by presenting the works of five teams, each comprised of a Nunavut organization, an architectural school and an architectural firm specialized in building in the Canadian North.

EVOQ worked with Michèle Aubé and Arnaud Paquin from Université de Montréal, as well as Jake GearHeard from Llisaqsivik, to develop an experimental model of an Arctic university, reinterpreting the higher education institution in the context of the Inuit culture.

The proposed university, which relies on remote communication technologies and local human contact, features pavilions scattered across the territory. These create a unique human-scale landscape, evoking traditional Inuit architecture. The buildings, shielded by a double envelope (wood and polycarbonate), can withstand the rigours of the Arctic environment and feature protected areas for the local community to make their own.

A Special Mention was attributed by the Biennale to the Canadian Pavilion for its in-depth study of the adaptation of modernity to the unique Arctic climate and to a local minority culture.

 

For further information on the subject:

http://www.arcticadaptations.ca/

 

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